Page 5 - Apr-Jun 2018

VOL. 15 No. 2
Rustic Rural Homes Did you know?

Many rural houses are often re-
plastered after the monsoons, in
HOME IS WHERE THE HEARTH IS preparations of festivals with lime.
This is because lime powder is a
Rural huts are usually not more than one room big. As natural disinfectant.
soon as you enter such a house, the fi rst thing you will
notice will be the most important part of the house
– the kitchen. Cooking and eating takes place on the VILLAGE HOME VERANDAHS
fl oor, with the entire family sitting together for meals.
They use cow dung cakes, wood, and bio-gas. Utensils Verandahs have been an
are neatly stacked and are usually made of terracotta, important part of Indian
steel, or copper. homes. They provide for
semi-enclosed spaces that
are used for socializing,
sleeping in the hot summer
months, cooking, keeping
grain-storage containers
and also for tethering animals.

RESOURCE EFFICIENT

Using local materials for constructing houses is a
common feature of traditional residential architecture.
Therefore, people use materials like bamboo, wood,
mud etc.
Bamboo is mostly used by tribes in the North-East. Wood Verandahs in village houses
is mainly used in hilly areas. A layer of mud is usually laid
on it to grow plants. MEDIEVAL INFLUENCE
Mud is the most In the Medieval Period, homes were modifi ed,
versatile of the lot. It
especially in North India, infl uenced by the styles
is malleable when wet of Persian and Turkic invaders. Haveli was one such
and can be shaped as
architectural style which became prevalent during this
bricks. On walls, for period. Some architectural elements that havelis have
reinforcement, cow
are jaali, chhatri, and jharokha.
dung or hay is used.
Illustration by: Payal Rana, VIII K, Army
Public School, Ambala

ACTIVITY: RURAL HOMES TODAY

Unlike the original traditional rural homes that used
to be built earlier, today, most of them are built using
concrete, bricks, cement etc. The traditional styles are
gradually dying out and architecture is leaning more
towards convenience.
Compare a traditional and modern rural home. Illustration by: Nishtha Kadel, IX C, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Public School
Vidyashram, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad

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