In Indian villages, traditional kutcha houses have been more than just a place to live. A house, the heart of rural life, carry with it the stories, values, and skills of generations. Built from locally available materials and local techniques, each house is a product of a connection with the surrounding environment and thus creating a strong sense of community. Each house, crafted through shared efforts, reflects climate and geography besides the needs and aspirations of its resident. The personalized details of every house clustered together brought the village a unique of a life in harmony with nature and tradition.
With modernization, things are changing in villages. Climate shifts, economic pressures, and the reach of urbanization are starting to reshape the once-stable rural landscapes. New materials and construction methods have made their way into the villages with a narrative of strength and durability besides a status symbol of being urban alias modern. The government programs like the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) encouraging the use of cement, concrete, and steel as main structural elements, seems to shape the future of rural housing.
At the face value, these modern materials seem like a step forward to housing upgrade to have a stronger and more lasting building solution. However, from the ongoing work at Ganjraha, we find that these modern materials come with a set of challenges that aren’t immediately known. For example, cement and concrete structures built without a full understanding of how to use them effectively are poorly designed and constructed resulting in issues like leaking roofs and uncomfortable living conditions due to poor thermal performance. So, instead of improving living conditions, these new houses are making daily living harder, especially in extreme climates.
This shift away from traditional building practices is as much as a technical issue as it is a cultural one. An important cultural loss is of the institutional memory of the traditional knowledge of local building materials and techniques. The move towards cement and concrete risks losing the traditional knowledge of local building materials and techniques that lived through generations. Traditional building methods, developed in harmony with the environment, have always been about more than just materials; they’ve been about creating built and open spaces that fit the landscape and the lives of the people who live in them. When we lose these practices, we lose a vital part of our cultural heritage and a way of living that is referred as ‘sustainable’.
With a goal to understand how to blend the traditional and modern building techniques to create buildings that are both strong and sustainable to withstand difficult weather conditions as well as live longer. At Ganjraha in the Prakruti Prerna Foundation (PPF), premise, two years ago a team set out to find a synergy between the old and the new building materials and techniques. The urge was to show that it is possible to move forward without leaving behind the wisdom of the past. Thus, the efforts that later went into wasn’t about making better building, instead it was about finding a future way by preserving an existing way of life.
This essay is a journey of working with the local community, learning from their experiences, and collectively finding ways to construct buildings that incorporated and honored the tradition and the innovation. The story transcends into the vernacular architecture of understanding people, their needs, their aspirations, and finding ways to transform rural building approaches while keeping the essence of what makes the communities and their constructions special. The authors, Garbhit lived the experiences and Mansee learned them to write.
Ganjraha village
Ganjraha alias Gajraha (as people generally pronounce it) is situated 35 kilometers away from the Tehsil alias sub-district headquarter Manpur (tehsildar office) and 60 kilometers away from the district headquarter Umaria in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. Bakeli is the Gram Panchayat of Ganjraha village. Importantly, Ganjraha is located in the buffer forest of the Bandhavgarh National Park. The famous Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is spread over the Vindhya hills consisting of a core area of 105 square kilometers and a buffer area of approximately 400 square kilometers. With the highest density of Royal Bengal Tigers, a plethora of magnificent flora and fauna -- Bandhavgarh is the most-visited protected wildlife reserve in the country. In addition, however, the forest is suffering from extensive deforestation and invasion of a shrub weed namely, Lantana Camara L (called Raimuniya in Hindi).The total geographical area of the Ganjraha village is 874.5 hectares (2,200) acres. 75% of the village area is under the forest, and rest is farmlands and ravines. The villages located on the periphery of Protected Areas are critical transition zones that present a huge potential for large scale community-led restoration initiatives. The forest restoration through livelihood generation at the Prakruti Prerna Foundation (PPF) is among such initiatives.
There are about 105 houses in Ganjraha located on the edge of the protected Bandhavgarh forest and the bank of a tributary namely, Hulphul. Initially the built environment of the village was overwhelming as a contrast from the urban experiences. Since, somehow the understanding that the built form manifests wellbeing is more deeply engraved than the sustainability and liveability aspect of it among both urban and rural population.
The living conditions are very critical. The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) 2015 to provide housing when extended to the rural areas was intended to improve the quality of life of the villagers with the construction of ‘Pucca Houses’ to protect from adverse weather conditions. The scheme however seemed to lack the basic design principles needed to perform passive heating or cooling of indoor spaces. The brick and cement structures turn into a kiln during summers and are extremely cold during winters. So, villagers use their buildings mainly as a store and continue to live in their old mud houses.
