Traditional Houses in North East India

Abstract

Northeast India is one of the most scenic places of India. It has a rich variety of heritage, culture and tradition. Such tradition history and diversity brings a lot of variations in way of livelihood, tradition, ethics etc. Such kind of diversity in their lifestyle is also reflected in the houses they live in. We find a rich divergence of houses in each and every states of Northeast. Hence, in this research an attempt has been made to study different types of traditional houses of the Northeast. The study will involve houses from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The study will involve the suitability of every type of house in their respective areas. Further in this research the style, the architecture, the structure and the orientation of these houses are studied. The different building materials used in the construction of these houses are also studied in this research. Few examples of traditional houses are taken as case studies and their utility is studied in building those houses. Cost comparison is done to study the cost effectiveness of these traditional houses. Since locally available materials are used in building these houses, they will lead to sustainable development of the people. Moreover they give a great importance to their traditional and cultural values and these can be reflected on their structural practices, designs, aesthetics, etc.