MOHENJODARO ARCHITECTURAL FACTS

MOHENJODARO ARCHITECTURE  FACTS :-

    The 'Mohenjodaro' literally means, the   'mound of the dead' , while 'Mo-henjo' means 'of the dead' in sindhi. The Harappan site lies in the Larkhan district of Sindh, present Pakistan. The town planning is one of the most striking features. Some of the important architectural features of Mohenjodaro town planning are as follows:-

            * On the west of the site presents a citadel with fortified walls while on the eastern side lies the lower city ,laid out in grid pattern , with main streets nearly 10 m wide almost cutting each other in right angles. The houses always opened on the side alleys or streets.

           * Construction works were done by kiln-burnt bricks  but they generally used Sun dried bricks to construct houses, raise platforms etc. The mud mortar were used to keep the bricks in place.The bricks were laid in. 'English bond', mud pluster usually covered the inner walls.

            * There was advancement in drainage and water supply system. In Mohenjodaro most of the houses had their own private bathrooms, supplied with proper drainage system as well as drains to dispose wastes. Bathroom floors paved with burnt bricks. The street channels opened into bigger Cornel-vaulted sewers that emptied into the river. Each house had a tube well , along with public well in a community .

             * The houses were of different sizes. Some were spacious while smaller ones had only a partition. Houses had a courtyard where all the doors and windows opening into the courtyard. The houses main entrance opened only to the side lanes and never to the main road. The thickness of the outer walls measured nearly  90 cms. The houses had brick floors.

              *The citadel has a great bathroom. A complex of varandahs and rooms ranged around the sides of a rectangular pool measuring almost 12*7 m , and depth of 2.44 m, all laid on a north-south axis. The steps were furnished with bitumen. The tank was made of bricks and gypsum mortar to make it waterproof , further covered with 2 cm thickness layer of bitumen. The water to the tank was supplied from a well in a room to the east has an entrance from outside. A pillared verandah surrounded all the four sides of the pool. On the south 2 entrances led ta a paved vestibule,  with a drain at the eastern extremity. At either end this vestibule terminated into two small apartments of unknown function. A series of rooms extend on the eastern side. On the north the arrangement of the rooms is not clear.

               *To the northern side of the great bath lie two rows of bathrooms on either side of the lane containing drains .

               * To the west of great bath , a structure which was identified as granary by Sir Mortimer wheeler. It consists of high podium of massive walls and a crisscross arrangement of passages inside , probably serving as air-ducts.