Discuss the salient features of the Harappan architecture.

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Ghissu Editorial · Accepted Answer

Harappan architecture was planned, civic and utilitarian, built around a citadel and gridded lower town, standard bricks, covered drains and water storage rather than palaces or temples. Mohenjo-daro's Great Bath and Dholavira's three-part plan and reservoirs are its most striking examples.

**Introduction**

Dholavira's inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021 recalls that the mature Harappan cities (c. 2600 to 1900 BCE) were South Asia's first planned towns, built for order and hygiene rather than royal or religious display.

**Town Planning and Civic Engineering**

FIGURE: history-p4-0 | Harappan city: raised citadel with the Great Bath, gridded lower town

1. **Planned hierarchy**: A raised citadel and a larger lower town at Mohenjo-daro and Kalibangan, and a three-part plan at Dholavira, point to an authority that organised labour and space.
2. **Standard bricks**: Baked and mud bricks in a uniform 1:2:4 ratio across sites hundreds of kilometres apart suggest shared building codes rather than local improvisation.
3. **Drainage and water**: Covered drains with inspection holes, hundreds of wells at Mohenjo-daro and Dholavira's rock-cut reservoirs show advanced civic engineering.

**Public, Domestic and Ritual Buildings**

1. **Great Bath**: Mohenjo-daro's tank, about 12 by 7 metres, was made watertight with gypsum mortar and bitumen for ritual bathing.
2. **Storage and assembly**: Large platforms often called granaries and a pillared hall at Mohenjo-daro served collective needs.
3. **Courtyard houses**: Inward-facing homes of one or two storeys opened onto side lanes rather than main streets, with private bathrooms and often wells.
4. **Restraint and variety**: No palaces or temples survive, only fire altars at Kalibangan and Lothal, and builders used stone at Dholavira and mud brick at Kalibangan.

**Conclusion**

Harappan architecture placed hygiene and civic order above royal glory. Its drains and water harvesting still offer lessons to Indian cities that flood every monsoon.

Discuss the salient features of the Harappan architecture.

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