This is a separate topic. The subject is some special mixtures used for ancient constructions. Although these are no longer there, we can see many traces of them when the old houses/manas/temples/building are demolished.
1. When demolishing the thatch of some houses, leaves are obtained from it in a laid-out manner. While preparing the roof, Ilamangalam leaves or Karingota leaves are placed close together or woven like a mat to avoid termite attack. A mixture of kerala red stone powder and calcium hydroxide was smeared on top of it and the dung waxed. Karingotta(Niepa Bark Tree) is a medicinal plant. Paduka (An ancient form of footwear) was made from its wood. Root, fruit, and bark have Ayurvedic uses. Ilamangalam leaf belongs to the cardamom family. The trees called Vahana and Vayana are its variants.
2. To make bricks – the red soil should be cleaned and mixed with white sand to make it soft. By making juice from the bark of the trees like Arayal , Kadamp, Mango tree, Katuka, and Thanni trees, soaked in the water containing triphala, pounded and made into bricks in a month, then dried and baked to make the bricks.
3. To make Chant – Karala (sandy gravel of small size), mudgi (sand of pea size), gulmasham (sand of one and half to two times the size of a lotus stem thread), kalka (powdered sand and lime) and chikna (lime made into liquid form) with lime. Chantu is made by mixing. Karala, mudgi and gulmasham are done according to the suitable brick in each case. To give them fat and strength, milk, kadamb, flour, the juice of kadukamaram and thanni, triphala juice and plowing water can be mixed by kicking using the horse and used to trample it. It is also used in sieves to make a smooth paste.
4. To make Chant – Mix five parts of plow water, eight parts of curd, seven parts of milk, six parts of wood bark, nine parts of jaggery, nine parts of ghee, ten parts of triphala Juice, four parts of coconut milk, three parts of banana and one part of honey with one hundred parts of lime.
5. To make Chant – If you take two parts of lime, jaggery, honey, ghee, coconut milk, fruit, plowing water, tamarind juice, milk, curd, jaggery, (Tiphalachar) and mix it with one hundred parts of lime, you can make rock-solid Chant.
6. Red stone powder, lime, juice of kaduka skin, ground leaves of Ilamangalam can be used directly or mixed with sand for plastering the wall.
7. To make ‘Bandhodakam’ for making sculptures, curd, milk, churning water, jaggery, butter, banana, coconut milk, and mango juice are mixed with kalka and chikna. The wall can also be polished with Bandhodaka.
8. Ointment is prepared by mixing honey, ghee, curd, milk, plantain juice, extract of banana, Triphala juice, and coconut milk with lime, and 200 parts of this extract is mixed with sand to make an ointment.
9. Ashtabandha is the glue used to fix the Peetha and the idol. It is made by grinding conch, Kaduka, Marut tree juice, Kolarak, chicken sand (a material obtained from the deep areas of rivers and found in small amounts in the plains), atum sand, gooseberry, and sesame oil.
10. There is a method called Katusharkara yoga for casting idols. the mixture is made by adding various materials like saffron, Triphala, chicken grit, Marut juice, coconut oil, and so on. The rest is unknown because it is top secret.
11. Crushed green fenugreek seeds were sprinkled under a layer of subsoil to repel termites. It can still be done. There is also a method of putting the leaves of Eruk plant in water for 15 days and pouring that water to get rid of the existing small termite nuisance. A must-try somewhere.
12. Oil distilled from the cashew nut was used to preserve wooden utensils. Now some companies are making sealers like this.
13. Lime, kunthirik, mudgi or gulmasham, lime and wax were used along with bricks to make pillars.
14. Having said all this, let’s not talk about our famous Surki mix… In 2012, the Supreme Court’s high-powered committee appointed an engineering team to find out what Surki mix was used to make Mullaperiyar Dam. I have heard that the result has come, but I have not read it. It can be seen that Surki mixture (Surki means half burnt clay powder) can be made in many ways. It can be made by grinding half burnt clay into powder and adding lime and jaggery. It can also be made by adding egg whites, jaggery and lime. Along with this, many other ingredients are expected to be found in the manner mentioned above.
15. Iron Pillar of Delhi The 23 feet high Iron Pillar of Delhi has remained untouched by rust for more than 1600 years due to an unknown old cage. Different types of iron are mentioned in ancient texts. It is said that charcoal of oak and avaram plants should also be used while making iron. Carbon and phosphorus can be obtained. All those who have tested it say that apart from this iron pillar, a patch of 20mm thickness called misavite is formed which does not get rusted. But the construction process of this pillar is still unknown. Those who have checked only say that it can be like this, it can be like this.
