Editorial | Tracing Kashmir’s lost era of golden architecture

The Kashmir valley, one of the most attractive tourist destinations, is not only popular for its scenic beauty but also for its magnificent architectural and cultural heritage. The rich and plentiful heritage of Jammu and Kashmir make a perfect and complete blend of diverse cultures, traditions and faiths.

As the winter sets in, people in Kashmir spend longer hours indoors. Electric and gas heaters flood the market and more than one lakh quintals of wood is burnt for heating in mosques alone. Still, as the older generation of Kashmiris likes to point out, the Valley is not as cold as it used to be.

Kashmir has rich heritage viz a viz its architecture. Kashmiri traditional Architecture has a unique design of building involving wood, mud and bricks . This architecture is quite common and prominent in its summer capital region. The very first view at Srinagar brings out its vernacular authenticity.

Traditional Kashmiri houses faced south to absorb the maximum sunlight. They usually had a single entrance and rows of windows. The wooden window frames bore small glass panes and the thick brick walls were plastered with clay and straw on the inside, so the cold did not seep in.