KIRAT &

MUSTANG
ARCHITECTURE

Presenters:Priyanka Thing
Shreya Tiwari
THE SETTLEMENT
● Location: hill top/ridges Fallow/ nonagricultural land (pring- ridge)
● Extended sometimes to slopes (tala – plains)
● Water supply: ponds on higher slopes
● Density – high (compact settlements)
● Size – small
● Resource Base – defined agricultural land – agro forestry- cottage industries,
weaving cloth and carpet
Kirats
● Economy: Pastoral, Agro-forestry Exporting
Redi…Carpet…Chanakya’s Arthashastra Oil,
Cloth, Leather industries
● Religion: Ancestor worship : Yumi, Ajima,
theba,Ajju,Bhairav
● Social organization- 18 crafts, Astadasa Prakriti
● Material : Brick and wood , Stones
MATIN DEVAKULA
● Matin Devakula was repaired by Amshuverma in 610 AD
● Coursed Brickwork
● Timber structure
● Wooden Doors and Windows
● Damaged by rats
DYOCHHE : DEVAKULA
RECTANGULAR: NO CIRCUMAMBULATION Modeled after
residential building (similar to basic Newar houses now)

Ground floor: entrance Dalan (for parking of Khat), store and

stairs

First floor: Hall and Agam (Bed room)

Second floor: Feast Hall (Living room)

Attic floor: Kitchen and Daily worship room (similar use in

residences)
TEMPLES OF KIRAT
Devakula
• Rectangular in plan
• Brick and wood construction
• 90 cm thick foundation wall
• Continuous 1m wide plinth of bricks
•Forecourt paving with triangular bricks
• L = 2W and Precinct a Square
• Triangular bricks limited to important
religious places Ex : Pashupati and
Changunarayan
THE EVOLUTION OF DYOCHHE
● The dominant visual elements are the forms
such as the roof, exposed and decorative
brick in walls and the carved doors,
windows and struts make all of the Nepali
temples seem similar,
● Consideration of religious symbolism and
ritual practices will reveal two distinct
groups:

(i) the square Devalayatemple of the

Degahand

(ii) the rectangular Dyochhe.

THE EVOLUTION OF DYOCHHE
● Nepali architecture considering materials, methods and skills of
construction, tend to blur the difference between the two groups of
religious buildings,
● Through rituals and religious symbolism - this is more likely to
reveal differing ideologies, linkages and paths of evolution,
sequences of developments and cultural contact.
● The form of religious icons, in most cultures, are conceived as
objective symbols to begin with and get worked on only later with
building materials, technologies and architectural stylization.
SYMBOL AND FORM
● Dyochhe derives its key
symbolism from two simple
conceptions;

(i) conception of an earthly

residence for the family « God in
the form of the house of the
family of Man

(ii)An idea of similarity and

correspondence of the life-style
of God to that of Man.
Dyochhe with Fucha (TulajaBhavani at Bhaktapur).

● Floor formats typical of newar residence.

● A small area, over the central part of the building , is
sometimes given a standard pyramidal roof called
fuchaand gives a religious appeal to the building form.
● Likewise, guardian lions on the sides of the entrances
● Torana over the doors and windows and the religious
character and motifs of carvings describe the building
as religious.
Dalan in Dyochhe of Bakupatinarayan, Bhaktapur — also Window with Religious Motifs.

● The symbolic reflection of the temple as a residence of the family

of God is made by the multiple finials (gajurs) over the roofs.
● The presence of as many as twenty (13 in top tier, 5+1 in second
tier and 1 in first finials can be observed in the temple of
Baghvairab of Kirtipur.
● The architectural form of Dyochhe and Pith can be seen as a
development from hypaethral religious practices with tantric
leaning.
● Originally, the Dyochhe as a whole might have been conceived as
the agam of the pith.
Vernacular Architecture
● Uses locally available resources and traditions to
address local circumstances.
● Term “vernacular architecture” is used to categorize
methods of construction:
● use locally available resources and tradition
● in order to address local circumstances
● All forms of vernacular architecture are built to meet
specific needs,accommodating the values , economies
and ways of the life of the cultures that produce them.
● In architecture , it refers to that type of architecture
which is indigenous to the specific time or place (not
imported or copied from elsewhere )
Architecture of Himalayan region
Mustang architecture
Thakali architecture

● Scattered in a series of small blocks with parallel

settlements of flat roofed terraced houses masoned with
stone.
● Internal spaces articulated around a courtyard and
generally face the river cultivation land on cramped sites
below the habitation.
● Terraced roof houses
● Larger size and more closed up houses.
● A central courtyard leads to different levels
● Outhouses(canopies, extension cattle sheds, attics )
● Concentric growth of space around the courtyard
repeating the structure of the basic unit where space is
centred around the room of the ancestors.
Mustang architecture
Thakali architecture:The thakali residence

Ground floor

● Store where alcohol is prepared and servants

are lodged.
● Courtyards kho surrounded with porticos
partially closed by the firewood stores.
● Perimeter marked with flat heavy stones that
delimit the space linked with the courtyard.
● On right and left are stables thabil separated
from the hay store by a plank partition and a
canopy khorcha which provides storage space.
Mustang architecture
Thakali architecture

Upper floor
● consists of agro-production storage rooms
along with other kinds of storage.
● Roof room and the roof terrace are
extensively used for the harvesting of the
grain.
● In wealthy thakali houses,rooms are entered
through fine wooden gallery.
Mustang architecture
Thakali architecture

Uppermost floor

● This part is used extensively during festivals

which acts as multipurpose space used for
functions or to relax.
● It is covered from the three sides with walls
and open colonnade in front looking courtyard.
● Other functions includes sleeping room,family
chapel room and additional storage rooms.
Fig:Linear thakali settlement
Mustang architecture
Thakali architecture
Gompa and Chorten

● Gompa is a religious structure at the centre of the

settlement or near to the prayer wall
● They are usually buddhist influenced and in every
case, buddhist gompa and gate are situated in the
outskirt of the settlement.
● chorten is a small sculptural structure which is said
to be the symbolization of lord buddha.
● Chorten is available in the gompa complex,and in
the middle of village dwellings it is an important
religious centre .