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INTRODUCTION
ARCHITECTURE
The Bohra settlements of Siddhpur display a distinctive
architectural patois and global character born out of the confluence GUJARAT
and influence of various architectural styles worldwide. ARCHITECTURE
• Borrowed from the European
architectural styles while building
their own houses.
• For the Bohras, religion is a way of
life that also provides a civic code, HAVELIS OF
influencing social behaviour and BOHRA
interactions.
• In contrast to Islamic philosophy, MUSLIMS
there is exterior display and frontal
exposure as the facades are rich in
variety and aesthetic expression.
HISTORY
• Founded by the Solanki ruler
Siddhraj Jaisinh in the 10th
century on the banks of river
Saraswati, Siddhpur is essentially
a holy place for Hindus.
• It was only in the 19th century BHAVANA CHUNDURU
that the Dawoodi Bohras, an 160160004
affluent Muslim trading ANUHARSHA GRANDHI
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community, fanned out and settled KOTHARU MIDHULA
in Siddhpur. 160160010
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 There are two broad categories of Bohrwads: one has an organic layout VERNACULAR
while the other is strictly geometrically laid out. The structure of a typical ARCHITECTURE
organic Bohrwad is inwardly oriented, where the houses are arranged in an
introverted neighbourhood form. GUJARAT
ARCHITECTURE

• The spatial hierarchy in the typical

Bohra house has a sequence of otla
(entrance platform), deli (arrival space), FEATURES OF
avas (courtyard), parsalli and the ordo
(room). The upper floors mainly house
BOHRA HAVELIS
the bedrooms and the agashi (terrace).

•Most Bohrwads have a formal entrance

where gates used to be closed at night
in the past. The houses in a Bohrwad
are typically grouped around a street
BHAVANA CHUNDURU
and these form a mohalla, several 160160004
mohallas form a Bohrwad. Each mohalla ANUHARSHA GRANDHI
is an exogamous unit and may have fifty 160160006
KOTHARU MIDHULA
to a hundred houses. 160160010
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ARCHITECTURE
GUJARAT
ARCHITECTURE

PLANNING
IN A
BOHRA HAVELI

BHAVANA CHUNDURU
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ANUHARSHA GRANDHI
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• The facades enhance the totality of the physical ambience of the built ARCHITECTURE
environment.
GUJARAT
• The eclectic facades of the houses are characterised by Victorian gable
pediments, ornate pilasters and columns, Baroque-style cornices, friezes,
ARCHITECTURE
arches and hoods richly carved in wood and plaster.
•The surface of the facade is visually broken by ornamented columns,
brackets and mouldings, at times bringing multi-coloured cohesion to the
FACADES OF
streets. BOHRA HAVELIS

•The Bohras have adopted the regional

tradition of Gujarat of making facades with
intricate details in wood.
•They create a sense of enclosure and a play of
light and shadows by using of solids and voids .
Through the display of several textures and
patterns, they express balance and harmony
within a predominantly symmetrical
composition.
•There is a lot of aesthetic attention paid to
the making of the windows, entrance doors,
columns, brackets, grills and other elements.
•In the embellishments they use only non-
figural and abstract geometrical patterns as BHAVANA CHUNDURU
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per the Islamic tradition, which rejects ANUHARSHA GRANDHI
animate objects in carving. 160160006
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ARCHITECTURE
A lot of variation was perceived in the
types of zarookhas (floor projections) that GUJARAT
were incorporated as a part of the design ARCHITECTURE
of facades in various Bohra housing in
Gujarat.

•One hardly sees any person standing in the

external zarookha or the balcony and
interacting because the Bohra life-style
emphasizes privacy, formality and
internalization.

•This bay window has iron screens on the

outside. Spacious and well-lit.

•Since both the Hindu and Bohra house types are based on a common regional
house form, there are more similarities than differences, where the
differences generally occur through subtle interventions due to the required
change in the cultural use of domestic space.
BHAVANA CHUNDURU
•The crucial fact to remember is that the Bohras are conservationists and
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promoters of art may be unconsciously. If they are further encouraged by a ANUHARSHA GRANDHI
strategy for conserving entire Bohrwads, it will help to continue the momentum 160160006
of cultural preservation in order that some of the best historic examples of KOTHARU MIDHULA
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regional domestic architecture in Gujarat are not lost. SAI SNEHA TUNUGUNTLA
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•Besides the houses, a large Bohrwad generally contains a mosque, a ARCHITECTURE
Madressa, a Jamat Khana, and other buildings for collective functions. In the
GUJARAT
Bohrwads, the neighbourhood mosque is the most important institution as the
central public space for religious rituals. ARCHITECTURE

•The Bohrwad streets stand apart because of a sense of order, extreme

cleanliness, well-designed drainage system and the element of visual surprise. BOHRA
STREETS
• The meandering passageway with a pedestrian sense of scale creates a
series of vistas as one walks down the street.

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ARCHITECTURE
GUJARAT
ARCHITECTURE

BOHRA
HOUSES

A traditional Bohra house, seen in its cultural and spatial context,

creates a sense of place in a distinct domestic setting.
• The Bohrwad is made up of three to four storeyed-high houses
arranged in a high-density layout.
•The individual courtyard becomes an air and a light shaft where the
cooler air sinks below and the hotter air escapes out of the roof.
• Intricate iron railings adorn the entrance to these houses which are
raised above the ground by a 4-5 feet.
•Some houses have protruding balconies or ‘jharokas’ of typical
Rajasthani havelis. They also have an internal courtyard, about 4 square
feet in size, like traditional Indian houses. BHAVANA CHUNDURU
•The house can almost be considered a metaphor for the social system. 160160004
Gender is important as an organizing theme in dwelling layouts and use of ANUHARSHA GRANDHI
spaces. 160160006
KOTHARU MIDHULA
•Generally a joint family system is followed. The kitchen is common to all 160160010
and it becomes central to the family. SAI SNEHA TUNUGUNTLA
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