Ruined Beauty - Haveli of Nawalgarh

ayushijain (64)in #travel • 5 years ago (edited)

Hey, explorers of the world. What's amazed you recently?

In my last post, I shared in brief about my recent exploration of the historical monuments of Northern India. This trip was a significant learning experience for me. And I do think that maybe we can find solutions for current problems by learning from the past. While exploring the old structures of Nawalgarh, traditionally known as "Haveli", I learned about logical designing. Everything that was built had a reason for it. Even the heavy ornamentation found on walls!

Haveli is basically a huge house that was popularly built in the older times in this region. Back then, the culture of joint families, numerous people living under one roof. Now, times have shifted to nuclear families and it's almost impossible for us to even imagine the existence of a happy home that huge.

Courtyards were a common feature in the Havelis. The significance of this is mentioned in "Vastu Shastra", the ancient principles of architecture. On the three sides of the courtyard lied the rooms for various purposes. Some were "meeting rooms" for the businessmen of the time. Most activities were performed in groups in the common areas and bedrooms used to be small as the only use of it was for sleep.

The Havelis had numerous tiny windows as the region had a hot climate and the small windows allowed cool air to pass through. Even the rooms located on the ground floor had a significantly larger height to keep them cool. Materials used for the plastering of the structure had limestone in it which is a natural coolant, far more sustainable and had a longer life than cement that we use today. I mean, there's a reason why these buildings are standing tall till date?!