Structural Analysis of Historical Constructions, New Delhi 2006 P.B. Lourenço, P. Roca, C. Modena, S. Agrawal (Eds.) 1 INTRODUCTION Traditional timber architecture forms a repository of the insight, wisdom and knowledge of the previous generations. Imbued with a message from the past, it preserves not only, the traces of the history of design and construction of timber buildings, but also, the craftsmen’s understand- ing of the logic and nature of wood, as a building material: the strength of which, lies in the fact that it is often over centuries, well tested, which is indeed, a sufficient guarantee for their reli- ability and durability (Larsen and Marstein 2000). “Uncontrolled moisture is the most prevalent cause of deterioration in older and historic buildings” (NPS Brief) and timber, has the tendency to move markedly and fairly quickly, and deteriorate faster with changes, occurring due to moisture accumulation. Moisture stimulates biological activity and acts as medium or catalyst through which reactions occur on timber. Good design measures are therefore, essential to keep moisture out of the building, but when these measures are inadequate, dampness enter the build- ing materials to cause their deterioration. Most of the traditional timber buildings of Travancore strictly adhere to the canonical prac- tices of ‘Taccusastra’, the science of carpentry (a regional version of Vastusastra). This indige- nous knowledge in wooden craftsmanship was transmitted through generations in the form of tradition. But most of the times, this knowledge carried by traditional craftsmen is regarded as purely practical skills 3 . Timber, though a perishable building material, if correctly produced, processed and finished, and rightly used in construction, can bear living testimony to many gen- erations as it has been well evinced through the surviving timber palaces of Travancore. Traditional Responses of Moisture Related Decay Mitigation in Timber Architecture of Travancore (Kerala) – A Search into the Traditional Knowledge Base Binumol Tom Department of Architecture, College of Engineering, Thiruvananthapuram, India ABSTRACT: Traditional timber buildings of Kerala in S. India can be dated back to 1600’s with the wooden palace ‘ThaiKottaram’ (mother palace) at Padmanabhapuram as the oldest rep- resentative of an indigenous tradition in timber construction. Most of these strictly adhere to ‘Taccusastra’, the science of carpentry which may be considered as a regional version of Vas- tusastra. This indigenous knowledge in wooden craftsmanship was transmitted through genera- tions in the form of tradition. Moisture stimulates biological activity and acts as catalyst through which reactions occur on timber. Whether there is appropriate design and construction measures employed in traditional timber architecture of Travancore (either in the traditional theory or in practice), to neutralize the deleterious effects of moisture was not investigated in depth earlier. Focusing on this, the research paper seeks to make a scrupulous study of traditional timber ar- chitecture built according to ‘Taccusastra’, to explore into the ‘traditional responses’ of timber architecture in tolerating the deleterious effects of moisture.