The compact village houses around 447 people, out of which male population is 234 and female population is 213. The literacy rate of the village is 55.70% out of which 61.11% males and 49.77% females are literate. Half of the population depends on rainfed agriculture and the other half manages their livelihood from selling forest produce.
In the recent 2024 Lok Sabha Election, Ganjraha made a headline for 100% voting which may be seen as villagers are very much active in the social-political whereabouts of the country, besides being ecologically rooted to the forest and economically rooted to the forest allied livelihood. It is also to note that many youths have migrated permanently and temporarily to urban areas as distant as Pune (identified by us) which have allowed import of new ideas, materials and techniques into their buildings in the village.
Prakruti Prerna Foundation (PPF) campus
The Prakruti Prerna Foundation (PPF) campus is nested in the outskirts of the forest and the Ganjraha. The PPF is a non-profit organization aiming to work towards reviving the forest and wildlife with the help of local people and experts started setting up its research center in 2021. The Centre’s location in Ganjraha for the forest restoration efforts through livelihood generation allows to study the village and the forest environs to observe the complex interactions of human habitation, farming, and forestry. This study presents a first-hand and situational analysis and assessment of that interaction through the campus development process. The villagers who are the farmers and foresters are the unit of analysis alongside the building materials and techniques that are local to the place as well as newly induced.The team PPF embarked on an architectural journey to develop a sustainable campus for the foundation. This research Centre aimed to foster forest conservation and rewilding along with sustainable community development in Ganjraha soon became a canvas for a shared vision between the new set of people and the local villagers. Thus, a methodology of 'co-creating' became crucial. To get started, the local community was invited for a number of brainstorming interactions about the purpose of the Centre, the planned projects and the making of the premise. They were especially asked on how to build it using the local materials and traditional construction techniques of that area.
Initially, it was challenging to communicate with the villagers however slowly, they realized the Centre’s intent and implementation approach, and thus started a collective journey of making the PPF campus. Their resilience and adaptability in the face of change are commendable and inspiring. Team PPF decided to build four main buildings and a few other structures for supporting activities. The main buildings included, the Shyam Ghate Memorial Hall (Community Hall), a Guest block, a Kitchen, and the Hut. The other structures included the entrance, a service block, a tree house, and a tent for volunteers. A prima facie decision was to build with natural materials unless it is necessary to use concrete.
Like any construction project, from designing to implementation included the climatic changes, bureaucratic clearances and the dynamics of availability of the artisans-masons with their seasonal forest-farm activities, the campus took a shape with its main and ancillary buildings in just over two years. The construction process of each building in the premise has a story of collective action and integration of materials and techniques which is discussed below.
The Hut
The Hut is the first building constructed and later reimagined into a haveli. Since, when the team PPF decided to move to Ganjraha there was no place to stay, and the villagers did not have any extra place to accommodate us besides, the site was barren and there was no means to start the construction process. So having a small hut that could be built within a month or two was pragmatic for PPF to get started with its official functioning.By Feb 2022, team PPF moved to Ganjraha and started planning for other structures. While building this hut, a glimpse of problems was emerging as what could arrive while building other structures, thus the giving the team a chance to learn and overcome those problems beforehand. For example, the need for chemical-based termite protection instead of natural means to stop termites. The Hut was constructed using the wattle and daub technique. During the construction, the artisans started referred to the benefits of using adobe bricks over wattle and daub. Thus, started a process of making in-situ adobe bricks for the other structures.
Kitchen and Guest Block
By end of March 2022, when the digging of the foundation for the kitchen and guest block, little was realized that the ‘Mahua’ season will bring a sudden withdrawal of the workforce from the site resulting in a shortage of construction labours. At Ganjraha, people wake up at 3 am, take baskets and go deep inside the forest to procure mahua flowers. The mahua flowers, considered as gold in the region, are used to make local alcohol and is an important source of annual income for the villagers.As crisis management, a team of nine bamboo artisans were called from outside to build the roof for both the structures. Being at a remote location, several arrangements were made to accommodate a team of that size. The construction was planned with multiple activities running at a time, optimizing the availability of each person in the village. While the bamboo team started working on the kitchen block, things did not go as planned and the bamboo team could not deliver the work as per the standards were set and thus were asked to leave. The team PPF took the challenge of capacitating the local team with bamboo construction skills. The local team was sharp enough to grasp bamboo construction which helped finishing the kitchen and guest block before the monsoon.
