Abstract:
Buildings are not just material objects, but as Anthony D. King says, “buildings indeed,
the entire built environment, are essentially social and cultural products” (King, 1982:01).
Generally buildings result in social needs and accommodate a variety of functions -
economic, social, political, religion and cultural. In relation to domestic tectonics, they
become very significant in portraying social norms and forms, ideas of the society and
social taboos as well. This paper primarily focuses on how the general perception on malefemale differentiation and divergent social positions are portrayed through a “Kandyan
house”. The differentiation here discusses the male-female role in social interactions,
family relations and domestic activities.
The Kandyan dwellings succeeded in characterizing salient features of the contemporary
Kandyan society and individual attitudes towards them especially through personal
abodes. Different perspectives and perceptions on man and woman that had been
established during the Kandyan period were also to a certain extent reflected through
domestic architecture. The internal layout of the house and the spatial demarcation thus
reflected the fundamental structural division within the dwelling: the differentiation of sex.
The two main spaces within a traditional house in Kandyan provinces are the heen
maduwa and the maha maduwa. The Heen maduwa represents the female area of the
house whereas the maha maduwa denotes the male area. Literally, heen means thin or
small. During the Kandyan period the Sinhalese word heen was used to denote the
smallness. In contrary, maha means fat or large. This nomenclature somewhat depicts the
idea of different gender identification between men and women. However, the maha
maduwa and heen maduwa both represented non-demarcated spaces, but two different
living areas. Daily activities of a house usually take place in the heen maduwa which is
located necessasarily at the rear side of the house. The subordinated role and backward
position of traditional Kandyan women is represented by this architectural establishment.
This setting also reveals certain traditions attached to the family life of Kandyans. The
allocation of spaces such as the heen maduwa and maha maduwa denotes the nature of
intimacy and the degree of sexual relationship between man and the woman. Location of
heen maduwa and maha maduwa specifically exposed to view the difference among men
and women within the Kandyan society, not only the identification but also its manner of
positioning inside the house. The power relations between men and women within the
house and society is as well illustrated through this architectural demarcation.
At the end, this paper tries to establish how the internal space segregation of the domestic
setting reveals the social perception on gender and the role of man and woman in
feudalistic Kandyan society
