VERNACULAR COLD &

ARCHITECTURE SUNNY

Shubham Dabholkar – 2019016 Bhavya Gala – 2019020 Aditi Gohil – 2019024 Amogh Nalawade –
2019041 Prachi Nishar – 2019044 Anuj Pagare – 2019045 Anish Pathare – 2019048 Sudhanshu Patra –
2019051 Omkar Pawar – 2019053 Jitesh Singh – 2019063 Unnati Waghela - 2019077
 What is Vernacular Architecture?
•It is a term used to categorize methods of construction
which use locally available resources and tradition to
address local needs. Vernacular architecture tends to
evolve over time to reflect the environment, cultural
and historical context in which it exists. A building
designed by an amateur without any training in design,
guided by a series of conventions built up in his locality.
 What are the factors contributing for
development of vernacular architecture?

•The availability of resources

•The skilled workforce
-Natural and local skills
•Climate
•Historical influence
•Local culture
•Environment
•Local technology
 Climate
LEH
•Leh is considered to have a desert climate. During the year, there is virtually no rainfall in Leh. 
•The average annual temperature is 5.2 °C | 41.4 °F in Leh. The annual rainfall is 103 mm | 4.1 inch.

The desert type of climate is typical of Leh Ladakh with dry winds blowing throughout the day and summers
being hot and humid.
•On your visit to Leh, you will face the cold desert climate, especially from October to March. 
•In winters the temperatures are extreme in Leh, dipping below freezing point. However, winter days are
sunny and bright. The lowest winter temperature recorded in Leh is around minus 23 degree Celsius.

During the months of December and January the inflow of tourist is comparatively low. However, the peak
season in Ladakh starts from April and runs till mid-May. 
•The remaining year is hotter in the hills and temperatures in summer go up to 30 degree Celsius. 

Though sightseeing in summer can get hectic during the day, you will enjoy the cool breeze at night.
 Climate
LADAKH
The climate in Ladakh is divided into only two seasons: 
•four months of summer (from June until September) and eight months of winter (from October until May).
• Summer temperatures are pleasant and range from 59 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit (15 to 25 degrees Celsius),
whereas winters are extremely cold.
•Temperatures in the region can drop as low as -40 degrees!
•According to World Weather Online, average rainfall in Ladakh during summers has gone from 30 mm in 2009
to over 140 mm in 2019, while the average number of rainy days has gone up from 8 to 20 in just a decade.

Besides a stunning landscape, Leh Ladakh has a great diversity of climate. Part of the state of Jammu and
Kashmir, Ladakh has aptly been called a high altitude desert. 
•Abnormal rains in winter often cause the temperature to dip further. 
•With the winter season lasting more than half the year, summer is a short spell that is mostly dry and windy. 
•Summer season lasts from May to September. Glaciers in Leh take the entire season to melt.
 Topography
Ladakh translates to Land of the High Passes, and it certainly merits this name with its
multitude of towering mountain ranges, river valleys and high plateaus. 

The Himalayan Range along the southern and eastern border contains two 7000-meter peaks,
Nun and Kun.

Several major river systems flow through Ladakh. 

• The Indus forms a broad valley about 10 kilometers wide between the Ladakh and Stok
Ranges near Leh.
• In Zanskar, located between the Zanskar and Himalayan Ranges, the Stod and Tsarap
Rivers join to form the Zanskar River, which eventually cuts through deep gorges in the
Zanskar Range and flows into the Indus River at Nimoo.

The high plains of eastern Ladakh contain several large brackish lakes. The largest is Pangong
Tso (lake), which extends into Tibet. The Rupshu plains to the south contain the lakes of Tso
Moriri and Tso Kar.
PANGONG TSO MOUNTAIN RANGES
(LAKE) AND PLATEAUS
 Culture
•Ladakh and the tiny kingdom of Bhutan, east of India, are perhaps the purest remaining
examples of traditional Tibetan societies since China's subjugation of Tibet in the 1950s.
• For centuries, Ladakh's culture was preserved by geographic isolation.
•Their culture is rich and colorful, centering around the beliefs and practices of Tibetan
Mahayana Buddhism, the predominant religion.
• The most appreciated fact of Leh Ladakh is the status of women in Ladakh.
•The women enjoy a highly elevated status compared to the conservative nature of the
other northern states of India.
•Rugged and rough, lifestyle in Ladakh can really be challenging yet the people of
Ladakh maintain that unique smile on their face.
 
•The culture of Leh Laddakh is
quite similar to the Tibetan
culture because of the region's
close proximity with Tibet.
•In Ladakkh the cuisines are
mostly of Tibetan origin like
thukpa and tsampo.
•Nowadays however it is also
getting influenced by the
cuisine styles of Central Asia
and the rest of India.

