Rural and Vernacular

The rural and the vernacular architecture represent the largest built environment of India.These entities are frozen in time or are evolving at a snail’s pace. The purely vernacular examples are many and they are entirely owner-built from the local materials.The houses and the settlements of the adivasi communities of most regions are self built and they make their own tools, implements and storage objects. Their socio-religious taboos are many due to which, they guard their independence in order to follow their lifestyle. There are a number of nomadic tribes in the country whose existence is threadbare and sustainable in varied circumstances. The rural examples, partly built by the owners, also have their paraphernalia environments shaped by the people themselves. Coexistence with animals, accommodation of agrarian processes and continual maintenance shape the character of their houses and settlements. Their self-sufficiency, in terms of most services being within a given settlement,is remarkable.In most ways this genre of architecture as well as lifestyle are replete with local knowledge, practices and wisdom. They have stayed away from the paradigms of modernism.
Arukku Valley, Andhra Pradesh; Poshina, Gujarat, Aadivasi Lifestyle

Arukku Valley, Andhra Pradesh; Poshina, Gujarat, Aadivasi Lifestyle

1 An animal shed with woven bamboo wall and brooms as well as a basket made from dry twigs, Arukku Valley. Clockwise: 2 An animal yard enclosed by a bamboo woven wall, Arukku Valley. 3 A floor grinder made from wooden trunk, Arukku Valley. 4 A bamboo baskets for keeping hens, Poshina. 5 A stone grinder at Poshina.

A village in Arukku Valley, Andhra Pradesh

A village in Arukku Valley, Andhra Pradesh

1 A village street with household activities in front of aadivasi houses. Clockwise: 2 A palm thatched house with low entry belonging to an aadivasi. 3 A rudimentary shelter. 4 Interior of the same aadivasi house

Kutch, Gujarat

Kutch, Gujarat

1 A group of typical house forms called bhunga of Kutch. Clockwise: 2 A woman making pinch pottery utensils in front of a bhunga, Kutch. 3 An interior of a typical bhunga, Kutch, Gujarat. 4 A kitchen interior of Sikkim in a specially made thin bamboo wall. 5 Exterior of the same kitchen made in thin bamboo wall with plaster.
Panchmahal, an aadivasi area of Gujarat

Panchmahal, an aadivasi area of Gujarat

1 Primitive well digging technique with locally available resources. Clockwise: 2 Front room (with an animal shed) and the two back rooms of an aadivasi family. 3 Rathwa tribe’s wall painting in the verandah of a house. 4 Votive horses in an ancestral grove of Poshina, North Gujarat. 5 A sacred grove with votive horses in Panchmahal. 6 Totems and votive objects in the sacred grove of Panchmahal.

Typological Development, Himachal Pradesh

Typological Development, Himachal Pradesh

1 Himachal Pradesh composite house form responds to earthquakes through wood and stone lacing system called dhajji diwari, the rural origins showing the structure and the layers of building system. Clockwise: 2 Corner of a building showing dhajji diwari system. An image showing the success of this system where the column is standing despite the stone layers having gone. 4 An old house with a bulked wall in Chamba city.

Rajkot, Gujarat

Rajkot, Gujarat

A Charan house interior near Rajkot, made from branches of a certain tree and burlap covering. Below: Exterior of the Charan house.
Rural Vernacular

Rural Vernacular

A dwelling of a nomadic tribe by a road under construction where the people of the tribe find employment, enroute Junagadh. Below: Children playing ghar-ghar while imitating their houses and making a mini settlement in front of the same settlement.
Mishkal Mosque, Calicut, Kerala, (c.1500 A.D)

Mishkal Mosque, Calicut, Kerala, (c.1500 A.D)

Prayer Hall on ground floor and upper floors but the upper floors are also used for resting as well as a Madrasa. Below: Killivathil - Some typical wooden details such as secondary members pierced through the primary members.