VC Sharon Dkhar and Dheera Bhowmick wax eloquent on the megalithic structures around the globe
THE FASCINATING megalithic temples of Malta believed to be the oldest free-standing stone structures in the world located on an island with a history of earthquakes, have survived for thousands of years. In the Andes, until the Spanish invaders stole the interlocking keys securing the megalithic structures of Teotihuacan, they had survived for over eight hundred years. Sacsahuaman is still intact and the essential structure of the great pyramids survives after 4,500 years.
Mostly shrouded in mystery, the impressive architectural world of the ancients speak of a rare kind of artistic, scientific and technological skill and development that equal or even rival our own. Machu Picchu in Peru, the fascinating megalithic temples of Malta, the Great Pyramid of Giza, Teotihuacan (one of the first great cities of the western hemisphere where along with the Pyramids of the sun and the moon, extensive residential areas, a network of covered aqueducts, public baths, theatres, ball courts and colourful murals have been discovered), show an astute architectural world — built with complex knowledge of geography, astronomy, geophysics and engineering. Their dwelling houses were simple but varied, beautiful but useful, with a high value on comfort more than aesthetic style.
These constructions should not be considered to be arbitrary or capricious responses of primitive minds to the unknown and mysterious order of the universe but, as David D Zink author of The Ancient Stones Speak says, the ancient people “had a geometry based on a subtle understanding of the physical universe… had an astronomical understanding… one which allowed maximum utilisation of solar, lunar and stellar energies… possessed a subtle understanding of geophysics in the now-known earth’s magnetic fields… employed a sacred architecture whose temples were located so as to derive maximum advantage from the energies understood by these unified sciences; temples, that is, whose structure enhanced the planet’s energy within them for healing and the raising of consciousness; thus, psychology, physiology, geophysics, and architecture were welded together in an empirical spiritual experience.”
Hidden for centuries, Derinkuyu in Turkey, the largest of underground cities was built by anonymous builders around 8th century BC. The inhabitants dug tunnels and rooms beneath their homes in the soft volcanic rock and what makes these structures phenomenal is the fact that the underground chambers were able to accommodate 20,000 people at the very least and were probably used to protect its inhabitants from war or natural disasters.
Again, one of the greatest feats of engineering of pre-industrial age was the Great Dam in Yemen built around 750 BC. Built by the Sabaens, the dam stood for over 1000 years and the 20,000 feet long Great Dam of Mirab converted Yemen into a fertile oasis, what was then known as the Kingdom of Sheba.
In a remarkable achievement of 15th century construction, the Incas of Machu Picchu flattened the top of the 2,430 metre high mountain to accommodate 140 structures including temples and houses.
The materials used in all these constructions varied greatly from the use of soil, white quartz pebbles, river worn boulders of grey granite, syenites, limestone, red porphyry, natural basalt prisms. Also the techniques for such construction included use of massive stones, stones keyed into bedrock, elements carved from the living rock, irregular polygonal masonry, stones keyed together with metal clamps and mortised and tenoned joints.
‘Form following function’ was an important criterion in all such ancient structures. There were mysterious underground cities that speak of humans burrowing into the earth by coercion or choice while houses in the desert or on lakes speak of man’s fight for sustenance in the most inhospitable of terrains. From Japanese Styrodome houses to Ghadamas of Libya to Windwrinkle to Montezuma Castle, Arizona to Bokod Hungary to Dogon tribes of Sudan whose cleverly built cliff dwellings can leave one exasperated to the half-timbered construction on stone foundation in La Rioja, Spain, all the structures were built keeping in mind their functional value.
Best known for combining anthropology with history and geography, the ancients at Mesa Verde Colorado, USA constructed dwellings just below cliff hangings. The people lived in them while farming the land on the top. The occupants enjoyed the advantages of natural climate control, warmed by the sun in the colder months and prevented from getting too hot in summer because they were shielded from the heat of the direct sun. These skilled ancestors of ours also enjoyed near immunity to formidable outside invasion while enjoying living in comfortable homes.
The greatest virtue of architecture of the ancients seems to be that of the community working together. In fact, the architecture of the times sprang from an intersection of collective human intelligence, necessity and collective effort at creativity. Ingenious, innovative and in keeping with the local conditions, these simple yet elegant structures were more useful and sturdier than any architectural marvels of present times. Called ‘architecture without architects’ these buildings and constructions were designed by amateurs whose aesthetic concerns were tied up with utilitarian ones. They were based on the idea that simple forms, aesthetics without ornamentation, simple geometry and smooth surfaces are closer to real art and represents what can be called ‘folk wisdom’.
Dwelling architecture of the ancients also reflected a very specific geographical locale. In the building of houses, granaries, altars, sanctuaries, communal meeting places the geological, ethnological, archaeological interests were kept foremost. For instance, the dwelling houses of the Khasis and the Jaintias, the indigenous people residing within the Khasi and Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya connected with megalithic culture, had more stone dwellings as their place of abode. In places like Sohra, Mawmluh, Nongbah, Mawsmai, Mawsynram, and Jowai that receive heavy rainfall most of the houses have solid stone structures to fend them from the inclement weather. It was also considered taboo to use iron nails in the construction of houses and for this reason most houses were generally made of stone.
Among the Jaintias, mud plaster for the walls was used as protection against fire, since arson was a common form of revenge in those hills. The indigenous house was oval and looked like an obverse boat, with no regular windows. The only opening to let in light was the pongshai on one side of the house, serving as a sky light opening. The reason for this could be the prevalence of strong winds that could be devastating if there were too many openings in the house. It may be for this reason too that the houses were low-roofed. A particular tribe of this region known as the Wars built their houses like those of another tribe called the Pnars with the difference that part of their house was built on stilts, taking advantage of the many ravines in their particular areas.
The stone bridges found and used even now in these parts of the world speak of a rare kind of indigenous architectural skill. The Thlo Mawi bridge consists of huge well hewn granite stone slabs perched on equally similar pillars. The Um-ia-knieh bridge is particularly impressive in that the dome instead of being towered up from the bridge is instead dumped inside to form an underneath support, very much an appropriate form of architectural and engineering feat. The Syndai bridge has attracted a number of intellectuals and scholars who were amazed as they studied its artistic impression and architectural skill.
The various ancient structures found in Meghalaya also were in complete harmony with nature and not superimpositions that modern concrete structures appear to be. They are built keeping in mind the local needs fitted into the environment by people who understood and revered the balance of nature in its pristine form. They definitely pose as vibrant anti-thesis against the arrogant self-aggrandizing attempts at building grand imposing structures as is found in Europe and other developed nations.
The recent spurts in interest in ancient architecture also called ‘architecture without architects’ stand in sharp and complete contrast with that which is called ‘polite architecture’ synonymous with modernity, homogeneity measured life span and excessive aesthetic concern.
Different building forms in different contexts, in different regions in different climes for different people–the heterogeneity and the uniqueness of each of these ancient structures makes them pieces of inimitable wonder. Hence it would not be presumptuous to connote that perhaps our modern yearning for the grandiose and the spectacular ought to look back at such structures of the ancients and learn that nature will support and uphold that which will be ecological rather than superfluous. Only then would we grasp what perhaps the generations past have always understood that architectures must reflect not just the head of the architect but rather his heart.