Community Engagement &
Knowledge Sharing
Community participation formed an essential part of the project’s approach to documenting Chettinad heritage. The research engaged heritage-house owners, women, artisans, cultural practitioners, religious institutions, local residents, scholars, and students through surveys, interviews, field visits, oral histories, and collaborative documentation.
"The built environment of Chettinad is not merely architecture — it is an archive of ecological wisdom, trade networks, and social ritual."
Understanding Chettinad Through Knowledge Sharing
These interactions helped record knowledge that is often transmitted informally through families, craft practice, ritual participation, and lived experience. The project also recognised community members not merely as sources of information, but as active custodians whose knowledge, memories, and skills are central to the continuity of Chettinad heritage.
Knowledge generated through the project is shared through the digital heritage register, GIS maps, measured drawings, photographs, 360° documentation, virtual walkthroughs, documentary films, research publications, architectural studies, and this website. By making these resources accessible to communities, researchers, students, conservation professionals, and the wider public, the project supports awareness, education, intergenerational learning, and community-centred heritage preservation.
Surveys & Data Collection
Comprehensive questionnaire on Chettinad Palatial Houses
Comprehensive Multi-Generational Interview Questionnaire for Mapping Women’s Lives in Chettinad
Publications and Research Dissemination
The project’s findings have been disseminated through peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, conference papers, edited volumes, public heritage articles, technical studies, and intellectual-property outputs. These publications communicate the project’s work on Chettinad architecture, adaptive reuse, women and intangible heritage, traditional crafts, environmental monitoring, GIS, immersive media, spatial audio, and virtual heritage experiences.
Together, these outputs extend the project’s impact beyond field documentation by supporting academic discussion, heritage education, conservation practice, interdisciplinary research, and wider public awareness.