Photo: K. Tamang

NEPALI WOMEN HELP REVIVE A DISAPPEARING ARCHITECTURAL ART FORM

By: Mokha master artists Shanti Chaudhari and Khedni Chaudhari, Rotary Club of Itahari Past-President Ramesh Tamraker and Canadian architect Stanley Britton

THE ART

Tharu is the indigenous culture of the Terai plains east of the Koshi River between the Himalaya foothills and Nepal’s southeast border with India. Many families are farmers and labourers. Houses are often built of bamboo-lattice with mud-plaster walls. Mokha art is their architectural heritage.

Mokha art’s sculpted bas-relief designs aim to attract visitors and welcome guests. During Tihar, the annual Festival of Lights, Lakshmi, the Hindu Goddess of Wealth, is said to enter these houses and bless the inhabitants. In anticipation the art is revitalised annually.

The wall plasters are layered mixes of mud, cow dung and straw. Read more

Here is the interior of the kitchen.  Its 8 meters high, 10 meters wide and 15 meters long. Who says you can not make large structure out of bamboo? You can do anything that cement and concrete can and that too in an ecological, economical and a beautiful way.

After long and arduous battle our kitchen is finished. The tiles looks awesome. They are made on site! They have no embodied energy what so ever- meaning they are not burnt.

During this construction, we have followed a very conventional philosophy i.e. a sound hat and a sound boot is all what you need for protection. Bamboo is delicate, its vulnerable but if used properly can be hardy and durable. 

Here is an overview of the housing sector of Nepal prepared by Ujjwal Pokhrel (SNV Nepal), and the potential fabricated bamboo can do to aid the current housing problems of the country.

May this be the year of bamboo and mud. Our cantina is in its final stage. The trusses are complete. The structure is about 120 sq. meters in area. It uses locally harvested, locally treated bamboo which are constructed using local labor. Its a nice execution of our motto “think global, act local” It is built in a remote village called Harsar in the southern plains of Nepal. According to our calculation, the structure costs more than half compared to concrete and steel. Moreover, the structure has become pride of this impoverished but ambitious little village.

The more we work with bamboo, more confident we become on the strength and beauty of this  vegetal steel. It  makes one wonder, why isn’t this material used more in the modern construction, as there is nothing it cant do that steel would. Yet, its cheaper, available, beautiful and yet many times more ecological. Here is one of our offices that is under construction. The cost of construction is about $200 per truss, the span is five meters and total area is about 40 sq. meter. Its a combination of earth (compressed earth blocks) and bamboo. The amount of cement used is is less than 10 percent.

Here is the latest of our creation from Janakpur. Its part of a bigger structure which will be complete in only a few more weeks.  This is our first truss that is so huge. It uses combination of cement and steel for connection.

Gate in many cultures symbolize invitation. Gates were (are) built on seas, mountains, rivers and streets to welcome the gods. In festivals seasons, Nepalis still build large structured gates, which almost look like bridges. Here is an example of a large bamboo temporary gate, built for the harvest season. Notwithstanding the cultural value, its an engineering feat in itself: connected with simple ropes and built without any foundation, they withstand heavy loads and fierce winds.  Moreover, these massive structures are built with no more than four people.