Architecture (a): A Typical Assamese Homestead

The majority of the residential architectures of Assam are single storied, earthfast, and constructed independently with locally available materials. In the constituent houses of a household, two primary typologies are noticed, especially for the main units. One of the types is traditional thatched hut (pajaghar) constructed of bamboo and thatch while the other type is called the Assam Type, introduced and developed by the colonial ruler. The former type is indigenous, single story, earth-fast architecture while the later, though predominantly single story, may sometime developed to doublestoried. Usually, the bamboo is the primary construction material though other materials such as wood, reed are also used sometime, especially in the second type. The bamboo made superstructure is mostly roofed with thatch or similar varieties of grass along with palm leaf, hay straw or other occasional roofing materials. On the other hand, the walls of the architecture are usually made of bamboo or reed that is usually mud plastered.

In Assam, the residence or a homestead is the primary unit of settlement where one nuclear or joint family reside. A homestead is primarily known as “ekhanghar”, “ghar”, or as “gharbari”. An ideal and typical Assamese homestead composes of number of functional units. The constituent dwelling houses of a homestead can be of the typologies of pajaghar, or the Assam type. On the other hand, chang is the term that denotes a stilt architecture, commonly used by certain tribal communities as the traditional dwelling house.

In normal parlance, an Assamese homestead presents the image of a set of different functional architectures, arranged around a courtyard, preceded by a plot of land to grow vegetables and fruit-bearing trees along with a rear plot that grows trees of different utilities, and the whole is enclosed within a well-fenced campus. The architectures are normally earth-fast, constructed on a raised earthen plinth within the fenced campus. The homestead contains two more courtyards in the front (aag- chotal) and rear (pich- chotal) apart from the main central courtyard (chotal), a pond, and a neat passage with an entrance gate.

The different architectures of a homestead are:

Residential Architectures:

1) Bar-ghar (the main house used as sleeping space by the head of the family),

2) Maral-ghar (sitting / working space for family members and space to receive female guests) ,

3) Chora-ghar (for sitting and receiving guests and sleeping room for the bachelor members) ,

Vital Subsidiary Architectures:

4) Randhani-ghar / Randhani-shal (the cooking space),

5) Bharal-ghar (barn) ,

6) Gohali-ghar (byre) ,

7) Gosai-ghar (prayer house) ,

Additional Subsidiary Architectures:

8) Bat-chora (an entrance shed / gateway house) ,

9) Dheki-shal (husking peddle shed) ,

10) Tatghar (weaving loom shed) ,

11) Khari-chang (shed for storing firewood) ,

12) Kher-chang or puji (shed for storing hay) ,

13) Garal (coop / sty for domesticated bird or animal).

These structures are constituents of the permanent residential homestead of the majority of the population of the state. Scholars like Rajguru (1988), Dev Goswami (2005) referred such a homestead as Assamese homestead. Thus, such composition and style of homestead is prevalent predominantly among the non-tribal “Hindu” population of the state along with some tribal communities. Thus, the style appears to be prevalent among the “elite” Hindu population of the state, which was adopted by certain tribal communities, perhaps through the process of acculturation and Sanskritization. This dominant style of homestead and architecture can be termed respectively as the Assamese homestead and Assamese Regional Vernacular Architectural Style, to emphasise the widespread prevalence of the type. However, it is necessary to point out here that though certain tribal communities have adopted comparable compositional and architecture style in their homestead, still they possess certain characteristic feature of their own that endow certain individuality to their housing culture.

The presence of number of usually small structures and their traditional cardinal disposition is a characteristic feature of Assamese homestead. Such a practice is tradition prescribed, developed over period by folk wisdom. Hence, folklore, especially the proverbs attributed to Dak, e.g. saru sarukoi bandhiba ghar| eta nalage dahota kar||, contains instruction to construct a number of houses that are small in size (Das:2001). Similarly, the medieval literature also endorses the tradition. Thus, as mentioned in the Charit by Ramcharan, Vaishnava saint Madhavdeva prescribed to construct a number of small houses rather than a single big house to accommodate and cater the need of an Assamese family (Barua:1975). Such a homestead is established as per traditional prescription and convention. Thus, the site for the establishment of the homestead and the units and their disposition are carried out in tradition prescribed manner. The popular Assamese proverbs and folk aphorisms of Dakar Bachan contain such instructions and directions.

As mentioned above, along with the non-tribal population, some tribal communities, especially belonging to the Kachari branch like Bodo, Rabha, Sonowal, Hajong, Thengal, etc., also arrange their homestead in similar fashion. Thus, they also construct a number of earth-fast houses in a homestead that includes residential as well as other subsidiary functional structures following the comparable technique. Thus, these groups invariably present more or less the similar architectural picture throughout the state. However, in spite of such apparent similarity, the housing culture and vernacular architecture tradition of these communities possess certain individual nuances.

However, many Mongoloid tribal communities such as Mising, Deori, Karbi, Tai Communities, and Naga possess and present a different tradition of housing culture and architecture style. These groups traditionally construct a single, compact stilt structure for a family of any size. The house is practically or symbolically divided to include major comparable functional units of the typical Assamese homestead. Even the barn is also constructed within the same structure, which however may exist separately also, usually littlie away from the residential house. In contrast to the convention of erection of a new house in the event of expansion of family member among the nontribals, these groups usually expand the same architecture in similar situation. The demarcation and fencing of the campus of homestead is not always an indispensible feature among certain tribal communities.