VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

OF RAJASTHAN
JAISALMER
CHIMMANA YAGNYA SREE 036
 LOCATION
• Jaisalmer is situated in India, the land of diverse cultures and people. It is one of the
major tourist attractions and cultural hub in South Asia. Jaisalmer is situated in the
western Rajasthan region amid Thar Desert, close to Indo-Pak boarder.

Longitude: 69.3 to 72.2° East

Latitude: 26.01 to 28.02° North

Jaisalmer nicknamed “The Golden

city”, is a city in the Indian state of 
Rajasthan, located 575 kilometres
(357 mi) west of the state capital 
Jaipur. The town stands on a ridge of
yellowish sandstone.
CLIMATE IN JAISALMER
 CLIMATE ZONE – HOT AND DRY
The climate here is "desert." There is virtually no
rainfall during the year. The climate here is
classified as BWh by the Köppen-Geiger
system. The average annual temperature in
Jaisalmer is 26.5 °C | 79.7 °F. The rainfall here
is around 200 mm | 7.9 inch per year.

WEATHER BY MONTH // WEATHER

AVERAGES JAISALMER
The driest month is February, with 1 mm | 0.0
inch of rain. Most precipitation falls in July, with
an average of 80 mm | 3.1 inch.
 CULTURE AND TRADITION

• The cosmopolitan city of Jaisalmer comprises of

several religions of Hindus, Jains, Muslims, Sikhs
and Christians. Most of the native population of
Jaisalmer follows Hindu religious customs and
rituals. The Marwari community of the place
observes the Hindu festivals with great religious
fervor and zeal. The traditional folk music and
dance is an integral part of the social and cultural
life of the indigenous inhabitants of Jaisalmer.
The Kalbeliya dance of the community of snake
charmers portrays the rich artistic caliber and
creative imagination of the dancers
 VERNACULAR PROTOTYPE- BHUNGA
HOUSE OF JAISALMER
The villagers of Jaisalmer build
circular houses of mud, roofed
with thatch – materials eminently
suited to their hostile desert
environment.
The clustering of huts and the
arrangement of open spaces
reflect their life-styles and social
structure.
Bhungas are built on a raised
platform and circulation is
carried out on it.
A cluster of bhunga built on the
plinth contains settlements of one
whole family.
 VERNACULAR PROTOTYPE- BHUNGA
HOUSE OF JAISALMER

• Enclosed by a mud wall,

diameter of a bhunga house
varies from 3 to 5 m.
• In places which are likely to
face inundation during the
rains, the walls are made up of
sun dried clay blocks and
finished with mud plaster.
• These walls cannot carry the
load of the roof and they are
not rigid enough to hold it.
 CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES

• For the roof, a conical

wooden frame is made of
sticks which rise from the
wall and are tied at crown to
create the cone.
• The cone is surfaced
externally with thatch.
• A wooden prop placed in
the centre of the beam
supports the conical roof and
helps transfer the load to
the post through the beam.
CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
 BHUNGAS CONSTRUCTION DETAILS

• In several Bhongas, the roof joist is not directly supported on

the cylindrical walls, but is
supported by two wooden vertical posts outside the Bhonga,
which further improves
seismic resistance of the inertia force generated in the roof.
• In some instances, reinforcing bands at lintel level and collar
level have been used to
provide additional strength.
• These bands are constructed from bamboo or from RCC. These
increase the lateral load-
carrying strength greatly and increase the seismic resistance of
the Bhongas.
•Even in situations where the roof collapses, its low weight
ensures that the extent of
injuries to occupants is very low.
SOME PICTURES
 WALL CONSTRUCTION OF BHUNGA
• Due to circular shape of wall in plan, inertial forces
developed addition, the
• thick walls required for thermal insulation have high
in-plane stiffness which
• provides excellent performance under lateral loads.
• The roofing in wall are resisted through shell action
providing excellent
• resistance to lateral forces.
• In materials are generally very light weight, and
develops low inertia forces.
• Since the roof is constructed from extremely ductile
materials such as bamboo
• and straw, the performance of.these roofs is usually
very robust
 NEW TYPES OF BHUNGAS
• Recent Bhongas constructions have used wide
variety
• of construction materials.
• These include the stone or burnt brick masonry
either
• in mud mortar or in cement mortar.
• Traditional roof consists of light-weight conical roof,
• while some recent constructions have used heavy
• manglore tiles on roofs.
• Some recent constructions have used circular strip
• footing below the wall, while traditional
construction
• simply extended the walls below ground level.
 LABOURS WHO CONSTRUCT BHUNGAS
AND MATERIALS USED
• •These constructions are carried out by local village masons.
• • The locally available soft stone can easily be cut or chiselled into rectangular
blocks,
• which are used for wall masonry.
• •The local soil is used for mud mortar and to make adobe blocks. Locally
available timber
• and bamboo are used for roof.
• • The entire construction process, which is carried out by the mason with very
few
• unskilled laborers, can be completed within 30 days.
• • The construction of this type of housing takes place in a single phase.
• • Typically, the building is originally designed for its final constructed size.
• • Bhongas are never "designed" in the modern context. However, Bhonga
architecture is a
• very unique aspect of traditional desert architecture of Kutch region in which
the size,
• location and orientation of the Bhonga are planned for very good structural and
functional
• results.
DETAILING
ELEVATION
PLAN AND SECTION
 ORNAMENTATION
Mirror-studded clay decoration,
embroidered cloths and painted
earthenware contribute to the
rich ambience of a bhunga
interior.
 KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM/ INNOVATION
DISASTER RESISTANCE/ STRUCTURAL SYSTEM

Earthquake imparts lateral forces on the
structure. Due to the circular plan of
a bhunga, one half part of a bhunga always
reacts as an arch against the forces applied
from any direction that the earthquake
waves hit the structure6. Thus, bhunga uses
a circular shape for its maximum advantage
against lateral forces of an earthquake.
It performed very well in the recent M7.6 Bhuj
earthquake in 2001.
Very few Bhongas experienced significant
damage
in the epicentral region, and the damage that did
occur can be mainly attributed to poor quality of
the
construction materials or improper maintenance
of
the structure.
It has also been observed that the failure of
Bhongas
in the last earthquake caused very few injuries to
the
occupants due to the type of collapse.
 CONSTRUCTION ECONOMICS

• Rs 160 per sq m (US $4 per sq m) per house in the case

of a conventional Bhonga constructed using sun-dried
brick, mud and thatch roof. Rs. 1075 per sq m (US $23
per sq m) per house in the case of a Bhonga constructed
using a single layer thick burnt brick wall in cement
mortar, and with timber conical roof.Only unskilled or
semi-skilled labor is required for its construction.
THANK YOU