Sherpa

house 
•History of Nepalese architecture
•Presented by bandana sharma
•B ARCH SY- 1
Table of contents 

• Introduction to Sherpa people
• Life in mountains 
• Layout of village 
• Introduction to Sherpa house 
• General features 
• Construction technology 
•Case study
Introduction 
• Sherpas (shyar= east, pa=people)  are indigenous people of
Himalayas of nepal .
• The inhibit in eastern Nepal close to main northernmost
high ranges.
• Sherpas have maintained their traditions
and customs that distinguished them
from bhotias and thakalis 
• Amongst the sherpas the sherpas of khumbu are the
most representative 
• Population of khumbu represent only fraction number
of sherpa yet their tradition and culture are enough to
represent the entire sherpa community.
Fig: Sherpa people 
Lifestyle 

• Sherpa people's economy in past was based on

transhumance agriculture and trade with tibet.

• Barley, wheat tumip and reddish are the main livestock of

khumbu region

• However seasonal farming was never enough to sustain

the economy so most of sherpa were involved in trade
with tibet where they acted as midmen in trade between
tibet and southern main lands of nepal.

• A new means of livelihood was opened with opening of

mountain for exploration which later become the one of
the most important occupation of region 
 Village layout 
• The layout of Sherpa village is highly guided by the climate
and environment there.
• The settlement in khumbu is result of conscious and
coordinated site selectin as well as deeply embodied
religious belief 
• The villages of Khumbu have uniform layout.
• Gompa(temple) stand in the center of all Khumbu village.
• Dwelling houses are scattered over a considerable area with
fields and kitchen gardens interviing single homestead of
small group of houses.
• Almost all houses in sherpa villages face same direction ie
south to catch maximum sunlight 
Gompa in center of village
• Main villages are located in between gunsa and yearsa which
 Sherpa house 
• Sherpa house are result as response to inhabitable and difficult
climate of the region. 
• The houses appear simple but have complex mechanism.

• Dwellings of nobility as well as poor are almost similar except

for the size and accountments 
•  All the dwellings are made of one basic floor plan with stone
walls that are plastered and white washed outside by clalely
earth.
• Houses are solidly built, with an outer protective wall enclosing
an inner wooden framework, the former separate from
the latter. 
• The roofing is ridge or slope type to provide ample shelter from Houses in solu khumbu
heavy rainfall.
Types of
houses
• Architecturally, the style of Sherpa houses in the
villages of Khumbu is more or less of three types​
• All three types of Sherpa house are elongated in shape,
two storied, with a ridge roof; the ground floor is partly
built into the slope of the hill or mountain behind it.​
• The simplest type, naturally less socially evolved,
consisting of a single block, is also the pattern most
used by Sherpas when building their houses. Storage
space and a byre for cattle in cold weather are on the
ground floor, while on the upper floor is the living-room
where the domestic and social life of the family
takes place. ​ Simplest type of Sherpa dwelling 
• As regards the remaining two types of Sherpa house,
two or more blocks, conspicuous from the outside,
are added to the single block, thus elongating
still further the basic linear pattern, or else causing it
to be jointed so as to form an L-shape. 

• The upper floor of the larger, modified pattern of

house is used as a private place of worship. 

• L-shaped houses were built earlier than the

remaining two patterns.
General
features 
• In front of each house is a small open space or yard
where rice, buckwheat and millet are spread to dry in the
sun, newly harvested crops are sorted and graded prior to
storage, and firewood is piled up for the winter months. 
• Two-storied houses have one or two rooms provide
a byre for live-stock, while others are used for storing
fodder, firewood and farm implements. 
• A flight of wooden stairs, usually in the byre, leads to the
upper floor. A short passageway facing the stairs in turn
leads to the large living-room.
• The same short passageway often gives on to a partly
roofed terrace where the lavatory is housed in a small
shed.
Doors and
windows
• All houses in a village to be built with the doors and windows facing in
the same direction, that is, south-east, in order to be better exposed to
the warmth of the sun.
• There are no doors, windows or other openings in the backs of
the houses.
• The windows are well proportioned and are set in frame made of
painted wood.
• The window carvings often harmonizes with the carvings in
the entablature.
• The vivid colors in which the windows are painted lend a touch of
brightness  the light tones of the walls surrounding them and greatly
heighten the overall effect 
• Glass is used between the frames and if not available paper is glued to
the frames of window which acts as insulation as well
as a transulant source of light.
Living room 
• The second floor consist almost solely of living room
measuring about 25 feet to 40 long by 10 feet to 12 feet.
• It is simple in layout and contains hearth for heating and
cooking, a broad bench under the window with a long
table in front the seat of house owner next to the
fireplace and the place of honor next to the hearth
• Walls of room paneled with wood and one corner holds
wooden bedstead for owners; rest of family member
sleep in floor on rugs and mats.
• Cupboard and trunks are used for storage.
• Domestic shrine has its own place along the wall of living
room.
• The high open heath is made up of slabs of stone.​
• As there is no chimney, smoke from the fire escapes
through an opening in the roof.​
• The wall opposite the windows is lined with long, dark
wooden shelves where vessels of aluminum and copper
are placed.​
• The wall opposite the shelves of brass and copper
vessels is well lit on account of the two or three
windows let into it; the play of light and shadow on the
wall between the windows is seen to better advantage
from the middle of the room. ​
• Beside, and in sharp contrast to them are shiny plastic ,
the inevitable thermos flask made in China,  the
pressure-cooker which have already found its way
into Sherpa homes 
Building materials

