Architecture of Mohenjo-Daro

By: Izhar kasi 4th Semester

The name of Mohenjo-daro is widely recognized as one of the most important early cities of South Asia

Some buildings in L area are constructed on top of a massive mud brick platform that can be seen here as grey-olive mud brick below the eroding red fired bricks.

The Great Bath is situated along a north-south street with a drain covered with limestone blocks. In the background is the so-called Granary, while in the foreground are the walls of several domestic structures.

The "great bath" is without doubt the earliest public water tank in the ancient world. Most scholars agree that this tank would have been used for special religious functions where water was used to purify and renew the well being of the bathers.

At the foot of the stairs is a small ledge with a brick edging that extends the entire width of the pool. People coming down the stairs could move along this ledge without actually stepping into the pool itself. Small sockets at the edges of the stairs could have held wooden planks or treads.

Great Bath

This drain cuts through the edge of the so-called granary. If the entire drain were constructed along with the Great Bath, this feature would indicate that the original "granary" was built before the great bath

"Citadel" mound and Stupa in the mist Local villagers cross the site in a donkey cart in the early morning mist, with the Buddhist stupa perched on top of the "citadel" mound. The modern road winds through the lowlying area between the "citadel" and "lower town."

Various factors contributed to the decline of Mohenjo-Daro There have been some suggestions that the entire site was destroyed by floods

These two local boys decided to hang out in the ancient city after delivering a pot of milk to their father who is one of the site watchmen. The distinctive decorated hat worn by the older boy is worn throughout Sindh province in Pakistan

The Indus River and "lower town"

The tops of eroding buildings have been capped with a protective layer of mud brick

This general view of houses shows the color of the brick walls prior to use of mud brick and clay slurry for conservation. The lower parts of the walls have the natural reddish color of fired brick.

One relatively successful low cost technique used to combat the destructive nature of salts in the fired bricks is to cover the walls with a thick layer of mud and straw plaster and to spray them with clay slurry.

Some of the later houses were constructed on top of massive deposits of garbage consisting of brick rubble, broken pottery.

Close-up view of the pillared hall, which may have been a hall of assembly with paved walkways and places for people to sit in ordered rows along each aisle between massive brick pillars

A large open space or courtyard (10 meters square) is surrounded by a wall that had 13 openings, possibly for windows. This unique structure is situated in the northern part of an extremely large building complex containing around 78 rooms and passageways, but no well. The building lies to the east of the Great Bath and was thought to be a "college" or residence of priests.

Many houses had stairs leading to upper courtyards of the building or to a second floor. This house in HR area had a double staircase that would allow people to enter and exit the upper courtyard in an orderly fashion. Some scholars feel this may have been a palace or a temple.

House A1 may have been a temple or palace of an important leader. Two doorways lead to a narrow courtyard at a lower level. A double staircase leads to an upper courtyard surrounded by several rooms.

Toilets would have been an essential feature in Mohenjodaro, but the early excavators identified most toilets as postcremation burial urns or sump pots. This brick structure had a hole in the top that was connected to a small drain leading out of the base into a rectangular basin (not reconstructed). Early excavators suggested this might have been a toilet.

In some neighborhoods, large courtyards were connected to numerous smaller buildings built at different levels.

This view into two small rooms shows tapered walls that were built to support a second floor. Later rooms were built directly on top of these walls because they provided a strong foundation.

The original walls in a large building complex referred to as the Chiefos house have been repaired and conserved. This view shows some reconstructed ground floor rooms and steps leading to a second story room

Oxcarts could not reach many of the urban neighborhoods. Pack animals and pedestrians could have used this narrow lane.

The streets and alleyways wind through the neighborhood and are oriented along a strict grid plan.

Covered Drain emptying down slope on major street leading to the Great Bath.

Wells were made with wedge shaped bricks to make a strong circular structure. Some bricks were made with special grooves to keep the ropes from sliding sideways when drawing water.

This oval well is located in room 19 northeast of Great Bath. It is the only well with an oval structure and may have been used to draw water for nearby bathing platforms or for filling the Great Bath.

This well was associated with a finely constructed bathing platform. A stairway leads up to the well and platform from a lower room.