Maintenace manual for the wadas of Berdi & Sayra

Abstract

Wadas are a prominent example of traditional built form that proliferated during the the Maratha towns or cities which served as the seat of power and urban trade centers. Analyzing the town planning concept on a rural level, this thesis evaluates the continuity of Wada as a socio-economic unit in the rural settlements by studying the spatial organization of individual house forms as well as the principles that governed the emergence of the settlement. The evolution of domestic spaces reveals that for performing the basic functions or the variety of activity relationships and patterns, the internal layouts and the external spatial configuration both contribute to the interactions between the settlement and the built, making the built as the core component of the settlement. The sense of interdependency between the built and the neighborhood is further analyzed by selecting the villages of Berdi and Sayra as study areas located near Sausar, a town in the district of Chindwara, MP. These villages historically served as centers for trade and economic activities related to agriculture under the Marathas. The study investigates the relationship between the settlement and Wada based on tangible and intangible associations and its continuity in the contemporary context. Taking into consideration the evolution and transformations in the Wada with the village throughout the years and contribution of the communities in the village helped to understand the significance and importance of the built unit and the necessity to preserve it in its setting. To validate the findings, documentation of the data collected in the form of maps, measured drawings, photographs, and interviews have been done during the primary survey. Observations recorded from the secondary study states that the focus of conservation efforts are on the architectural heritage of urban areas and rural areas get neglected in this respect. The outcome thus concentrates upon the development of methods for architectural conservation of Wadas in rural areas by raising awareness of the villagers to preserve their social and cultural identity using traditional methods with Maintenance Manual for the Wadas of Berdi & Sayra vi minimum efforts and interventions. The methods of partial maintenance to continue the use of the Wada is being interrupted by complete transformations resulting in loss of authenticity & integrity of the building. The proposal devised concentrates on the contemporary scenario of the Wadas and community perception of conservation to provide a maintenance framework in the form of a manual that enables improvement of the physical fabric of the Wadas, tampering with the authenticity & integrity of the heritage. The outcome of the documentation is to establish the importance of these house forms as contributors to the development of social and cultural aspects of the communities in the settlement they belong to. Today, because of the rapid changes in culture, architecture, and socio-economic transformation, such structures are extremely vulnerable and are facing serious problems and finding it difficult to have relevance in modern times.