Earthquake-safe Koti Banal architecture of Uttarakhand, India

Despite being located in the seismically highly vulnerable region, Uttarakhand shows an elaborate tradition of constructing multistoried houses. Both the local dialects of the region (Kumaoni and Garhwali) have unique words for identifying four different floors of a building. This suggests common oc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current science (Bangalore) 2008-08, Vol.95 (4), p.475-481
Main Authors: Rautela, Piyoosh, Joshi, Girish Chandra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Architecture
Construction materials
Design
Earthquakes
Houses
Masonry
Masonry buildings
Residential buildings
Timber
Wood buildings
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Summary:Despite being located in the seismically highly vulnerable region, Uttarakhand shows an elaborate tradition of constructing multistoried houses. Both the local dialects of the region (Kumaoni and Garhwali) have unique words for identifying four different floors of a building. This suggests common occurrence of multistoried structures in the region. Rajgarhi area, Uttarkashi District has a large number of intact multistoried traditional houses with marked antiquity and distinct construction style. Detailed investigations suggest that the region had evolved a distinct and elaborate earthquake-safe construction style as early as 1000 yrs BP. This is known as the Koti Banal architecture. It exhibits elaborate procedures for site selection, preparing the platform for raising the structure, as also for detailing the entire structure constructed on principles somewhat akin to that of framed structures of the present times. Locally and then abundantly available wood was judiciously used in these structures. The structural detailing suggests that those responsible for designing these buildings had a fairly good idea about the forces likely to act upon the structure during an earthquake. The significant features of the Koti Banal architecture include: (i) simple layout, (ii) construction on elaborate, solid and raised platform, (iii) judicious use of locally available building material, (iv) incorporation of wooden beams all through the height of the building at regular intervals, (v) small openings and (vi) shear walls. The Koti Banal architecture, however, did not cater to the comfort of the inhabitants. This was perhaps responsible for the introduction of aberrations in the original construction style as early as 728 ± 60 yrs BP.
ISSN:0011-3891