1. KULDHARA VILLAGE SITE STUDY
BUILDING TYPOLOGIES
GROUP MEMBERS:
TRESOR
ARTHUR
JOMAN SARDAR
ANUSHA ROY

2. KULDHARA….THE ABANDONED VILLAGE
VILLAGE PLANNING:
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A well planned settlement,
The straight and wide streets
ran in grids with houses
opening into them
A kind of a garage opened
into the streets to park carts
in.
Temples, stepwells and other
structures were all signs of
sound development over the
centuries

3. HOUSING PATTERN…
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Most of the houses are double storied
and are not affected by thunder or heat.
Only bricks were used all over the
village.
Large stones were placed one over the
other forming thick walls keeping in view
time lag for cooling interiors in scorching
day-time weather and heating chilly
shivering nights.
The wind, as it blew, carried with it sand
particles that got trapped into spaces
between rocks.

4. 
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The inner courtyard was the
designated area for women. It had a
small bathtub and a small structure
to grow a tulsi plant. The outer area
was for men and cows. An
underground cellar was used to
store valuables, but these lie sealed
now.
The yellow hue of the buildings
came from the colour of the local
mud and stones. The floors of the
houses were plastered with cow
dung and clay

9. 
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Garage for bullock carts.
Moreover, the 2 to 3 feet deep
foundations.
Kuldhara is one of the major
earthquake prone areas in India.
The government had built
cemented toilets for tourists
outside the settlement which fell
during an earthquake but the
Kuldhara resisted the calamity

10. 
All design elements kept
both aesthetics and utility in
mind.
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Houses are in a straight line
and all similar

11. 
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They built wells a little away
from the main village or town,
several feet deep, and simple
canals drained into them
Their one time richness can be
seen in the wells, water tanks,
temples and cenotaphs
Each one of the 84 villages use
a simple technique of rainwater harvesting.
.
Every time it rained, the wells and some
ponds would fill up and the water would last
for the better part of three years

12. 
Roofs were built of wood,
but the new one is made
of cement.
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Each house in Kuldhara
was built to precise
calculations
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A typical house includes
sleeping quarters for the
masters and their
children, a puja room and
a kitchen.

13. 
The architecture was very
advanced and every house
had good cross ventilation to
ensure shelter from the sun.
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Houses were not affected by
thunder or heat.
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On the windows, balconies
and pillars fine figures were
carved.

14. CENOTAPHS
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Just south of
Kuldhara and two km
away is a group of at
least 15 cenotaphs.
Though most
cenotaphs have a
stone altar with a slab
describing the body
they enshrine, some
cenotaphs are much
larger, with elaborate
designs and finely
sculpted images of
gods