Re- imagining a homestead garden

Weaving a transitory threshold to forests.
The homestead is a liminal space. The unaltered ancients of the landscape and culture which is being interwoven with the altered present co-existing as the microcosm of the forest, it interweaves the old and the new by creating a replication of a natural ecosystem within the settlements of Kanis. A homestead thus is a transitory-threshold space. Preview An integral part of the landscape fabric of Agathyamalai is the homestead garden of the Kanis. This in-between space: a Past in the present continuous co-exists with the forest, wildlife, plantations, and its most integral part, the culture as a common ground of the Kanis. It is in many ways a transitory space and threshold between the forest and the culture. When read and re-read through the layers of its existence in the lives of Kanis, this threshold
• Is a potential to reconnect to the past. • Is a remembrance of the forest.• Is an extension of the forest itself. The project began by trying to understand the ancient members of the forest and culture such as trees, sacred groves, and traditional practices of the people within the matrix of unaltered and altered, all of which are interwoven with time acting as a link. The introduction of the Peppara Dam and forest protection acts of wildlife sanctuary and biosphere reserve and the newest shift to plantations led the dwellers to move away from their forest and this in turn strengthened their associations with their homestead gardens. Hence the project considers the homestead garden as the threshold system and a space for a newer ritual/practice of linking back to the forests to emerge. The project derives a palette of planting preferences for the homestead garden a microcosm of the forest. In doing so it rekindles the memories and associations of a forest people weaving pieces of the forest back into their daily lives and day-to-day spaces.