Preface

Patience, perseverance, discipline, simplicity, and harmony with nature is embedded into the fire of the
architecture of traditional wooden buildings and products.

An idea is not to live forever but create something that will.

The indigenous woodcraft technique of western Himachal
isn't just any skill to be learned, it's a legacy, preserved and cherished as it,
Making a simple log of wood into a marvel couldn't be acquired with months of training but through the insight of
generational knowledge.

Objective
The workshop comprehends the indigenous wood-craft practiced in western Himachal Pradesh, which ranges
extensively from a small piece of furniture to a complete house, this local style of architecture is known as
Kath-Kuni. Additionally, it included hands-on training in wooden joinery to enlighten the participants about
local tools and different types woods available.The documentation of wooden joinery was carried out through
different methods like video-recording, photo-documenting, sketching, surveys, and measured drawings of
Chachogi gao being a remote village nested in the unique topography of the Kullu Valley.

Introduction
The western province of the Indian Himalayas has been recognised as one of the most astonishing natural habitat
characterised by dense forests covering these mountains separated by lowlands and picturesque valleys.
The settlement pattern in these mountains can be traced back to 980 BC
giving us an insight into the richness of the culture and heritage of the region through their handicrafts and
architecture.
These skills are majorly determined by the availability of indigenous material and are influenced by the harsh
weather conditions; the ramped earth dwellings in Spiti, rock walls in Lahaul and popularly constructed Kath-
Kuni houses in the region of Manali made out of wood and stone are few examples ,which not only provides
thermal comfort but also structural stability and seismic resistance.

Introduction to craft
The craftwork of western Himachal has been flourishing since 3000 years. The community systems gave an
opportunity for art craft to flourish which is also deeply rooted in their culture like their unique sense of fashion
and hand woven fabrics.
Due to high altitudes , it is often challenging to transport finished products which lead to the indigenous nail-free
joinery system as it is portable, reassemble and wood being a natural resource in abundance.
SOURCING
The first step involves the sourcing of wood I.e how wood is collected
-Van committee who’s in authority for regulation and commercialisation analyses a dated or dry trees present in
the forest.

Later a contractor is appointed for cutting and extraction of sleppers or planks.

It is chopped at a specific angle to prevent the tree from upsetting the surrounding area when it falls. Following
that, the trees' ropes are tugged in the desired direction to cause the trees to fall

Traditionally , a kulhari was used to cut the tree, and aara or puring saw which required two people to sit on the
each side of thickness of the trunk to cut the desired segment and a fanai to make planks of about 10-15 ft

With introduction to modern machinery the other tools has been reduced to an electric cutter

Transportation of the planks is carried through zip-lines, which takes about two hours for five to six thousand
wooden planks via one zip line.

STACKING
The method of stacking is done by arranging the wooden planks alternatively between vertical and horizontal
stacks in each row ,which is referred as cross stacking.
This Is one of the effective methods of stacking to avoid cracks as it allows better air flow.