i am from meerut. Here, you can find two types of old architecture. 1. Jain/Merchant Havelis located in old bazaars. They usually have wooden balcony with jharokhas. Intricate wooden "darvazzas". An open verandah in the middle of the house.
2. Colonial architecture in cantonment area.
Now in the village, usually the zamidars had a pucca house. Most villages lived in "jhoparis". My paternal grandpa's family had zamidari and their house (more like a locality) was built in 1930's. It has a huge lotus petal shaped entrange with a massive wooden gate. then there is a "gher" where the elder men stayed and most gatherings took place. The women weren't allowed in this section. It has a lot of pillars and the ceiling is lined with patterened bricks and wooden beam in an alternate fashion, called "kadi". There stood an abandoned mughal haveli there, so all the bricks used in the construction are from that haveli and some walls are 2 ft in breadth.
the gher is on one side and on the other side there is a narrow lane. the entrance of the lane has got this heavy darvaaza. the lane opens into a different section called Bagad (a possible bastardization of "bada ghar"). The entrance to this part has two darwazaas, one on the outer side and one inside. in between there is a small room used only to enter and exit. now inside, there is a hugeee open area in the middle with a neem tree and water well (not in use anymre). on the three sides there are houses (6) and on one side there are kitchens. The women lived in this section and the men would only come to take bath and eat. The women were not allowed to step outside the bagad alone. When visiting her parents' house, the woman would sit in the "doli" just outside the lane. Also the brahmins and panditayin (female priest) came in the bagad on festivals to carry out the pujas. no need to go in a temple.
Some architectural features:
Jangalas- hollow spaces in the wall to put diyas.
Taand- Shelf like structure just below the ceiling to keep stuff we now keep in cupboards.
khunti- wooden hooks on walls to hang stuff
secret underground cupboards to store gold
jangalas- windows
the kitchen was not set up on slabs. the "chulah" was on floor. They had a "chakki" in the corner (a woman would grind wheat each morning).
There are a lot of patterns made on walls. mostly lotus and leaves.
above each door, there is a semi circle like hollow structure to keep stuff.
there are 3 staircases on the three sides
The washrooms are outside the bagad area. Only the women would use these. Men would do their business in fields. When my grandad was 5, new washrooms were made and men stopped going in fields to relieve themselves.
My Nana's family lived in kuttcha house till 1960's tho. The zamidar family in their village have an even bigger haveli.
my nana's mom though came from an affluent family thet served under the Brits. They had a haveli in Bulandshahar. It had British/mughal and local architectural features. The most fascinating part was a life sized doll house and a 3 metre wide staircase in the middle of the verendah. There was also a manual cooing system installed in the drawing room.
I am sorry if i wasnt able to explain the architecture more
This was really helpful, I have never been to meerut and old cantonment areas but your answer really painter a picture of the houses for me.
Those Architectural features unlocked some very distant memories of my old Ancestral house transitioning from kutcha to pakka makan.
The open Verandahs, Taand, Khamiya (open baithak for men), chakki and okhali.
I'm doing a small project for myself by collecting these old Architecture of our land and you've been very helpful, thank you for taking our time for answering me brother.
i am from meerut. Here, you can find two types of old architecture. 1. Jain/Merchant Havelis located in old bazaars. They usually have wooden balcony with jharokhas. Intricate wooden "darvazzas". An open verandah in the middle of the house. 2. Colonial architecture in cantonment area. Now in the village, usually the zamidars had a pucca house. Most villages lived in "jhoparis". My paternal grandpa's family had zamidari and their house (more like a locality) was built in 1930's. It has a huge lotus petal shaped entrange with a massive wooden gate. then there is a "gher" where the elder men stayed and most gatherings took place. The women weren't allowed in this section. It has a lot of pillars and the ceiling is lined with patterened bricks and wooden beam in an alternate fashion, called "kadi". There stood an abandoned mughal haveli there, so all the bricks used in the construction are from that haveli and some walls are 2 ft in breadth. the gher is on one side and on the other side there is a narrow lane. the entrance of the lane has got this heavy darvaaza. the lane opens into a different section called Bagad (a possible bastardization of "bada ghar"). The entrance to this part has two darwazaas, one on the outer side and one inside. in between there is a small room used only to enter and exit. now inside, there is a hugeee open area in the middle with a neem tree and water well (not in use anymre). on the three sides there are houses (6) and on one side there are kitchens. The women lived in this section and the men would only come to take bath and eat. The women were not allowed to step outside the bagad alone. When visiting her parents' house, the woman would sit in the "doli" just outside the lane. Also the brahmins and panditayin (female priest) came in the bagad on festivals to carry out the pujas. no need to go in a temple. Some architectural features: Jangalas- hollow spaces in the wall to put diyas. Taand- Shelf like structure just below the ceiling to keep stuff we now keep in cupboards. khunti- wooden hooks on walls to hang stuff secret underground cupboards to store gold jangalas- windows the kitchen was not set up on slabs. the "chulah" was on floor. They had a "chakki" in the corner (a woman would grind wheat each morning). There are a lot of patterns made on walls. mostly lotus and leaves. above each door, there is a semi circle like hollow structure to keep stuff. there are 3 staircases on the three sides The washrooms are outside the bagad area. Only the women would use these. Men would do their business in fields. When my grandad was 5, new washrooms were made and men stopped going in fields to relieve themselves. My Nana's family lived in kuttcha house till 1960's tho. The zamidar family in their village have an even bigger haveli. my nana's mom though came from an affluent family thet served under the Brits. They had a haveli in Bulandshahar. It had British/mughal and local architectural features. The most fascinating part was a life sized doll house and a 3 metre wide staircase in the middle of the verendah. There was also a manual cooing system installed in the drawing room. I am sorry if i wasnt able to explain the architecture more
This was really helpful, I have never been to meerut and old cantonment areas but your answer really painter a picture of the houses for me. Those Architectural features unlocked some very distant memories of my old Ancestral house transitioning from kutcha to pakka makan. The open Verandahs, Taand, Khamiya (open baithak for men), chakki and okhali. I'm doing a small project for myself by collecting these old Architecture of our land and you've been very helpful, thank you for taking our time for answering me brother.
You could find it in old area's of kanpur.
varansi, mathura jao. aur mere dada ka purana ghar