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Mamma is a storyteller. She has always been one, until she became her own stories. But that’s another story.

I was a spoiled child, obedient but spoiled. I didn’t know how to eat properly with my hands until I was ten years old. It wasn’t that I didn’t know; I simply never wanted to prove otherwise. So my beloved mother would always feed me before helping herself to it. And the best part of it comes only then… her “immortal” stories.

I would listen to the same tales over and over again, and she would never lose heart telling them over and over again. During meal-times, during shower time, bed-time anytime was a story time. However my favorite was the “morning fable” time.

The most beautiful moments of my childhood “visited” me during early morning hours, around the age of eight. I would sit on a little wooden swing hung from the huge branches of a breadfruit tree “banbukeyo gas” that sat in the vast compound of our home. Now, the tree wasn’t just another breadfruit-tree-with-a-swing. She was home to over a hundred pigeons. Their home was a wooden three-storey pigeon-house which stood under the shady leaves of our very own breadfruit-tree-with-a swing.

Oh, I was always a very busy little girl during those mornings. For every piece of bread dipped in hot tuna curry that Mamma puts in my mouth, I tear a “pinch” of previous night’s left over crusty “roshi.” And in between every other gulp I would whistle lightly so that the pigeons knew it was their turn to be fed by “little-mother-me”.

Having a curious little girl to feed and her ruthless long hair to plait, mamma often pauses in between two mouthfuls only to hear the word “mamma dhenoa (what next mother)?”

“findhan fulhaa bondan fulhaa vaahaka”, “maimeli dhaitha vaahaka”, “ranmann ranmann fullaa vaahaka”, “anga gadha mithuraa anga madu mithuru vaahaka”, “foolhu dhigu handi vaahaka”, “safaru kaiyydha vaahaka”, “maakunbe vaahak”, “vagu findhah badhuruva laigaiyy vaahaka”… these were all among her “best-sellers”.

However the best and my favorite by far is a story with the most cunning plot. A fable with a wit, humor and politics in it; Maavadi kaleyge yaa minikaa vaguge vaahaka”.

“Eh saharegga ulhunoa…..”, slowly the pigeons’ purrs would dissolve into her motherly voice.

Maavadi yaa Minikaavagu; here I have translated this amazing “thousand-morals-story” for those who are more patient with words and generous with imagination. What I am presenting in photos is an important part of this great story.

Since childhood my curiosity about the image of “what taught minikaa vagu a lesson” – Koshaaru – was left empty… until just two months ago in November 2011.

A “Koshaaru” is a small granary or storehouse found in some local Islands of the Maldives. Now nearly in extinction, a “koshaaru” serves many purposes in daily lives of the locals. Normally located separately at the back of the house compound these “small” structures for centuries were an important part of our vernacular architecture.

"koshaaru" or a small granary. these were used Maldivians to store fish, grain and sometimes other household items. location: laamu atoll fonadhoo (2011). photography by: mariyam isha azeez {mariyamboo}

As much as I may wish to believe our very own “koshaaru” to be an indigenous creation of the Maldives, the origin and purpose of granaries dates back to thousands of years B.C. In ancient times granaries were used in many countries to store grain and pottery.  The grains could be stored there for many years, maintaining its original quality.

During early times Maldivians earned their living through fishing and agriculture. And “koshaaru” played an indispensable role in fishermen’s communities. Unlike other countries Maldivians have generally had two types of “koshaaru”, which are “mas koshaaru” (fish granaries), “dharu koshaaaru” where firewood is stored for cooking purposes.

The early diet of Maldivians “dhivehin” mainly consisted of fish and cereals.  Namely millet “binbi”, maize “zuvaari”, barley “hima godhan” and more. These cereals were stored in our “granary koshaaru” in similar manners, for the longest period of time. Bruguiera cylindrica “kandoo”, another commonly used food in early days were harvested and kept in sacks for years before consumed. This is still practiced in some Islands of the Maldives where they are blessed with vast “kandoo faa” mangroves.

“Koshaaru” is made from locally available timber, most commonly with coconut palm wood “ruh vakaru”.  In its most authentic form, the timber panel boards are constructed without using screws or nails, but instead with wooden pegs and tongue and groove system, which is the same case in Maldivians well-known “bodu foshi” (a big box used to store clothes and other valuables.

The most intriguing feature of the “koshaaru” is its door. The panels can be dismantled by starting from the upper most board, so that one could reach the items inside even without fully “opening” it. The top most board or panel is the primal panel and the “koshaaru” could be locked only if this first piece is in its place.

a kind lady "mama" who was the owner of this "koshaaru" shows me how to open its door. location: laamu atoll fonadhoo (2011). photography by: mariyam isha azeez {mariyamboo}

a kind lady "mama" who was the owner of this "koshaaru" shows me how to open its door. each timber board has to be dismantled separately making way for an opening. location: laamu atoll fonadhoo (2011). photography by: mariyam isha azeez {mariyamboo}

a kind lady "mama" who was the owner of this "koshaaru" shows me how to open its door. each timber board has to be dismantled separately making way for an opening. even with few boards out one could reach inside easily. location: laamu atoll fonadhoo (2011). photography by: mariyam isha azeez {mariyamboo}

The lock on the “koshaaru” below reflects the creativity which our forefathers carried in them. Designed is the shape of a fish, most likely this one truly resembles a “mas koshaaru”; even though inside were oil lamps “bigaru”, wooden boxes and ”seen thashi”; old porcelain-ware used extensively throughout Maldives.

The small chair like object “mas gondi” lying on the horizontal platform was used in early days to cut fish on it. This also gives a hint of a “mas koshaaru”.

padlock of a "koshaaru". it can only be locked when the top most timber board is put into its place. i was told by the owners that this one was an old "mas koshaaru" now being used for other storage purposes. location: laamu atoll fonadhoo (2011). photography by: mariyam isha azeez {mariyamboo}

an upside down "mas gonad" used to cut fish on it. location: laamu atoll fonadhoo (2011). photography by: mariyam isha azeez {mariyamboo}

“Koshaaru” was often built above the ground so as to keep the stored items away from mice and also from rain floods during heavy monsoon season “hulhangu moosun”.  The roof is designed in such a way that “natural air ventilation” is provided so that stored food could be maintained in good condition, safe from moisture and humidity.

“Koshaaru” and “bandahage” a storehouse; these are significant features of our vernacular architecture. It is necessary to ask oneself why and when these authentic Maldivian ways of living had gone into extinction. Can we afford to have our children read these “dhivehi” stories fifty years from now and feel alien to their own culture and heritage? Can we really afford to wait and watch our tangible and intangible heritage vanish like mists into the word “civilization?”

the proud owner of a "koshaaru" wondering about the future of her much-loved "koshaaru" location: laamu atoll fonadhoo (2011). photography by: mariyam isha azeez {mariyamboo}

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