Shyam Ghate Community Hall
To commemorate the efforts of PPF mentor Late Shyam Ghate a community hall was planned in the campus. The purpose of the hall will be to bring local people, experts, officials in order to integrate their ideas and actions into the objectives of PPF of restoring the forest landscape and foresters (villagers) livelihood. The construction of the hall in July-August was the time for sowing seeds and thus there was a shortage of work force again. It is important to understand that the dry landscape with erratic monsoon pattern poses a challenge for villagers in deciding a better time for sowing. Sowing is crucial time of the year since they are dependent for their annual grain supply importantly rice as a staple food produce. So, for the villagers, engaging in building construction is a secondary activity. Yet, the hall, a pavilion-like structure with a roof made of a bamboo truss, got built on time with the help of the villagers as by then they had gained much more confidence to work with this new material and technique.
The climate in the region is harsh—hot and dry, with summers often soaring to an unbearable 47-48 degrees Celsius and winters dipping to below zero degree Celsius. To create livable and sustainable spaces, considering the climatic conditions was apriority. A first step towards it was to orient the buildings in east-west direction which was also evident in the village old houses. This simple yet effective choice meant that the longer sides of the structures faced north and south, minimizing the exposure to the relentless sun.
The next step was to tap into the local vernacular techniques that have been used for generations. The soil in Ganjraha is sandy loam, which is great for rammed earth construction. Since the community was more familiar with making adobe bricks, it was a conscious choice to go with what they knew, a choice rooted in respect for their knowledge and experience. Creating these adobe bricks was a fascinating process. A mix of sandy soil, a bit of clay, and kodo millet straw—a suggestion that came from the villagers. The kodo millet was less attractive to termites than the more commonly used rice straw. The 14-inch-thick bricks became the backbone of the buildings in the campus giving us sturdy, thermally efficient walls that kept the heat out in the summer and the warmth in during the winter.
Ventilation was another crucial factor. It was important to create a system that allowed the hot air to escape while drawing in cooler air from below. Stack ventilation, with openings in the roof for the hot air to escape and smaller windows to let in light, proved to be optimal solution. It was a delicate balance—bringing in enough natural light without overheating the space with consideration of the size and placement of the windows. Studying the vernacular built form and the PMAY housing intervention in the village, it was realized that a proper use of concrete needs to be showcased that is climatically responsive in order to motivate the villagers to continue building their houses with mud. This led to extensive and visible use of passive design elements such as, mutual shading over the walls with verandahs, protruding out brick patterns, and low-small windows for ventilation besides, skylight (in Guest Block).
Each building had its own unique requirements, and this led to some interesting design challenges. For example, the Guest Block needed a large open dormitory space and thus its design started with roof which was a bit unconventional. The truss system accounted for the wind movement and the weight of the country tiles to be used. The tiles used are heavy—each one weighing about 3.5 kg, making the roof up to eight tons. To support the heavy roof, a combination of bamboo, stone lintels, and metal rods are used which eventually is aesthetically pleasing.
Another example is the Community Hall, a column-free space to house 200 people led to an installation of bamboo trusses, distributing the weight of the roof across four main columns. These columns converged at a single point, transferring the load to the foundation. The traditional country tiles and the modern metal roofing are used to create lighter roof.
The toilet design is also taken in both traditional and modern ways. The Kitchen is built with a regular western toilet with drainage connected to a compost pit and the Hut and the Guest Block are built with a western dry compost toilet and an open shower. It has been, in fact, challenging for the visitors to tune in to the dry compost toilet.
Another crucial component of the campus buildings was to minimize waste and thus the use of refurbished and salvaged materials was incorporated. For example, old woods are repurposed for furniture, scrap metal made into decorative grills.
Nuances of the place and the people
The journey of setting up the PPF campus in Ganjraha has been more than constructing the buildings. It has been about engaging with the village community, learning from them about their vernacular architecture, and finding ways to integrate modern materials and techniques. This essay is about exploring these to create a contemporary language for rural architecture. The focus was clear from the beginning to build with nature and with the people.The climate in the region is harsh—hot and dry, with summers often soaring to an unbearable 47-48 degrees Celsius and winters dipping to below zero degree Celsius. To create livable and sustainable spaces, considering the climatic conditions was apriority. A first step towards it was to orient the buildings in east-west direction which was also evident in the village old houses. This simple yet effective choice meant that the longer sides of the structures faced north and south, minimizing the exposure to the relentless sun.
The next step was to tap into the local vernacular techniques that have been used for generations. The soil in Ganjraha is sandy loam, which is great for rammed earth construction. Since the community was more familiar with making adobe bricks, it was a conscious choice to go with what they knew, a choice rooted in respect for their knowledge and experience. Creating these adobe bricks was a fascinating process. A mix of sandy soil, a bit of clay, and kodo millet straw—a suggestion that came from the villagers. The kodo millet was less attractive to termites than the more commonly used rice straw. The 14-inch-thick bricks became the backbone of the buildings in the campus giving us sturdy, thermally efficient walls that kept the heat out in the summer and the warmth in during the winter.
