A wada was typically a large building of two or more storey with groups of rooms
arranged around open courtyards.
Two types of wadas:
Its style was an amalgamation where features from Mughal, Rajasthan, and
Land around the Peshwas residence was divided into wards called peths.
These were self-sufficient units and they were named after the days of weeks or
Roads were never straight as the growth of the settlement was organic.
The plots for construction of wadas were rectangular and lay right next to the
streets.
The urban form of the settlement appeared like a maze of two or three storied
structures having internal open spaces, placed along the road network with very
This Wada was built in 1875 by Shri Karandikar who was a moneylender by profession
and was related to the Peshwas.
LOCATION
The solar radiation is more or less the same throughput the year.
The relative humidity in dry periods varies from 20-55% and in monsoons
55-90%.
The total rainfall usually exceeds 1000mm per year. Winter is a dry
season.
The sky is mostly clear with an occasional presence of dense low clouds
during summer.
The design of a wada was not influenced much by the climatic factors rather it
was influenced more by the social and cultural factors.
Separate entrances for guests, domestic help, people visiting the durbar, separate
entries for the people performing in the durbar and a separate entry into the cattle
shed.
The most significant features of the wada was the way its zoning of public,
private and semi-private spaces was done.
There were very few openings on the sides of the building, so the rooms were not
well lit.
One of the most interesting features of this wada was the underground water
supply which came from Katraj dam which was 11kms from the site.
The water that came was collected in open tanks called HAUDS.
One for bathing, one for washing utensils and one for storing drinking water.
This was done so that when the women moved around in the house they wouldn't
be seen from the outside.