• Wood and stone are primary building material

in sherpa architecture.
• The sherpa architecture use of one element
may be greater than other depending on the
purpose and specific need of the structure.
• Roughly dressed stones are used in walls
enclosing the structure 
• Wood are used in building supporting
framework of pillars and beams in structures.
• The sherpa architecture acquires its strength in
character through clever use of vivid colour on
door and window frames in contrast to
subdued uniform tones of walls
Stone as
buildning material
• The stone work used in walls is dry or bound
together with mud mortar made of soft clayey
earth which reduces resistance arising from
building material of this kind 
• The walls are reinforced in corners by large
square dressed stones 
• The stone walls are often left uncoated but
plastered with claley earth which gives finishes
to stonework by filling in the cracks between
stone and walls and is also good for water
proofing 
• Stone is aso used as roofing material with
good result as it resist strong monsoon wind
due to its weight.
 Wood as buildng
material 
• Wooden members are used for inner
supporting framework and embellishment.
• Wood are used for their excillent resistance to
compressive and sheraing stress.
• Wood make pillars supporting beams where
the floor rest, the floor and the framework of
the roof openings and internal furnishing in
sherpa dwellings 
Construction
methods 
• Outer stone wall encloses the innter wooden
framework of dwellings 
• The first floor of dwellings that are always
rectagluar is shape are carried  by three horizantal
beams parallel to longest side of rectangle 
• Beams supporting the upper floor are not tied
together but simply rest on  pillar varying on
number 
• The arrangement of three beams supporting the
ridge is similar except the central beam is higher 
• Pillar beams and shelf capitals making the
framework of building are not tied together but
rest opon one other through dowels and peges 
Construction
methods
• Secondary framework of joist are placed on
top framework of main beam to support the
floor above.
• Boards of wood placed to fill up the space In
between joist make up the ceiling of lower
floor 
• For building floors long battens are fitted into
framework of joist 
• The supporting framework of the roof, which is
always of the ridge or sloping type, consists of
numerous rafters laid close together on the
main beams without projecting beyond the
walls to form eaves.
Construction
methods
• Wood is also much used to make partitions
between rooms in dwelling-houses and
monasteries.
• Doorways and windows consist of a large,
stout frame which is fitted into the walls
during the building. The components of doors
and windows are joined together without
nails. In order to secure the frames firmly in
the window openings in the walls, tenons or
projecting tongues of wood are attached to the
upper and lower edges of the jambs, which fit
into slots in the reveals or internal side
surfaces of the window-openings. 
• Projecting shoulders or overhangs are often
built in the wall above window-openings and
doorways, their purpose being both decorative
and to provide protection against the weather.
Case study 

• Located in northern edge of cultivated land of

Thame 
• South orientation to catch maximum sunlight 
• Tow storied structure with rectangular layout 
• Consist of a sacred room build structurally
separated from main building (lhang)

South elevation
Plan
description  • Ground floor consist of chakhang and wokhang 
• Chakkang is used as stable storage and is seperated
by 1.8 m high wall to western part which is used for
storing potatoes and fooder for animals and yak
dungs and firehood
• The wokhang room below lhakhang is used for
storing grains and fooder for winter 
First floor  
• The first floor consist of khambpa ma and lhakhang 
• The khampa ma is used as living room, kitchen,
bedroom and storage. 
• Eastern wall has a old earth stove and rack used for
storage of utensils and food 
• The whole northern wall is used as storge of
household goods 
• Benches called shurti are placed along the
south walls with lower table called choktsi 
First floor
• Lhakang is sacred room and is place for daily offerings 
• The western wall has altar with statues
• The northern wall is entirely covered by traditional
shelves storing classical buddhist scripts 
• It has a window on southern wall which is the only old
carved window remaining in the house.
Construction
methods 

• The lhang consist of fine elaborated big window

facing the sun.
• The main doorway to first floor is
elaborately decorated 
• Walls made of crudely dressed stone plastered
and whitewashed 
• The first floor is supported by beam carried by
several roughly hewn pillars 
• Roof has purlin design with rafter laid on side purlins
and ridge purlin 
• The rafter is covered with insulations and batterns
which is in turn covered with stone tiles, 1 m on each
side of ridge is left uncovered for smoke to escape.
• Openings small and can be closed off by Transverse section
timber shutters 
Longititudnal section
Living room Praver room
Refrences  • file:///C:/Users/Dell/Desktop/B%20ARCH%
20SY%201/history%20of%20eastern%20arc
hitecture/sherpa%20architecture.pdf
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherpa_peopl
e
• https://issuu.com/dida-unifi/docs/ferrari_w
eb
 Ar. Buddha Shrestha 
Acknowledge Program coordinator 

ment  Architecture program 

Kathmandu University 
Thank you