Punkah: The Hand Operated Ceiling Fans of Colonial India

When the British first came to India, they had to adapt themselves to a lot of unfamiliar things, such as the climate, the blood sucking mosquitos, the spicy food, the language. But the one thing they couldn’t get used to was the heat. Summer in India begins from April and lasts until October. In the north and in the west, the summer arrives early. In this part of India, April and May are usually the hottest months after which the monsoon helps keep temperatures down. In eastern India and in the coastal regions, rains delay the onset of summer. But as rainfall becomes scarce, heat begins to build up, which is exacerbated by the humidity from the sea creating a very suffocating experience. A woman reading under a punkah at her residence in Berhampore, 1863. Before the arrival of electricity, it was not uncommon for people to sleep outside their homes under the shade of a tree, where it was cooler, or in the verandah with a handheld fan. Those who could afford had punkahs, or ceiling fans, that were swung with the help of a long string to produce a cooling draft. A punkah was usually rectangular in shape and was made from cane, or a flat wooden frame covered with cloth. It was suspended from the ceiling of a room and pulled by the means of a rope and pulley by servants or slaves called punkah-wallah. The rhythmic to and fro movement of the punkah generated a gentle breeze that allowed the British expats and wealthy Indians to work and sleep in comfort. Punkahs were a luxury found only in palatial homes and government bungalows and offices. As one British resident described , “you have a punkah over your bed, another over your bath-tub, another at your dressing-bureau, another over your dining-table, and another above your desk. Your body servant calls out to your punkah-wallah and has him shift from one cord to another as you move about your room, or go from one room to another.