VILLAGE STUDY-KHIZRABAD

CULTURAL AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE

PREPARED BY:
ASHIMA
GUNTASHA
ISHMEHAR
PARAV
Content
o INTRODUCTION
o SOCIAL STRUCTURE
o D E P I C T I O N O F C U LT U R E T H R O U G H :
• Houses
• Language
• Public places
INTRODUCTION
Khizrabad is a village situated on the periphery of Chandigarh at a distance of 26 kms, with a
land area of approximately 2000 acres.
Before the partition of 1947 this land was occupied majorly by Muslim community.
After the partition, while many Muslims migrated to Pakistan, a large no. of Sikhs and Hindus
were allotted the vacant houses.

Presently the village has a diversity of Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and few other communities.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
There are 32 prevalent castes.
The village has 2 panchayats and 18 panch.
The literacy rate of young females is more as compared to men, a major reason of which is drug
abuse.
The houses on the periphery of the village are occupied by ‘Harijans’.
With the advent of time, progress and growth, agriculture which used to be a major source of
income for most of the households has now deteriorated as people are now preferring to move
out and work in the city.
CULTURE
Culture is the way of life.
It consists of the beliefs, behaviors, objects and other characteristics common to the members
of a particular group or society. Through culture, people and groups define themselves, conform
to society’s shared values, and contribute to society. Thus, culture includes many aspects such as
language, customs, values, norms, rules, tools, technologies, products, organizations and
institutions.
Depiction of culture of Khizrabad through:
• Houses
• Language
• Public places
 HOUSE
Pictorial
representation of
S Pilaster
the culture

This is an old house in the village with

features such as: exposed brick work, lime
plaster, recessed arches, niches and a
massive entry gate.
Niche
This is another example of an old house in Khizrabad. It belonged to an MLA
 English inscription on a renovated house
reading the name of the owner of the
Inscription on an old house and the year it was built in
building, in punjabi

Hand imprints is a symbol of Usage of inscriptions and writings to

one of its marriage practices portray individuality.
 This is an example of a newly
constructed house in accordance
with the latest trend.

The flooring is done in mud brick,

whereas the rest of the structure has
been renovated to RCC.
Portrayal of power and wealth through change in the house typology based
on the social status
INFERENCES
The old houses had low boundary walls (or none at all) to encourage
interactions,
but now as we observed the periphery walls have been raised to
create privacy.
Earlier the houses had low plinth but the newly constructed ones
have a relatively higher plinth, in order to portray their social status.
This is also evident from the increase in vertical expansion as
compared to horizontal due to lack of land space.
The evolution of housing typology has also been a contributing factor
in the decline of animal husbandry.

An example of raised walls in a

renovated house.
PUBLIC SPACE
STREET SCAPES
Projected slabs to cover drains also act as
interactive seating spaces.
Informal interaction spaces under trees and around wells

well
INFERENCES
The narrow streets are now encroached with extended balconies, which
make the streets appear more congested.
The drains running along either side of the streets (which used to be
open) are now covered by a protruding slab which also acts as an
interactive seating space.
 Earlier the seating around and under the tree as well as the wells was
semi pukka, but now it has been cemented and benches have been
installed.
As the infrastructure has improved, more people prefer to come out in
the evening and socialize here.
OPEN SPACES

Open spaces Infront of religious shrines

temple mosque
Wrestling ground
INFERENCES
Wrestling is a major part of their culture, as is evident also
from the pictorial representation on the façade of the house.
An event called ‘Kushti Dangal’ takes place annually. Every
year more than 50,000 people from all around come to
witness this event.
This year it was held on August 15, where chief guest was the
Sports Minister of Punjab.
A lot of people participate, and many are from the village
itself.
A few people from the village have come together to form an
organization to steer the youth away from drugs promote
them to participate in physical activities, essentially wrestling.
JIAYA NU