Palei, rajasthan

IJLPA (2016) 27–34 © JournalsPub 2016. All Rights Reserved Page 27
International Journal of Landscape Planning and Architecture
Vol. 2: Issue 1
www.journalspub.com
How to Control Climatic Conditions by Vernacular Architecture
in Palei, Rajasthan
Zeeshan Ansari, Avitesh
Faculty of Architecture, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
Faculty of Architecture, Centre for Architecture, BGI, Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, India
Abstract
This paper discusses the specific climatic conditions of Palei, Rajasthan. Palei is a small
village of Rajasthan. Rajasthan is one of the hottest states of India. The region experiences
more than 45°C during summers and in January which is the coldest month of the year, the
temperature recorded 5°C. There has been no year of scanty rainfall in 35 years from 198° to
215°. It is one of the extreme climatic zones for human survival. Despite such extreme
conditions humans have continuously inhabited the region for centuries. Here, we are
discussing, how they people sustain in this climate with their building construction
technology and Vernacular Architecture.
Keywords: building construction technology, climatic design, hot and dry climate, Palei,
vernacular architecture
Corresponding Authors
E-mail: arzeeshanansari@gmail.com, ar.avitesh13@gmail.com
INTRODUCTION
Palei is a village near Newai Tehsil in
Tonk district of Rajasthan State, India. It
belongs to Ajmer division. Rajasthan is
located in the north-western part of the
subcontinent. Aravallis divided Rajasthan
into two geographical divisions. Rajasthan
is a vibrant, exotic state where tradition
and royal glory meet in a riot of colors
against the vast back drop of sand and
desert. It has an unusual diversity in its
entire forms – people, customs, culture,
costumes, music, manners, dialects,
cuisine and physiographic. That is why it
is famous worldwide.[1]
CLIMATE
Apart from its unique and rich cultural
heritage, it is the survival of human beings
in the extreme climatic conditions that
intrigues any scholar of architecture and
settlement studies. It has hot and dry
climate and one of the hottest places in
India which is continuously inhabited by
the human beings. The summers are
extremely hot and the temperature exceed
more than 45°C, posing challenges for the
survival of humans or for that matter any
life forms. However, the nights in
Rajasthan are pretty cool, with the night
temperature falling considerably. Summer
prevail for almost eight months in a year.
As a result sky is clear in most of the
months with 345 sunlight days per year.
When winter comes, January is the coldest
month of the year and the temperature
recorded 5°C. It means in winters, days are
shiny and the nights are very much cold. In
monsoon season, there was no rain drop in
215° and there has been no year of scanty
rainfall in 35 years from 198° to 215°.
That is why it is one of the extreme
climatic zones for human survival.[2]

How to Control Climatic Conditions by Vernacular Architecture Ansari and Avitesh
SETTLEMENT PATTERN
Palei is a very small village of tehsil,
Newai but located very near to it. As an
urban center, Palei is surrounded by outer
post fortresses. Some depressed land on
upland also. There are many mohallas
because of several casts. The settlement is
an aggregate of houses perforated by

Vol. 2: Issue 1
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irregular pathways and alleys,
intermingling and giving rise to junctions
with nodal activity. Since the area is
acquired by shopkeepers and houses
largely, people have their places of
worship too.
The settlements are located along with the
mount. The significant aspect to the
settlement pattern is that most of them are
located at the base of mount.[3]
The tribal population in Palei is
concentrated in belts running from east to
west. The site selection for the settlement
has also kept on mind that the shadow of
the nearby mountain is cast on them. In
order to decrease the time duration of
getting the sun, the settlement is located on
slope of the mountains rather than the
plains. People to escape the heat; they

