27/05/2015
Great Quake highlights value of Newari concept of ‘Chowk’
- By Gautam Buddha Bajracharya
Kathmandu, May 21: The ‘community courtyard’ known as ‘Chowk’ in colloquial Nepali was prevalent among the traditional settlements of Newars in the Kathmandu Valley until recently. With the rapid and wanton urbanization, the concept of such courtyard ceased to exist.
Following the April 25 quake, many inhabitants, both locals and outsiders, in the Valley have started understanding the significance of the indigenous concept of the ‘Chowk’ as it would offer them an open space to escape the disaster or any danger.
Many people who made a narrow escape during the quake opine that the number of injured people would have been lessened given the availability of such space, often built in the middle of a cluster of five to six houses and from 20 to 25 at utmost in traditional Newar’s settlements.
traditional courtyard
Tradtional Newari courtyard. Photo courtesy: arjuna-vallabha.tumblr.com
Shyam Ale from Jhapa district has been in the capital city for some years for employment. He was of the opinion that many people, mostly migrant workers like him residing in the congested areas in the capital city, have sustained injuries during the quake while running out of houses.
“They have been learnt to be injured in lack of adequate open space in their locality to escape to safety,” argued Ale, adding the government, in its new Building Code, must adopt the policy to incorporate the traditional concept of ‘Chowk’ in between every few houses in the new settlement.
Ale shared that he found the ‘Chowk’ in the Newari settlement nearby his residence very useful for the people to flee during the quake. The ‘Chowk’ seemingly offered the locals there a space to reside temporarily as the frequent powerful aftershocks continued jolting the valley.
Speaking in the similar vein, Krishnaraj Thapa said, “I have been residing in the settlement of Newars in Kathmandu. The earlier concept of leaving some space for ‘Chowk’ while building house is commendable. We should emulate this concept.”
Thapa runs a business in Ason, one of the ancient towns in Kathmandu. It has dense houses with small open spaces left sparingly. He argued that the government should formulate stern law instructing to spare some spaces open and build a way that allows the entry of a vehicle during the medical and any other emergency like the quake.
To mitigate the risk of disaster, especially quake, it is imperative that the human habitat has adequate open space in the surrounding. Here, the concept of ‘community courtyard’ would become useful for the people in distress to come close and face the danger in unison.
The word ‘Chowk’ deriving from Newari word ‘Chukya’ meaning the shared and barren land hovered round by few houses. Such Chowks are rampant in the old Newari settlements in various places in Kathmandu Valley as Maru, Jaisidewal, Yatakha Bahal, Itumbahal, Nagbahal and the like.
These community courtyards are found spanning across often four to five annas (around 1,000 square feet). In some places, Chowks are found to have spanned across four to five ropani. But it’s a rare sight any longer.
The Places in Kathmandu valley developed in the recent decade like Samakhusi, Gongabu, Machhapokhari, Banasthali, New Baneshwar among others are densely populated areas in the capital. These places barely have adequate open spaces in them.
The need for such Chowks was felt in these dense settlements in the recent quake and during the subsequent powerful aftershocks.
The tall houses and large high-rise apartments that have sprung up in the city, besides spoiling the cityscape, have turned into ‘death trap’ at times of disasters.
- See more at: http://travelnewsnepal.com/feature/great-quake-highlights-value-of-newari-concept-of-chowk/ .zaQTFstd.hKOtjuJk.dpuf
