The ‘Aarddamo’ - Guardian of the Night
(Night latch system of another era)
Most of the old mud houses of the middle class folks in thevillages in Goa were installed with the time-proven giant wooden latch - a locking system for doors and windows, known colloquially in the Konkani language as the 'aarddamo'.
This rather unique and strong system provided a great sense ofsecurity and reliability when people retired for the night. This device was the sentry - the sentinel of the night - like a tenacious, silent and immovable guard holding the fort.
Basically, the 'aarddamo' consists of a square wooden beamprovided with a knob for pulling as it is drawn across a pair of folding (double-hinged) or two single leaf wooden doors orwindows by sliding it from a boxed frame pre-installed andconcealed into the wall in its own dedicated casing at the time of construction of a house. This type of installation was carried out at the time of construction of any house and as the walls went up. Metal latches were also added to this type of security.
It is said that thieves could not break through this type of a locking system.
No comments:
Post a Comment