create a wall of big trees surround the
village.
URBAN PLANNING
Similar to the settlement pattern discussed,
Palei is typically located near the mount.
The village is located on the northern slope
of the mountain, preventing the settlement
from the Sun. The newer parts are
extending on the plains. The highest point
of the Pelai village is occupied by the
mountain. The lower part of the settlement
is meant for the houses of the commoners
and then the main bazar area. At the name
of bazaar there are three or four shops
only.
The street pattern of the village is such that
it neglects maximum solar penetration,
although the street pattern appears to be
irregular in the first appearance. The
important streets are laid in east-west axis
while the intersecting streets are aligned at
45° to that of cardinal directions; avoiding
any north–south orientation, as mutual
shading will result in such a case.[4]
ARCHITECTURE-SPATIAL
LAYOUT
Most of the houses are single storied
buildings. Larger houses are based on
courtyard while smaller ones do not have
the courtyard.
All the house are enclosed by walls (outer
walls made up of stone and internal walls
were constructed in brick) and has one
gate, individual houses their own gate.
One unit has two or three rooms having
one veranda. Water is available more than
2° feet below the ground level.
Veranda
In architecture, most frequently, an open-
walled, roofed porch attached to the
exterior of a domestic structure and
usually surrounded by a railing. The word
came into English through the Hindi
varanda, but it is related to the Spanish
baranda, meaning “railing,” and thus most
likely entered Hindi via Portuguese
explorers of India.” It is 3 side closed
space and one side is open and

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approachable from the court yard all doors
of the rooms open in veranda.
Courtyard
It is usually found in single unit and open
from the above so it used for ventilation
and light. In the evening time family
members sits together and sleeping in
summers.
Khotri/Store
It is usually attached with a room for and
there is no ventilation. It is used for
storage purpose.
Kitchen
There are mostly open kitchen connected
to verandah, because of ventilation. All
other rooms are usually 3 to 4 m in sizes
perhaps due to the limitations of the
building materials and also helping in
maintaining a climate comfort inside. In
this houses, windows are not provided on
south face and window is kept closed most
of the times and never opened during
summers in order to trap the solar
radiation.[5]
BUILDING MATERIALS AND
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
The dependency on sunlight to maintain
the comfortable climatic conditions is
complimented by the traditional building
materials and construction techniques.
Primary building material is mud and
stone available locally. Both mud and
stone are natural materials and offer
climatic comfort in extreme conditions in
Palei. Mud is used as a plaster for wall.
For making roof some other material like
grass bamboo thatch or sticks are also
used.
Stone and bricks are the primary unit of
masonry construction. Stones found in
various sizes and bricks usually made in
the sizes of 200X100X100 mm they are
employed in the construction of walls of
20 or 350 mm thickness. These bricks are
made from available soil. For external
walls they use stone mainly and in internal
construction they use bricks. In some cases
stone blocks are used in the lower courses
of the walls for added strength and
protection against water, especially in low
lying areas. Finally the wall is finished in
mud plaster or cement plaster.
Different Types of Methods Used in
Construction of Roof

Sandstone (Main Construction
Material)
Sandstone has been used for domestic
construction and house wares since
prehistoric times and continues to be used.
Sandstone was a popular building material
from ancient times. It is relatively soft,
making it easy to carve. It has been widely
used around the world in constructing
temples, homes, and other buildings. It has
also been used for artistic purposes to
create ornamental fountains and statues.
Some sandstone are resistant to
weathering, yet are easy to work. This
makes sandstone a common building and
paving material including in asphalt
concrete. A common weathering feature of
the sandstone is the spelling of thin layers.
Spelled pieces are thin, normally about 2
mm thick, and they range in area from
approximately one square centimeter to
one by several centimeters. The natural
bedding of the sandstone has also been
accentuated by weathering processes that
have caused the loss of weak or fine
material making the layers visible in
several places. Roofs are constructed in
flat and sloped spans by using stone and I-
section, stone slates and thatch coverings.
Materials use according to family financial
condition.
Floor is constructed with bricks with
cement mortar size of brick 200X10X100
mm placed on bat. Doors and Windows
are made of metal and timber (locally
available neem wood). The frames of
doors and windows are made of mostly in
stone, which is locally available material.
In the metal window, at the place of the
glass they use fiber sheet.

