Category Archives: Homes and utensils

Traditional huts which use boulders and wooden logs are becoming rare in Yelagiri as many villagers now prefer concrete structures. But these tribal huts are much stronger. – “Tribal architecture and culture, passed on through generations” (The Hindu, 30 January 2013)

The disappearance of mud-house from Santal life not only ends the mud-house alone but also their religious and cultural life that are connected to it. And also the centuries-old traditional knowledge and art of building low-cost-no-cost mud-houses and the related skills and crafts, like wall paintings die out. The sources of small income of rearing domestic animals in open courtyard of the mud-house like hen, duck, goat and the pigeons in the earthen pots under the thatch roof also gets destroyed, because it is difficult to rear such animals in single-room house of tin roof. – Dr. Boro Baski (“Is ‘brick house’ the only sign of development?”, 21 July 2019; originally published in the widely read Bengali daily, Anandabazar Patrika)

Like all traditional architecture, the Naga way of building has evolved over centuries through trial and error. Out of necessity, it engages with the local environment directly. Local forest and earth provide a large part of building materials. And houses are shaped to offer resistance to the cold and rain. The lightweight architecture that results fits well in the earthquake-prone north-eastern region. […] The bamboo and thatch can be framed and braced well to resist earthquakes and reduce damage. – Dr. Himanshu Burte (“Naturally Naga”, Livemint 1 Feb 2009)


So there was the village blacksmith, the tailor, the cattle-rearer, the hunter-gatherer, the farmer, the fisherman, and even an expert who had the perfect antidote for treating poison bites […] none of the implements that were being used here were ‘bought’. They were all made by them. And necessity being the mother of invention, you could see innovation at its best. – Gangadharan Menon (“You’ve Seen Warli Paintings”, The Better India, 10 April 2014)