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Regulatory BodyArchitecture: Indus Valley
The word ‘architecture’ ‘architecture’ comes from Latin architectura, derived from Greek arkhitekton, combining archi- (chief/master) and tekton (builder or carpenter), When the early man began to build his shelter to live in, the science of architecture started.
1. Difference between Architecture and Articfacts
| Point of Difference | Architecture | Artificat |
|---|---|---|
| Size and Scope | Architecture refers to the design and construction of building. | Artifacts are relatively small 3-dimensional works of art. |
| Material Used | Uses a mixture of various type of materials like stone, wood, glass, metal, sand, etc. | A single piece is usually made of a single type of material. |
| Principle | Involves study of engineering and engineering mathematics. It requires detailed and accurate measurements. | Involves creativity and imagination and may not depend as heavily on accurate measurements. |
| Example | Taj Mahal, Red Fort, etc. | Harappan seals, the “Dancing Girl” sculpture, tools, pottery, beads |
Instead to studing Indian architecture dynasty wise in Art and Culture we are grouping Indian architecture by type (Cave, Hindu Temple, Buddhist , Jain , Islamic, Regional, Modern) as it offers a more thematic and comparative understanding, revealing shared principles and evolutionary patterns across different rulers and eras, instead of strictly by dynasty . Since Architecture of Indus Valley is Unique and Cannot be grouped into any of the above Type we are Studing it as Seperate
2. Indus Valley Architecture
Although art forms like pottery, sculpture etc., had taken shape in prehistoric period, yet architecture in its present forms has its roots in Indus valley civilization in the form of town planning. The Indus Valley Civilisation is also known as the Harappan Civilisation period extending from witnessed the development of some of the earliest big buildings in India.
A flourishing civilisation emerged on the banks of the river Indus in the second half of the third millennium BCE and spread across large parts of North-Western and Western India. There are various important sites of Indus valley civilization each with its unique architectural features along with similarities. These sites possessed a flourishing urban architecture. Harappa and Mohenjo-daro – the two major sites of this civilisation – are among the earliest and finest examples of urban civic planning.
The fact that the Harappan civilization was urban does not mean that all or even most of its settlements had an urban character. A majority were in fact villages. Mainly two types of buildings have been found in the excavation – Dwelling Houses and Public Buildings – Which can be further divided based on their usage for the Populace – Public Gathering Sites – Great Bath or Assembely Hal at Mohenjodaro, Water Management Structures like the Dockyard at Lothal or the Granaries found in Harappa or Mohenjodaro sites.
2.1 Basic City Plan Architecture and Features
In most sites, cities were divided into 2 parts:
⚬ Citadel/ Acropolis : It is smaller and higher (standing some 40 to 50 feet above) than the rest of the area and situated on side of the town. The citadel area had important residential structures that the public or select residents either used.
All Harappan Cities have a Citadel . However an important manufacturing center is notable for being the only major Harappan city lacking a citadel.
⚬ Lower town: It occupies much larger area as compared to citadel but is on a lower plain than citadel. It is situated on the side . It is divided into wards like chess board. Lower town had houses of various different sizes which, as some researchers believe that, showed people had different economic status.
Most other major Harappan cities, were typically divided into these only two parts. The City of is unique tripartite division with between the Citadel and Lower Town
Fortifications
City in the Indus Valley was surrounded by massive walls and gateways.
The cities were surrounded by fortified walls made of mud bricks, providing protection against robbers, cattle raiders and floods.
Each part of the city was made up of walled sections. Each section included different buildings such as: Public buildings, houses, markets, craft workshops, etc. Although the citadels were walled, it is far from clear that these structures were defensive. They may have been built to divert flood water. Fortification also varied across Indus Valley Cities Lower and Upper Towns
In Mohenjodaro and Harappa the citadel was surrounded by a brick wall.
At City of both the citadel and the lower city were individually surrounded by a wall. Similarly in the City of we see a fortified citadel, along with a fortified middle town and lower town
In City a unique single defensive wall is seen where the citadel and lower residential areas, was encircled together
In settlement like there was no fortification of the city
The streets and alleyways of Harappan cities were planned and constructed with precision. They were wide enough to allow the movement of carts and pedestrians, and some streets had covered drains running alongside them.
Note: There is no strict correlation between the level of planning and the size of a settlement. For example, the relatively small site of Lothal shows a much higher level of planning than Kalibangan, which is twice its size.
The main street was in Size and divided the town into rectangular and square blocks.
