Doors. More than an entrance to a home. It’s a style statement and more often than not, an impression of what lies behind is made when you see an exquisitely crafted main door.

I spent a good part of my growing up years at my grandparents’ in two southern towns of Tamil Nadu: Madurai and Kumbakonam. The architecture of the ancient houses in Tanjore district has left a lasting impression on me. Several hot summer afternoons were spent playing hide and seek in the thinnais (the front porch), mitham (the courtyard) around the wide thoons (pillars) and maadi (open terrace) and behind those huge small teak wood doors. To this day, when I think of main doors, the first image that comes to mind is the heavy main door at my grandma’s which is over 140 years old now; it looks very similar to this one.

Old Styled Main Door in Tanjore Houses

Most apartment main doors these days are stereotypical leaving little to imagination.  With a neatly crafted main door, you don’t need to accessorize the entrance with sculptures, wall hangings or diyas. For as little as Rs.4,000 you can give a royale look to your main door. There’s this shop called Royal Ambience on Varthur-Whitefield Field Road that sells hand-carved furniture from Rajasthan. A few piece that I loved:

A traditional colorful carved piece

It is made from Acacia wood and colored using chalk powder. Most of the furniture from Rajasthan is made of Sheesham wood, which is a long-standing, hard variety. However, Sheesham wood is not suitable for fine carvings which is why such pieces are made from Acacia. Different views of the same piece:

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