house of mud

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‘Bhung’ or mud hut a traditional construction in Kutch is an engineering wonder.

Here are the mud houses or bhungas and glipses of people of Kutch.These traditional circular homes withstood the devastating earthquake (2001). They are also considered cyclone proof. They can be constructed with local material.

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The colourful and one of the extremely rich in crafts region of Gujarat (India) is Kutch. Many communities and tribes in this region have their own distinctive styles in textiles, embroidery and handicrafts. Each community and tribal group has its own lexicon of motifs and embroidery stitches.

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                                      Bharwaads

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Rabaaris are the ones who decorate the insides of their mud-and-thatch huts with ‘lippankam’ or mud-mirror work; the Bharwaads are seen in their exquisitely embroidered dresses and clothes; the Meghwaals decorate the exteriors of their mud huts with alluring patterns; the nomadic Jaths whose subgroups include the graceful Fakirani Jaths, live in huts made of coloured reeds. And you can see a group of Jath women walking along the road in their brightly coloured and beautifully embroidered costumes.

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                                      Meghwaals

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What makes the `bhungas’ so strong?

Their circular design and the steely mesh of mud plaster and twigs make them resist any wind pressure and quake. The `bhungas’, which ‘even a king would envy’ for its elaborate design and artistic elegance, have a light dome-shaped bamboo and thatched roof and a circular wall plastered with mud, twigs and dung.

Their thick walls keep the interior cool when the temperature rises to 46 degrees celsius in summer and warm when it drops to two degrees in winter.

Above image is part of permanent exhibitionin in the Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig in Germany.

 

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bhunga out of clay and reed

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                mirror work embroidery,     hand woven jute rug

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                                         Rabaaris

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I had to bring these enduring images of Kutch & Bhung before I do a post on lippankam and other crafts!

(Images courtesy BAPS charities,   Michael Sheridan, craftsinindia,

18 thoughts on “house of mud”

  1. What is the tempature like inside in the cold winters and how do they keep warm?
    How much does it cost to build the kutch mud house structure about 25ft in diameter?
    How long does it take to build one and can you put bamboo floors in it?

    thank you for all your help!
    Hummingbird

  2. Hi Roma,

    This is Jem. These are really Lovely Picures !!!!

    I have just visited Kutch, but I had very short time to visit whole Kutch area, but still I managed to visit Mandavi WindFarm, VijayVilasPalace, Narayan Sarovar, Koteshwar, Lakhpat, MatanoMadh, Hajipir. Even though I was in Bhuj to attend marriage ceremony, I could not visit any site of Bhuj city.

    I was in search of such pictures from Kutch which you have but did not get success. I had tried to visit the Ludbay village on the way to Hajipir, but the women of the village were afraid of us as we were in big group and they rejected us to take any snaps. So we had no option except to leave from there.

    But you got success, thats great. And you have really good collection of such pictures. Looking to one of your blog photos, I guess if you are from Architect student from Vallabh Vidhyanagar!! Am I right?

  3. hi. am writing from kenya. truelly love the pictures. kindly mail all inform you have on the designs and building technics used. hope to put up cottages for tourists.

    thanks for the info.

    kindest regards.

    karira

  4. Lovely post Roma,

    Had posted about Bhungas long back at ‘Rang Decor’

    Beautiful images:-)

    Arch

  5. Hi Vineeta,
    ‘Lippan kam’ is still to come. This is painted walls. This you can find in many parts of our country like Rajasthan and Bihar & W, Bengal. In Bihar & Bengal you will find one or two motifs on the wall & that too not so colourful!
    The head ornament rabari girl is wearing is made of “motis”. it is ‘motikam’. (you can see it in Prince of Wales Museum, Mumbai)what rabaris call it I don’t know but in Gujarati, something similar is called ‘modh’. I think it is similar to ‘tika’ or ‘borlo’ of Rajasthan. Rabaris are gypsy people and do you remember kashmiris wearing similar ornament in silver!

  6. I’ve always loved ‘Lippankam’ I just didn’t know thats what its called 🙂 And the beauty of traditional Indian architechture is that they are made to withstand the local climatic conditions in the local aesthetic! we come from an seriously artistic country, roma 🙂 And I absolutely love what those little Rabari girls have worn on the side of their head- what style! Loved this post Roma 🙂 !

  7. Beautiful Post Roma!

    Lovely Place & Awesome Stuff, jus wanna go here & wanna explore…

    Hope you received my SMS

    Hi Kanchan,
    I too am seriously thinking of going to Kutch to stay in a mud house!

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