The House
Various parts of the house have definite names, and may only be used for certain purposes. As we have already seen, there are raised seats both outside and inside the house, the latter being used as beds. These are made of earth, the upper surface of which is made level, and the whole is usually well coated with a layer of dried buffalo-dung, sometimes nearly half an inch thick. The general name for these raised parts is tün, the seats outside the building on either side of the door being called kwottün, while the bed on the right side of the interior is the meitün, and that on the left side the kitün. The part of the hut where the bed or beds stand is called the idrtul.
The floor is called kuter, and this is divided into two parts by the hole in which the women pound the grain. The part near the door is called kikuter, and it is in this part only that dairy operations may be carried on. The part behind the pounding hole is especially assigned to the women and is called meilkuter.[5]
The end wall, on which various objects, such as sticks, are kept is called tashten, and the fireplace, usually on one side, is called waskal. The part above the fireplace where firewood is kept is called waskalkûbi, and the place of the cooking vessels is called adikudi. The western side of the hut is sometimes called the meilmakol, and the eastern side the [[584]]kimakol, but I do not know if this implies any rule as to the orientation of the houses.
FIG. 66.—TO SHOW A STAGE IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A HUT.
The method of building is illustrated by [Fig. 66], which shows a hut only partially built. Certain Todas have special reputations as architects, and the most famous of these at the present time is Kijievan (50), who superintended the building of the hut at Kiudr shown in [Fig. 7], the most spacious and artistic of the strictly Toda dwellings which I saw on the hills. Especial care is often taken with the arrangement of the rattan on the front of the hut, which is shown in [Fig. 20]. This is a picture of a dairy, but it shows the arrangement which is also found in the best of the houses.
The hut used for the seclusion of women before and after childbirth is a rough structure of wood and thatch, but its name, puzhars, means “mud house,” which suggests that huts made of earth may at one time have been used by the Todas. [[585]]