Traditional architectural principles always respected nature, and was climate conscious, user-friendly, reflected the culture and tradition of the community at large and most important was contextual. Various parameters such as geographical location, climatic conditions, occupation, culture and tradition of the society/ community decide these principles in a specific set up and make the structures sustainable in all respect. So, a specific case study example was selected and explored to understand these principles adopted in the structures and their performances over a long period of time in an identified study area in Thanjavur region of Tamil Nadu, India and assessing their appropriateness in the present context. The selected sample was analysed based on its architectural qualities in terms of spatial design, scale and proportion of the building components, integration with nature and thermal performance study during hottest day and the coldest day of the year using ECOTECT software. This paper specifically aims at identifying and understanding the generic sustainable principles in traditional and vernacular architecture that could be imbibed and incorporated by designers and builders at large to create appropriate buildings suitable to that particular context.