Santhal Architecture of Terai region: A case of satar village Morang
Date
2022-09
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
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Publisher
IOE Pulchowk Campus
Abstract
Modernization in housing construction in rural areas leads to changes in traditional lifestyle. This
study has developed a survey of Santhal architecture in the rural areas of the traditional settlements
of satar and identify changing trends and study different attribute’s role that somehow playing role
in shaping santhal architecture. As indigenous peoples like santhal are diverse social and cultural
groups, with ancestral connections to the land and natural resources they lived in, occupied or
evacuated. Changes in community cultural and social attitudes have the greatest impact on
architecture it not only diminishes architecture but also kills the social cultural practices which
ultimately result to diminishes of their identity (Ismail, 2015). As a result, it appears crucial for
sociocultural factors to support architectural identity. The Santal people seek to shape architecture
and create their own identities through social and cultural attributes it plays an important role in
identity formation. Each architectural element of Santa-House represents culture such as structure,
morphology and design, and the use of raw materials determine their identity. Generally, Santhal
builds a house from a local material that can be used locally instead of text craftsmanship so these
reflects their identity it has to be preserved.
Description
Our country consists of diverse identity based on religion and caste system. Different groups
consist of own vernacular architecture that also reflect their identity. Among them, the Santhal
or Satar community is a unique ethnic group in eastern Nepal. Although the population is small,
accounting for only 0.19% of the total population of the country, they have a rich hunting
culture and practices. The discovery of such an architecture is essential. The culture of each
society is defined through its manifestations such as language, art, and architecture, and
analysis in the field of culture involves the study of cultural expressions.
Keywords
Urbanization, Modernization, Santhal architecture, Vernacular architecture, Transformation