Kath-Khuni: The Traditions And Types Of Vernacular Architecture

The architecture which is driven by the local environment, its requirements and materials and which represents a long local tradition is known as Vernacular architecture.
Kath-Khuni is a type of timber reinforced stone masonry also locally known in koti banal which basically uses the locally available wood and stone for construction. Moreover the word Kath originated from Sanskrit word kashtth which means wood and kunj or khuni originated from the word kona which means corner. This implies that the corner of the kath-khuni building should compulsorily have wood. This construction technique is found in various types of buildings ranging from darbargadhs and kots to sophisticated and majestic temples and to modest homes.
The main materials used
The stones and wood are interlocked within themselves and no cementing mortar is used to bind them. The main benefit of not using a cementing mortar is that, the infill stones trap the air within the wall due to which the heat is retained which helps the house to remain cool during summers and warm during winters. Moreover kath-khuni is also resilient to seismic forces because the inbuilt gaps between the rubble absorb all the frictional forces which are generated during the time of earthquake hence safeguarding the structure against sliding and overturning. The gaps evenly distribute all the energy which as a result further ads up to the energy dissipation capacity of the structure without endangering the structural configuration and the vertical load carrying ability of the structure. The interconnection of the walls and roof together with the foundation makes the structure a monolith unit. The overall thickness of the wall ranges from 45-60cm. the thick and heavy walls give way for a very good thermal insulation and help maintaining a constant temperature within by providing a high time lag which is usually greater than 8 hours. For the two bottommost layers single wooden logs while for the upper layers double wooden logs are used. The open spaces (height ~ 30cm) between the horizontal logs are furnished with well-dressed flat
Roof covering is done above this frame with the help of slate. Slate is fire resistant and has a low water absorption index due to which it is resistant to frost damage and breakage due to freezing. It is cut into rectangular or triangular units and placed over the frame in rows with an overlap between them. The self-weight of the slate tiles is adequate enough to keep them in place. Containing high quartz content, slate reflects sunlight, absorbs heat and provides moisture barrier thus, thermally insulating the structure. The light weight slate roof and the sir between the roof and attic floor provides a very good thermal insulation against the passage of heat. The shape of the roof is usually pent or