Suralu Mud Palace

Suralu Mud Palace, or Sural Palace, stands in Sural village near Udupi, Karnataka. The Tolahara dynasty, who ruled parts of the Udupi region, built it in 1511, and it once housed eight or nine families of the dynasty. It now belongs to Sudarshan Shetty, one of their descendants.

The walls are of clay and the roofs of country tiles, carried on wooden pillars that interlock without a single nail. The palace is arranged around seven courtyards, or angalas, and includes a shrine to the goddess Padmavathi, kitchens, bathrooms, a shed and a granary. The women of the household lived in the upper rooms, laid out so that they could not reach the ground floor. An inscription on the corridor lintel records a renovation in 1828, and the palace keeps a collection of ornate sculptures.