Ventilation was another crucial factor. It was important to create a system that allowed the hot air to escape while drawing in cooler air from below. Stack ventilation, with openings in the roof for the hot air to escape and smaller windows to let in light, proved to be optimal solution. It was a delicate balance—bringing in enough natural light without overheating the space with consideration of the size and placement of the windows. Studying the vernacular built form and the PMAY housing intervention in the village, it was realized that a proper use of concrete needs to be showcased that is climatically responsive in order to motivate the villagers to continue building their houses with mud. This led to extensive and visible use of passive design elements such as, mutual shading over the walls with verandahs, protruding out brick patterns, and low-small windows for ventilation besides, skylight (in Guest Block).
Each building had its own unique requirements, and this led to some interesting design challenges. For example, the Guest Block needed a large open dormitory space and thus its design started with roof which was a bit unconventional. The truss system accounted for the wind movement and the weight of the country tiles to be used. The tiles used are heavy—each one weighing about 3.5 kg, making the roof up to eight tons. To support the heavy roof, a combination of bamboo, stone lintels, and metal rods are used which eventually is aesthetically pleasing.
Another example is the Community Hall, a column-free space to house 200 people led to an installation of bamboo trusses, distributing the weight of the roof across four main columns. These columns converged at a single point, transferring the load to the foundation. The traditional country tiles and the modern metal roofing are used to create lighter roof.
Another crucial component of the campus buildings was to minimize waste and thus the use of refurbished and salvaged materials was incorporated. For example, old woods are repurposed for furniture, scrap metal made into decorative grills.
Learning and way forward
This essay focused on the approach to constructing the buildings to inhabit the centre’s functioning and functionaries. Whilst, a major part of the PPF campus development is the experiment with the afforestation, farming and water conservation which will be covered in the next essay.
The conversations with the local community are most revered part of this campus development. The villagers were initially hesitant about using traditional techniques, partly because of the perception that mud houses are a sign of poverty. But as they saw the transformation of the buildings—especially in The Guest Block and The Hut, which became a symbol of how modern materials and traditional techniques can come together beautifully—they started to embrace the idea and to collaborate.
The co-learning with the local community was the most crucial part of this campus development journey. For example, a simple truss design drawing on the ground and letting the craftsmen practice and perfect the technique. It was incredible to see the villagers take on these new skills with great enthusiasm. By the end of the project, they got trained towards building complex structures with confidence. The testimony of this is the last structure made, the Tree House, before this essay is written.
We learned that one has to go to such places and people with open mind to learn. Besides, piloting is an experiment. Its upscaling (whether or not?) will depend on how well the approach is communicated and a continuous hand holding besides material/techniques availability and affordability.
The conversations with the local community are most revered part of this campus development. The villagers were initially hesitant about using traditional techniques, partly because of the perception that mud houses are a sign of poverty. But as they saw the transformation of the buildings—especially in The Guest Block and The Hut, which became a symbol of how modern materials and traditional techniques can come together beautifully—they started to embrace the idea and to collaborate.
The co-learning with the local community was the most crucial part of this campus development journey. For example, a simple truss design drawing on the ground and letting the craftsmen practice and perfect the technique. It was incredible to see the villagers take on these new skills with great enthusiasm. By the end of the project, they got trained towards building complex structures with confidence. The testimony of this is the last structure made, the Tree House, before this essay is written.
We learned that one has to go to such places and people with open mind to learn. Besides, piloting is an experiment. Its upscaling (whether or not?) will depend on how well the approach is communicated and a continuous hand holding besides material/techniques availability and affordability.
Acknowledgement
Prakruti Prerna Foundation (PPF) with special mention of Srinivas Rachakonda who is committed to support the study besides, the efforts the foundation is making in forest restoration. The villagers of Ganjraha, the foresters and the officials who supported with their knowledge of the place and the people. The PPF team who stood the test of time in constructing the buildings. The WforW Foundation collaborating with PPF for a long-term study on ‘Social-ecological approach to governance and sustainability of forest and forest dwellers in Ganjraha’ including documentation such as this essay. Other articles published about the place and the people are:- Why forest landscape restoration in Ganjraha village of MP is in a confused state
- What made stressed voters 'celebrate' 100% voting in MP village Gajraha?
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*Garbhit Naik is a MSc student at ITC, Twente University, The Netherlands University and Interdisciplinary Researcher at Prakruti Prerana Foundation, W.for.W Foundation and Woder Foundation; Mansee Bal Bhargava, PhD, is an Entrepreneur, Researcher, Educator, Speaker, and Mentor. More about her are at: www.mansee.in, www.edc.org.in, www.wforw.in, www.woder.org
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