Wooden Houses (Larri) of Sharda

The Neelum Valley is blessed with most plentiful timber resources. It is a mountainous region that houses rich forests. Northern Area are in the north, KP province of Pakistan is in the west and Srinagar is in the east of Neelum Valley. These areas as a connection through centuries but have their own architectural traditions based on their histories and religions. Material used for the construction of the houses is undressed simple wooden logs or planks. The forests are characterized by dense of trees. This house is erected on stone base of 1.90m of high. It is double story house built of wooden structure. Entrance of the house is provided on the north side, by a wooden ladder. The house can be divided into three parts. The ground floor is used for sheltering cattle and storage of wood and grass for animal. The floor of ground floor is made of thick wooden deodar planks. The first floor has four rooms with a gallery (portico) on front decorated with carved pillars. The floor has four rooms used as kitchen, dining, sleeping area and washroom. The kitchen has three hearths and an iron structure called Bukhara hangs above the hearth to warm the house. The heat generate from Bukhara gives warm in the entire house during cold weather. The floor of this part is made up of thick wooden planks. No provision of windows is provided in the house that is why the interior is smoky and dark. The upper top part is utilized as a granary and for storage of vegetables, fruits and other family possessions. The granary is also made of wooden logs. The part is a simple big hall without any partition and open on two sides under a triangular shaped standing roof for crossing air. The most interesting architectural feature is the wooden structure of the Portico and its carvings with Corinthian pillars. The Kashmir region was influenced by the civilization of Hellenism that had been brought by alexander to Gandhara in the 4th century BCE. Most rural houses are two or three floor high. The materials used for construction of walls and floors are earth and timber and the main slopping roof over the house is covered with paddy thatch. The sloping roof is covered with earth while two floors are fully enclosed with walls, the 2nd floor is open under the gabble. The ground floor of the house is invariably used for housing cattle and for storage of fodder, while the 1st floor is the main winter living room and kitchen</p>