BHUNGA STYLE
GUJARAT-KUTCH
Vernacular
Architecture
GROUP 5:
LEAH GEORGE
RIYA SANJAY
KRITHIGAA SARAVANAKUMAR
MARY ALEX
ANANAYA BALAJI
Table of contents
01
INTRODUCTION 02
HISTORY
BHUNGA HOUSE STYLE
03
CLIMATE
STUDY
KUTCH REGION
04
SOCIO-CULTURAL
STUDY
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05
MAPPING
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06
MATERIALS
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01
INTRODUCTION
Bhunga Style
HISTORY :
The traditional architecture of Kutch represents the social and cultural background of the region and its people.
The climate responsive buildings were designed with emphasis on the human comfort which was largely
accomplished through the use of locally available materials and sustainable construction techniques. Learning
from tradition, which is a powerhouse of knowledge and wisdom of previous generations through the lessons of
traditional building can be very powerful tool for improving the
buildings of the future.
Bhungas are mainly set up in desert islands (fertile land in the middle of the desert) in the
northern parts of Kutch region of Gujaratspecially Banni and Pachham. (As shown in Figure 3) Banni is a flat plain
area with silty clay soil type. There are no stones or
aggregates available for construction. Hence mud and thatch are most commonly used locally available
construction materials.
Pachham Island and the greater Rann of Kutch has two hill ranges, Kalo Dungar and Goro Dungar.
It is an undulating and cultivableland where limestone is amply available. Most Bhungas in Pachham use
limestone in uncoursed rubble masonry for construction of foundation and the superstructures may vary.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
SOCIO-CULTURAL
STUDY MEGHWAL MARVADA
Meghwals marwada people originally came from marwar in
rajasthan . ancestor of this community migrated from the sindh
region which is now in pakistan
The community moved to Tarparkar in Sikh in search of work
around 700 years ago. Another migration brought them to Kutch
with Maldhari’s Marwada Meghwals are Hindu and yet strongly
influenced by Muslim Neighbours .
Men worked with Leather product includes embroidered majadis ,
hand fans, mirror frames,wall pieces, laptop bags and many more
are made with traditional skills . The women in the family do the
Embroidery works .
INTERIOR ART WORKS
The traditional bhunga requires
EXTERNAL
periodic maintenance, a regular
application of lipai or lime
plastering to the walls and floor,
and the replacement of the dried
ARTWORKS
grass on the roof. The exterior
walls are adorned with colourful
paintings while the interiors are
decorated with exquisite mud and
mirror work.
MATTIKAAM(MUD MIRROR)
● Mattikaam is done to decorate the
walls of Bhunga from inside . The
mirrors enhance the light in the
room by reflecting sunlight and the
white colour makes it look more
spacious and brighter
ARCHITECTURE
The Bhunga is a traditional construction type in
the Kutch district which has a very high earthquake
risk. The Bhunga has a conical roof supported by
cylindrical walls . Bhunga architecture is a very
unique aspect of traditional desert architecture of
Kutch region in which the size, location and
orientation of the Bhunga are planned for very
good structural and functional results.
FACTORS INFLUENCING
BHUNGA DESIGN
- Climate: The thick walls, made of mud, keep the interior
cool when the temperature rises to 40+ degrees Celsius in
summer
and warm when it drops below 5 degrees in winter.
– Culture: Culture is revealed in the decoration of the Bhunga
(outside as well as inside) from painting on exterior walls to
Glass designing on interior walls.
– Calamities: It performed very well in the recent M7.6 Bhuj
earthquake in 2001. Very few Bhungas experienced significant
damage in the epicentre region and the damage that did occur
can be mainly attributed to poor quality of the construction
materials or improper maintenance of the structure. It has also
been observed that the failure of
– Bhungas in the last earthquake caused very few injuries to
the occupants due to the type of collapse.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE BHUNGA
Bhunga is circular in plan having an inner diameter typically
between 3m to 6m, generally has only three openings one door and
two small windows. Bhungas are connected through plinths and
circulation is also carried out in that way
A cluster of Bhunga is built on one plinth usually the cluster
contains settlements of one whole family.
The components required for the construction of
walls and foundations are:
1) Clayey soil and rice husk for earth blocks.
2) Cement mortar used for foundations.
3) Earth sourced from Banni, cow dung and local earth for plaster.
Construction stages of walls are as follows:
1) A trench 30 cm deep and 45 cm wide is dug. The process of
laying the blocks is locally called chanter.
2) Walls are raised on foundations, using cow dung plus local mud
mortar, mixed with water to make the compound workable.