•The architecture of Leh Laddakh also is influenced by the Tibetan style and has
references to the existence of dragon.
•The religion of the state also follows Tibetan as well as Buddhist influences. Most of
the chants are in Sanskrit or Tibetan.
Festivals Celebrated in Ladakh
Festivals celebrated in Ladakh are either harvest related
or socio-religious by nature.
Famous festivals in Ladakh are: –
•Hems Tse-Chu (the most popular festival in Ladakh)
•Dosmoche Festival
•Losar Festival (A Tibetan Festival)
•Sindhu Darshan Festival
•Ladakh Festival (cultural festival)
•Tak-Tok Festival (summer festival)

Sports
•When it comes to sport and recreation, the large
majority prefer playing Polo.
•During the summer, Archery is a popular sport
among the people of Ladakh.
•Hunting is also an important sport, among the rich
folks of Ladakh.
•But due to curbs on hunting, the number of people
who indulge in the sport has reduced.
Clothing in Ladakh
•The men folk in Ladakh commonly wear a long
woollen robe that is called Goucha in their local
language.
•Women on the other hand wear a similar robe but it is
styled differently and is called Kuntop & the Bok.
•Women also dress their hair in a pigtail style, some
men follow this style too.
•A Perak, a long hat is also commonly worn in Ladakh.

Local traditions
and clothing.
Agro based
income and
agricultural
lifestyle.
 Economic Conditions
ECONOMICAL CONDITIONS OF LEH:
•The Economy of the District Leh is agro base and rural oriented and is the main stay of the local population
• Most of the working population of the district is engaged in agriculture and livestock activities.

ECONOMICAL CONDITIONS OF LADAKH:

•The economy of Ladakh has been based on small farms and herding.
•The economy is a stable and self-reliant rural economy.
•A small-scale farming system was developed by the Ladakhis.
•Livestock is also a major part of Ladakh’s economy.
•Keeping livestock, specially sheep, yak, goats and cows is a major part of pastoral farming.
•From yak they yield milk for butter, hair for ropes and tents, hide for boots, aprons and baskets, horns for
agricultural implements, dung for fuel and meat.
•The goats have extremely fine, long staple fleece, pashm famed for its end product of pashmina shawls.
•The Ladakh is a biomass-based economy
•Western agricultural practices like heavy use of chemical pesticides and fertilizer have enhanced the quality
of agriculture thereby influencing the economy of Ladakh.
•Ladakh is an exporter of Pashmina products and dried apricots.
•The tourist sector has developed Ladakh’s economy to a great extent today.
•People are employed in the tourism industry.

GOAT YAK
LEH LADAKH
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
The vertical stacking of the buildings on the slope of the hill
resulted in a large concave urban surface composed of individual
houses catching the Sun-rays. As the Sun-rays were the natural
and critical resource for the survival

The privilege of Sun-light was thus available to each individual

house due to this stepped terracing. The houses share the walls
mostly on two-three sides to prevent heat loss due to exposed
façade. This pattern of urban settlement is dissimilar to cities of
hot-climate where buildings are laid down so as to provide
mutual shading.  
The privilege of Sun-light was thus
available to each individual house
due to this stepped terracing. The
houses share the walls mostly on
two-three sides to prevent heat
loss due to exposed façade. This
pattern of urban settlement is
dissimilar to cities of hot-climate
where buildings are laid down so
as to provide mutual shading.
the street pattern of the old town is such that it allows maximum
solar penetration, although the street pattern appears to be
irregular in the first appearance. The important streets are laid in
north-south axis while the intersecting streets are aligned at 45
degrees to that of cardinal directions; avoiding any East-West
orientation, as mutual shading will result in such a case
Architecture-Spatial Layout_
o Mostly the building are 2 storied

o Large houses have courtyards while

small houses do not have

o the ground floor is usually a dwarf

storey for keeping livestock, storage
purposes and also to collect waste

o Upper storey is used for living

purposes usually consists of prayer
room, store, toilet and a large room
combining function of drawing,
kitchen, bedroom

o The timber post is characteristic of

architecture of ladakh

o The main living room has a large

window facing sun
The livestock is usually kept beneath the main hall as
the bodily heat generated by the cattle warm up the
main hall from below. The roof of the main hall is
usually used to store dry grass, straw, sticks etc so as
to serve the twin purpose of an additional layer of
insulation. During night when the main hall is used for
the sleeping, these traditional methods add to the
comfort factor.
All other rooms are usually 3 to 4 m in sizes perhaps
due to the limitations of the building materials and
also helping in maintaining a warm comfort inside.
Larger spaces tend to become cooler quickly. The
windows in the other rooms that do not get sunlight
are much smaller in size to retain heat within
 Material Palette
Ground Level:
Walls stone

Upper Level: sun dried

Traditional mud bricks plastered

with fine clay
‘markala’.

house Roof Constructed from

poplar beams, willow
branches, yagdzas
(similar to heather)
mud and earth

Floor Timber flooring

ROOF AND THE WALL
EXTERIOR WALL
WOODEN FLOORING INTERIOR VIEW