Mountain Cultures and The Architecture of the Himalayas

LESSON VI

The Himalayas are a vast mountain range covering the northern part of India• They include the highest mountains in the world, and create a natural border between India and its neighbouring countries.

As with the rest of India, the himalayas are an extreme habitat for people – the climate swings between incredibly wet and cold, to dry and arid, to endless ice and snow

What are the obvious challenges of living on a mountain range as huge and impressive as the himalayas? What would we expect family homes to be like?

What building materials would we expect to see being used? How would they INSULATE their buildings?

It seems that many of the inhabitants of the himalayas are semi-nomadic…why?• Unlike the nomads of the deserts, they generally do not have to move to find water (water is not SCARCE in most of the mountain region).• However, extreme weather and heavy snowfall, or flooding caused by melting ice can destroy homes and create dangerous environments for living in. • Not only this, but many people here use the mountains to herd goats and yak (a mountain cow) which need fresh grass in the summertime, and so must travel.• So whilst some houses are built of strong, DURABLE materials, others are more like the nomadic homes we saw in previous lessons.

Examples of durable and semi-nomadic homes

What is the reason for this building’s strange design?

Most human habitations are founded close to rivers and other settlements, places where farming or keeping animals, or trade can occur

However, the himalayas are empty, still, lonely. There are few opportunities for industry of any kinds, life is cut off from civilisation by the extreme landscape.

Why, then, would people choose to live here? What could motivate people to come here to live their entire lives?

The answer can only really be religion, and, in this case, Buddhism. But what is Buddhism?

Which of these images represents Indian Buddhism, the original Buddhism? Where are the others from?

Almost all religious buildings, as we have seen, try to incorporate pieces of their message or imagery into their architectural design…• Obvious examples can be seen in the design of European cathedrals. How?

What can we say about the shape and the components of this building plan?

Buddhism is a very ‚visual’ religion, which gives architects lots of ideas to play with. Here are some of the symbols of Buddhism we might expect to find included in their architecture

One of the most recognisable and very Indian examples of Buddhist architecture is the Stupa.

Stupas are found all over India, some are almost as old as the religion itself – but what are they? What is

their function?

Medieval (later) Stupa

Early dome Stupa

What Buddhist images or symbols can we see incorporated into the shape or the design of the Stupas?

Detail of the gate to the Stupa

In the first 500 years of Buddhism, India saw a fascinating return to cave-dwelling by the early Buddhists…•What can we remember about the caves we looked at in lesson 2?•Why is it strange that people would return to live in caves, only 2000 years ago?• How might we expect these cave homes to be different?•What would have changed? Or stayed the same? Why?• How would advances in technology make a difference?

The Aurangabad caves are some of the most beautiful structures in India.

What is so amazing about these buildings?

Not only are the buildings carved from out of the side of the mountain, but the artistic skill continues inside, using the same techniques to decorate the walls. What can we see here? How was this done?

In pairs, look at the worksheet and memorise the verbs and nouns listed describing the cave architecture. Then try to write sentences describing the photo…

But how on earth were these amazing feats of engineering and architecture done?