3) Lintels and doors and window frames are inserted where
necessary.
4) A platform-otla-is then built using rubble stone and earth, up to
a height of about 45 cm.
LABOURS AND
These constructions are carried out by local village masons
with very few unskilled labourers and can be completed within
30
MATERIALS USED days.
– The locally available soft stone can easily be cut or chiselled
into rectangular blocks, which are used for wall masonry.
– The local soil is used for mud mortar and to make adobe blocks. Locally available timber and bamboo are used for roof.
– The entire construction cost of 1 Bhunga is approximately 10000-15000, with maximum cost is covered by labour and
materials.
– The rent of a conventional Bhunga is approximately Rs. 2000 and that of air conditioned Bhunga is Rs. 5000.
The circular mud house is an integration of exact geometry and property of materials for the climatic conditions to
evolve a perfect
architectural form of the house. Due to circular shape of wall in plan, inertial forces developed in wall are resisted
through shell action providing excellent resistance to lateral forces. In addition, the thick walls required for thermal
insulation have high in-plane stiffness which provides excellent performance under lateral loads.
ARCHITECTURAL
ELEMENTS
CONSTRUCTION PROCESS &
MATERIALS The mixture for the plaster layer, locally called gobar Lipan, is made with cow dung and
local mud. Water is added to improve its workability. A first layer is applied on the outer
surface of the wall, and smoothed using hands. It takes about a day to complete it,and then
another layer is applied on the inner surface. These inner and outer layers are alternated, up
to seven layers are applied on both surfaces of the wall. The last layer of Lipan is done
using earth sourced from Banni . The roofing in wall are resisted through shell action
providing excellent resistance to lateral forces. In materials are generally very light
weight, and develops low inertia forces.
THE COMPONENTS REQUIRED
FOR ROOF’S CONSTRUCTION ARE:
– One horizontal beam (diameter 15 to 18 cm).
– A base for the vertical kingpost - patli - size 5x7x25.
– A central kingpost (ranging from 180 to 270 cm, diameter 10 cm).
– A cone - MANN - at the top of the kingpost (diameter 40 cm, 45 cm high).
Babool wood rafters forming the backbone of the
roof – VALI – (having a diameter between 6 365 cm long).
– Culms of split bamboo which constitute the secondary warping - KHAPATIS –
(diameter 2 .5 cm, length 365 cm).
– Rope - KATHI -, (1.25 cm thick. 30 kg of rope are required).
– Straw - KHEEP – (for roofing)
MATERIAL STUDY
Materials of the Bhunga are easily. available in the
environment of Banni region. The Authentic materials
used. were Chikani Matti (clay) and cow/ camel/horse
dung for the walls and flooring. Gando Bawado
(Babul) tree, Vaas (Bamboo) is used for the roof. The
construction of Bhunga cost nothing in the past, as
they had no money.
In todays scenario cement and bricks. are used for
the construction because the process is fast and
takes less time:but cement makes the bhunga cool In
every season
ROOFING SYSTEM
The conical roof of a Bhunga is supported at its crest by
a vertical central wooden post, which rests on a wooden
joist. The base of the roof and the wooden joist are
generally directly supported on Bhunga walls.
Sometimes, the roof load on wooden joist is
transferred to diametrically placed timber posts (vertical
members) adjacent to the cylindrical wall. This reduces
the roof-load on
the walls.
In several Bhungas, the roof joist is not directly supported on the cylindrical walls, but is supported by two
wooden vertical posts outside the Bhunga, which further improves seismic resistance of the inertia force
generated in the roof.
In some instances, reinforcing bands at lintel level and collar level have been used to provide additional
strength. These bands are constructed from bamboo or from RCC. These increase the lateral load-carrying
strength greatly and increase the seismic resistance of the Bhungas.
PLAN, ELEVATION , SECTION
CROSS SECTIONAL VIEW
SETLEMENT DESIGN
PLINTH (Otla)
• IT IS ABOUT 500 mm HIGH
• ROOMS ARE NOT
ATTACHED TO AVAOID
CRACKS BECAUSE
CRACKS MAY CAUSE
SERIOUS DAMAGE
DURING EARTHQUAKES
EVOLUTION OF
BHUNGAS
Traditional Bhungas consists of light-weight
conical roof while recent Bhungas constructions
have used wide variety of construction materials ROOF CONSTRUCTED WITH
MANGLORE TILES
including heavy Mangalore tiles on roofs
Keping the building
typology in mind people
are using modern materials URBAN
and construction
techniques , making it
more compact
FORMS
URBAN STRUCTURES
THANK
YOU