Grid System
The streets and houses of Harappan cities were oriented in cardinal directions smaller inner lanes and alleys connected to the main, wider streets, forming a planned grid system
Obviously, this kind of alignment of streets and houses represents conscious town planning. However, the resources of the town planners in those days would be very limited. Hence this does not mean every harappan City had a perfect grid system. Roads in the Harappan cities were not always absolutely straight and did not always cross one another at right angles.
Even Mohenjodaro does not show a perfect grid system. This assumption is based on the finds from Mohenjodaro and Kalibangan where the streets stagger from block to block and the alignments of streets and buildings in one part of Mohenjodaro is quite different from the rest of the areas.
Drainage System
Each street had a well organized drain system.There were covered drains along the road. The main drains were covered by corbelled arches made of brick or stone slabs.
At Harappa and Mohenjodaro, terracotta drain pipes directed waste water into open street drains made of baked bricks. Crucially, the drains were equipped with manholes or inspection holes at regular intervals. These allowed for easy access for regular cleaning and maintenance, preventing blockages and ensuring the system functioned efficiently.
There were rectangular soakpits for collecting solid waste at regular intervals.If the drains were not cleaned, the water ran into the houses and silt built up. Then the Harappans would build another storey on top of it. This raised the level of the city over the years.
The drains for collecting rainwater were separate from the sewage chutes and pipes.Drains and water chutes from the second storey were often built inside the wall, with an exit opening just above the street drain
Upper Story
Houses were made of baked bricks, often with multiple stories, indicating a well-developed urban society. The average citizen seems to have lived in the blocks of houses in the lower city.
In the larger houses, passages led into inner rooms. The Various Features of Harappan Housing are Explained as under
Central Courtyard
In the Indus Valley Civilization (IVC), houses were built around a central courtyard, which served as the focal point for living, light, and ventilation, with rooms opening onto it. It Provided light, air, and space for daily activities; sometimes had private wells and bathrooms.
The bigger houses or groups of houses were usually provided with separate so each house could have its own water. Especially in Mohenjo-Daro, which had around 700 wells. Cities like Dholavira also featured sophisticated water harvesting, using stepwells and reservoirs
The view from the lane into the courtyard was blocked off by a wall.
Kitchen
Generally house had both an indoor and outdoor kitchen.
The outdoor kitchen would be used when it was warmer (so that the oven wouldn’t heat up the house), and the indoor kitchen for use when it was colder.
In present day, village houses in this region (e.g. in Kachchh) still have two kitchens.
Stairs
There are remains of staircases that may have led to the roof or a second storey.
The fact that some of the houses at Mohenjodaro were two stories high or more is also suggested by the thickness of their walls.
Doors and Windows
The doors and windows of houses were made of wood and mats. Clay models of houses show that doors were sometimes carved or painted with simple designs. Windows had shutters (perhaps made of wood or reeds and matting), with latticework grills above and below to allow in light and air.
In most Harappan cities like Mohenjo-Daro, house doors faced , not the main streets, a design choice emphasizing privacy, dust control, and a structured urban layout where main roads were for through traffic, not direct house access, though exceptions like Lothal existed – notably possesses houses with doors opening directly onto main streets in its lower town.
Bathrooms and Toilets
Although some people may have used the area outside the city walls to relieve themselves, toilets have been identified at many sites. They ranged from the simple hole in the ground above a cesspit to more elaborate arrangements. Recent excavations at Harappa have uncovered toilets in almost every house.
The commodes were made of big pots sunk into the floor, many of them associated with a small lota-type jar, no doubt for washing up. Most of the pots had a small hole in the base, through which water could seep into the ground.
The waste from the toilets was in some cases discharged through cutting through the house wall, and went out into the street, connecting ultimately with a larger sewage drain.
Bathing platforms with drains were often located in rooms next to a well.
The floor of the bathing area was usually made of tightly fitted bricks, frequently set on edge, to make a carefully sloped watertight surface.
Multi Stories
Houses often had one or two stories, with stairs leading to the upper level. The fact that some of the houses at Mohenjodaro were two stories high or more is also suggested by the thickness of their walls. This was also must be a Class Distinction suggesting social hierarchy.
Even the Upper Floors had efficent Waste Disposal solutions as the chutes from upper floors were connecting to covered street drains
A major difference between the buildings in large cities and those in smaller towns and villages was in the type and combination of raw materials used. In villages, houses were made mostly of mud-brick, with the additional use of mud and reeds; stone was occasionally used for foundations or drains.
Buildings in towns and cities were made of sun-dried and burnt bricks. In Harappa and Mohenjodaro baked bricks were used for buildings. In the city of mud bricks were used. In the rocky areas of Kutch and Saurashtra, however, there was extensive use of
The massive fortification walls with a veneer of dressed stone at Dholavira and the remains of stone pillars in the citadel are very distinctive and are not found at any other Harappan site. The fact that some house walls at Mohenjodaro survive upto a height of 5 m is a tribute to the strength of the bricks and the brick-laying skill of the Harappans.