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For elevation treatment they use mud
plaster, stone exposed work, brick exposed
work, etc. They also used brackets for
elevation. Stone jali also used for fencing.
It is observed that traditional construction
of earth block was able to offer
temperature difference of almost 2°C in
extreme summers. When outside
temperature goes to 4°C inside
temperature is recorded at comfortable
2°C.
TRAVEL PATTERN
Inter Village Transportation
This village is very well connected by
roadways. Road has played a vital role in
development of this village. Ten minutes
bus and auto-rickshaw service to go
nearby villages and tehsil, Newai. Thirty
minutes bus service to go its district, Tonk.
Two hours bus service and one hour train
service to go Jaipur (Capital of Rajasthan).
Intra Village Transportation
Transportation in the village is in very bad
condition there is no facilities for public
transport on the side of Govt, but Govt
allows Private people to serve public
transport with the means of rickshaw,
Tonga and three-wheeler carry masses
from one place to another. For supply of
raw material camel carts are used because
of narrow roads.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND
SANITATION
This village is struggling to full fill their
basic needs. There is no adequate water
supply from Municipal Corporation.
People have no option other than own
boring to full fill their water requirement.
Electric supply is inadequate as per the
requirements of the village and is a major
concern. Apart from university area and
few new settlements, overall area of urban
comfort is missing. Sanitation of this
village is not good. Sewer is missing 9%
of the village.
RECENT TRENDS
Palei is undergoing drastic changes in
recent times primarily due to increased
educational zone and industrial area near it
and also with traditional architecture.
Tourist’s (Students and Industry tourist)
facilities are heavily dependent on
electricity for lighting, heating and other
purposes. There is a huge gap in the supply
(23 MW) and demand (1 MW) of the
power in this Area.
There is increased use of solar energy to
meet the ever rising demands of power.
Photo voltaic cell panels are installed by
many private and government bodies to
generate electricity. Solar cookers and
water heaters are used in many houses and
hotels. With the advent of electricity in the
region there is a marked shift in the
construction of buildings. Orientation
towards sunlight is ignored in many new
houses and other buildings.
The various types of stones which are used
for the construction are marble, sandstone,
kota-stone, etc. Some of the key benefits
of using stone in construction are that it is
first of all very strong and thus the

building gains immense strength, the stone
wall also helps In reducing the solar
conductance and so reducing the
temperature inside of the building and
keeping it cool.
One other material which was used
traditionally and now used in some places
is “surkhi,” it is used to plaster the walls. It
is a mixture of lime, molasses (gud), methi
and several other ingredients. Surkhi is
considered on the best plastering materials
due to various reasons one of the foremost
reason is that it keeps the internal
temperature low which is very much
important in hot and dry climatic zones, it
is also self-healing i.e. if there is a crack in
the wall it gets fixed naturally over the
passage of time and it also grows stronger
with time. Surkhi gives a light yellow
color to the building. Also, the use of
concrete is rising very fast. Concrete is a
non-compatible material for the extreme
climatic conditions. Asbestos cement
sheets also used at the place of metal
sheets.[1–3]
CONCLUSIONS
Every place on the planet offers challenges
with respect to the climatic conditions
while the vernacular and traditional
understanding provides solutions for the
same. Similarly, Palei illustrates a highly
evolved traditional understanding of
manipulating the extreme climatic
conditions through vernacular architecture;
resulting in the survival of human beings
for decades.
The notion of energy efficiency in
architecture cannot be implemented from
outside but by incorporating the
indigenous techniques. Indigenous
techniques are time-tested and sustainable.
Thus, greater emphasis should be laid
upon the documentation and research of
indigenous techniques to generate a
repository of knowledge. This knowledge
base will help in formulating the best
practices in the Architecture in conjunction
with the traditional practices.
REFERENCES
1. Google earth.
2. Book Assessment of climatic
Vulnerability (climatic regions of
Rajasthan).
3. Dissertation Vernacular Architecture
by Mohd.Danish.
4. www.onefivenine.com.
5. en.climate-data.org.

Palei, rajasthan

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