Kath-kuni

Kath-kuni (also written kath-khuni) is the traditional way of building in the hills of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. Walls are made of alternating courses of dressed stone and timber laid without mortar, and the house is capped by a heavy, overhanging roof of local slate or wooden shingles. The name is usually explained as coming from Sanskrit kashth (wood) and kona (corner), after the jointed timber corners; local variants include kath-kona and, around Sarahan, kath-ki-kanni. The technique is believed to be roughly a thousand years old.

The roof

The roof is framed with timber. Beams laid across the tops of the walls carry purlins and rafters, and the ridge beam is set last, an event that marks the completion of the house. The covering is either local slate or wooden shingles:

• Slate is the commonest covering. Some houses use slate cut into regular rectangles, others use irregular slabs laid as they come from the quarry. Slate is waterproof and resists frost, and its weight helps hold the timber structure down.
• Wooden shingles are used where slate is not available.

Roofs are usually pent (single-pitch) or gable, or a combination of the two, and their pitch and shape vary with altitude across the state. A steeper part sheds snow, while a flatter part can hold a layer of snow as insulation. The eaves overhang well beyond the walls to keep rain and snow off the timber, and are often hung with carved wooden pendants called jhalar.

Walls and timber

Deodar, the western Himalayan cedar, is the main timber for walls, floors and roof framing; a local saying claims it lasts a thousand years in water. In the walls, pairs of long timber beams are laid with infill between them and tied across with dovetailed cross-pieces (maanvi) and wooden pegs (kadil). Higher up the wall, the share of timber increases and that of stone decreases. The building's own weight, including the roof, holds it together.

Earthquake performance

Himachal Pradesh is seismically active. The nail-less timber joints can flex while staying locked, the stone plinth adds mass and stability, and the gap inside the double-skinned walls helps dissipate seismic forces. Houses are typically oriented with the long side facing the valley and the back to the mountain.

Building types

Ordinary houses are two or three storeys, with cattle on the ground floor (gaushala) and living rooms above. Temples and tower temples can reach five to seven storeys, as at Summerkot and Chitkul in Kinnaur.

Today

New building materials are replacing kath-kuni construction, and the future of the craft is uncertain.