There were various styles of laying bricks, including what is known as the English Bond Style .This gave the wall maximum load-bearing strength.
A striking feature of Harappan structures is the uniformity in the average size of the bricks — 7 × 14 × 28 cm for houses and for city walls size used was used was . Both these brick sizes have an identical ratio of thickness, width, and length . See the Original Image of the Harappan Brick maintaining the ratio
This ratio first makes its appearance at a few sites in the early Harappan phase, but in the mature Harappan phase, it is found in all the settlements. Bricks of standard size shows that it was not the individual house owners who made their own bricks, but that brick making was organised on a large scale.
2.2 Important Public Buildings and their Location
Indus Valley Public buildings can be classified into four specific types (public gathering, granaries, water management, and factories)
The primary public gathering structures identified in the Indus Valley Civilization are the Great Bath and the Pillared Assembly Halls
Great Bath
The Great Bath at📌, is an example of Harappan engineering skill, measured about It must have served as a ritual bathing site and Reflects the sophisticated town planning and high priority on hygiene in the Indus Valley Civilization.
The floor and walls of the tank were made water-tight using burnt bricks sealed with gypsum mortar.
A thick layer of bitumen was laid along the sides of the tank and below the floor, making this one of the earliest examples of waterproofing in the world. Water was drawn from in an adjacent room, and an outlet from one corner of the bath led to
For the preparation for ritual bathing and for changing clothes there are Several adjacent . To lead down into the tank there are Flights of from the north and south.
Pillared Hall
The pillared hall located at📌was approximately 27.5 meters square (90 feet square) with number of Pillars being arranged in rows of , only two of which are still preserved. Strips of paved floors sloped from south to north and each strip of flooring had row of bricks set on edge along both sides. The cross wall in the foreground was built later and divided the hall into smaller rooms. Believed to be a public or assembly hall for likely used for civic, administrative dealings for rulers and Officials or religious assemblies for general populace.
Stadium
The “stadium” Located at 📌, a significant Indus Valley Civilization site in Gujarat, is a large, terraced open area with tiered stands, unique for an IVC site, believed to be used for public gatherings, ceremonies, or sports, highlighting advanced urban planning.
Indus Valley Civilization granaries were large, sophisticated structures , built on raised platforms with ventilation systems to store surplus grains (wheat, barley) and protect them from floods and pests, crucial for food security and trade
Great Granary
The Great Granary located in 📌is a massive, large brick structure identified by early archaeologists like Sir Mortimer Wheeler as a grain storage facility, built on a raised platform with ventilation, though some modern scholars suggest it might have been a large public hall due to limited grain evidence.
One of the largest buildings in Mohenjo-Daro, built on a substantial brick platform, potentially to protect it from floods.
It measures roughly 45.7 meters (150 ft) long by 15.2 meters (50 ft) wide,divided intowith ventilation channels. On its Northern Edge it also featured a prominent
Granary on Mound F
There were two parallel rows, each containing units, separated by a central passageway about 7 meters partly paved with baked bricks. The structures were built on a large, raised brick platform to protect the stored goods from floods.
Working floors consisting of rows of brick platforms were discovered to the south of the granaries in Harappa. Working floors consisting of rows of circular brick platforms were discovered to the south of the granaries in Harappa. Near the granaries, two-roomed have been found which might have housed labourers.
Indus Valley Civilization granaries were large, sophisticated structures , built on raised platforms with ventilation systems to store surplus grains (wheat, barley) and protect them from floods and pests, crucial for food security and trade
Dockyard
📌was a primary center for extensive maritime trade, trading with distant lands like Sumer (Iraq) and Bahrain. It Demonstrated sophisticated understanding of tides, hydraulics, and construction.
A large, roughly trapezoidal basin, approximately built with baked bricks. Water Management: Included a SpecialIzed gate and spill channel to manage water levels for ships. I was Connected to an ancient course of the Sabarmati River for access to the sea. A ramp facilitated the loading and unloading of cargo.
Gaint Water Reservoir
At least 16 large, stone-built reservoirs, some extremely large (e.g., one nine times an Olympic pool size) have been discovered from 📌. Represents one of the world’s earliest and most advanced water management systems. Provided a reliable water supply in an arid zone by capturing seasonal rainwater.
Built partly by scooping out rock and reinforced with stone masonry. A network of directed water from storm drains into the reservoirs. It also had leading into reservoirs suggest methods for drawing water, possibly for industrial or domestic use.