Our ancestral house is build on Kathkuni design idea, which was quite prevalent since 1800 century, keeping in mind the harsh winters and the entire region being in a seismic zone, with frequent earth movement and earthquakes.

In this video we take you on a tour of a traditional Kathkuni house in Kullu Valley in Himachal Pradesh. It is located in Dashal village and was constructed around 1900. Please see the video to understand how it appears





Kath kuni is derived from two words ‘kashth or kath' for wood in Sanskrit and ‘kona' for corner. With many typical ancient structures having survived tectonic tremors, the resilience of the kath kuni structures lie in the flexibility of dry masonry and alternate layers of wood beams without any cementing material. The stone plinth rises above the ground level giving strength to the superstructure and also preventing it from snow and ground water.

A shortened stone corner protects the wooden beams, a wooden peg known as kadil (iron nails were not used) helps in keeping solid wood beams in place. The double-skinned walls with the air gap between two parallel wooden beams filled with loose, small stone pieces insulates the structure, keeping it warm in cold weather and cool in summers. The air gaps also dissipate the seismic force during earthquakes preventing cracks and caving in of walls.  

This design required extensive use of wood, primarily the Deodar, which was long lasting and resistant to insects and harsh weather, wear and tear.

Till around independence , availability of wood was not a big challenge and community or village men offered their time and contributed labour service towards development of Kathkuni house. Big stone slabs for the roof were carried by the village men over long distance.

By the 1960s, restrictions on forest use and wood harvesting meant that kath kuni construction had effectively been banned by the government. Because there was a limit on how much forest wood one person could use, and because kath kuni houses typically crossed that limit, it was no longer legal to build them using wood from the forest. 

  The walls inside the kathkuni homes were insulated by applying mud plasters.