Santa is running his hand over the massive, weathered stones of an old boundary wall that has stood firm for generations, despite some visible ground settlement nearby.
“Banta, it’s amazing how these old walls stand so strong!”
“Look at these corners – so sharp and solid, even without much ‘masala’ visible between the stones in some places.”
“And the wall itself feels like one single, giant rock!”
Banta smiles, pointing to a particularly large, well-dressed stone at the corner that interlocks neatly with stones from both walls.
“That’s no accident, Santa.”
“Our ancestors were masters of stonecraft, and they knew the secrets to making a wall that could truly stand as one, especially when the earth tried to shake it into pieces.”
“One of those secrets lies in these ‘kone ke pathar’ – special cornerstones, or ‘quoins’ as they are sometimes called.”
“Cornerstones?” Santa asks.
“Are they different from other stones?”
“Yes,” Banta explains.
“They were usually the largest, strongest, and most carefully shaped stones, chosen to bind the two walls meeting at a corner.”
“They would often have long alternating faces going into each wall, effectively stitching the corner together.”
“A wall’s corner is its most vulnerable point during an earthquake; it can try to open up.”
“These massive, interlocking cornerstones provided immense strength there, preventing that separation.”
He then taps on a section of the wall. “And there’s another hidden secret within the thickness of these walls – the ‘aar-paar pathar’ or ‘through-stones‘.”
“What are those?”
“Imagine a very long stone, Santa, carefully chosen or shaped, that goes right through the entire thickness of the wall, from the outer face to the inner face,” Banta describes.
“In these thick random rubble walls, which have an outer layer and an inner layer of stones with smaller rubble filling in between, these through-stones acted like strong stitches, tying the two faces of the wall firmly together.”
“Without them, the outer and inner faces could bulge or separate during an earthquake, leading to collapse.”
“But with these through-stones placed at regular intervals, the entire wall was forced to behave as a single, solid, monolithic unit.”
Santa’s eyes light up.
“Aha! So, the cornerstones locked the corners, and the through-stones stitched the wall’s thickness together!”
“That’s why it feels like one giant piece!”
“It’s like they were weaving with stone!”
“Precisely, Santa!” Banta affirms.
“It wasn’t just about piling stones; it was about strategically placing these special binding stones to ensure the whole wall acted in unison when stressed.”
“This, combined with good interlocking of all other stones, gave our traditional walls incredible resilience.”
“They knew how to make the stones ‘hold each other’s hands’ very tightly.”
Santa looks at the old wall with profound respect.
“So much thought in just placing stones!”
Our modern brick walls with simple cement often seem to crack so easily at the corners or bulge.”
“Perhaps we’ve forgotten the art of making the wall truly one.”
संता – बंता की इस जुगलबन्दी से आज हमने क्या सीखा:-
- उत्तराखण्ड की परम्परागत पत्थर की चिनाई के अन्तर्गत दीवार को सुरक्षित बनाने के लिये कोने के पत्थर के साथ ही आर – पार पत्थर का उपयोग किया जाता था / Traditional stone masonry in Uttarakhand utilised specially selected and dressed cornerstones (quoins) to provide strong, interlocking connections at vulnerable wall corners.
- आर – पार पत्थर दीवार की मोटाई के बराबर होता था / “Through-stones” were strategically placed to span the entire thickness of the wall, tying the outer and inner faces together and ensuring monolithic behaviour during seismic shaking.
- इन तकनीकों के उपयोग से परम्परागत भवन भूकम्प के झटके झेल पाते थे और धवस्त नहीं होते थे / These techniques significantly enhanced the structural integrity and shear resistance of stone walls, preventing delamination and collapse.
- इन तकनीकों से पता चलता है कि यहाँ के लोगो को संरचनाओं पर लगने वाले बाहरी बालों की जानकारी थी / Such practices reflect a deep understanding of stone masonry and its response to external forces.
संता – बंता की यह जुगलबन्दी आपको कैसी लगी, कृपया हमें जरुर बताये
व
इस जुगलबन्दी को बेहतर बनाने के लिये अपने सुझाव अवश्य दें।
हमें हमेशा की तरह आपके सुझावों, प्रतिक्रियाओं व कटाक्षो का बेसब्री से इंतजार रहता हैं और सच मानिये इसी के आधार पर हम अपने आप में, अपनी सोच व रचनात्मकता में सुधार करने को प्रेरित होते हैं।
सो अच्छा – बुरा जैसा आपको महसूस हुवा हो, कमेंट जरुर करते रहें।
Leave a Reply