“KAA DEN-MO-LEE” is an earthquake-resistant traditional house of Jongmith Lepcha built in a small Lepcha village “Pochok Upper Gitdabling” in the hilly district of Darjeeling in West Bengal, India, which comes under seismic zone V. The village is located close to the Caritas India’s Improving disaster risk reduction environment and policy advocacy (IDRRE) project villages supported by Caritas Germany. The 40 families of the village possess rich traditional knowledge of herbal medicines. Being in a remote area, people use herbal medicines as their first aid.

The people in this village speak a Tibeto-Burman language classified as the Himalayas. Based on this, some anthropologists suggest that they migrated directly from Tibet to the north, Japan or Eastern Mongolia. The Lepcha people themselves do not have any tradition of migration, and hence they conclude that they are autochthonous to the region, currently falling under the state of Sikkim, Darjeeling district of West Bengal.

Jongmith, a Lepcha tribe language teacher recalls the 25th of April 2015 when the 8.1 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal and the Indian Himalayan Region killing many people and injuring countless. It was termed as the worst earthquake in about 8 decades. In that horrifying scene, fortunately, there was no impact in her “KAA DEN-MO-LEE”, and she said, “today I am not scared of earthquake anymore because my house is built in a traditional earthquake-resistant model”.

What is the meaning of “KAA DEN-MO-LEE”?  Each word signifies something – ‘KAA’ means ‘we’, ‘DEN’ means ‘where we spend our childhood learning and basics’, ‘MO’ means ‘centre or main’ and ‘Lee’ means ‘home’ explained by Jongmith. This is a unique ancient art of building an earthquake-resistant house that is closely bound to nature and its respective environment.

Vernacular materials like thatch, wood, bamboo and stone are used for building and the characteristics of their local surroundings are taken into consideration.”

Who designed the house? Jongmith, with a smile on her face, narrated, “our forefathers designed the earthquake-resistant house with ancestral knowledge, and it is handed down from generations to generation. Three rituals are being conducted before the construction of the house starting with a ceremony called the “LEE GOOL NGAK” where the mud from the place where the construction is to be made is taken for examination to the nature worshiper called the “BOONGTHING” or “MUN”. The second ritual is called “LEE GUL THOM RUM FAAT”, a ritual in which mother nature is asked for permission as well as protection from accidents during construction. “ZUBU RUM FAAT” is the third ritual conducted where the responsibility is given to the carpenter.”

While in a teleconference with Jongmat she said that “the roof of the house is designed in such a way that rain, snow, hailstones may slide off easily. Moreover, the thatch grass absorbs the direct heat from the sun. In this way the house is isolated, it is warm in winter and cool and airy in summer which is the best place for me to stay. Traditionally the house has 4 ample large rooms. The first room is the kitchen, sitting and dining. There are three tiers of shelves above the fireplace. The first part is used to dry meat, the second tier holds dry vegetables. The third part is used for drying firewood and other miscellaneous. It is here the old folks sit and narrate the traditional stories and knowledge to the children. The second room is the bedroom and altar room where the religious ceremonies are performed. The third room is the pantry. The fireplace is very important where lots of food items are being dried for any disaster. Special thanksgiving ceremony is organised after completion of the house construction seeking the divine deities, spirits of the mud, trees and the deity to protect the house.”

“I am sad to see that the traditional and unique knowledge on “KAA DEN-MO-LEE” in Lepcha community is slowly dying in all the villages. Youngers are not interested in listening to the stories of knowledgeable persons from various fields especially disaster risk reduction. The traditional earthquake-resistant house is being replaced by modern houses without any earthquake resistance which is very risky in this region. This is due to the depletion of forest and landholdings and consequently, the paucity of timber, straw as well as the absence of old craftsmen who knew the art of building traditional Lepcha houses. This has given way to modern houses in the Lepcha villages. But in recent times I could see three more new houses are being constructed in Pochok Upper village due to eco-friendly and resistant to earthquake. Many more are planning to adopt this unique traditional earthquake-resistant house.

Since the village is in remote areas, the houses are less known outside the community. Hence, the awareness and importance of traditional Lepcha architecture on earthquake-resistant are yet to be explored. As the younger generation, people migrate to towns and cities the older folks are unable to make timely repairs like plastering the mud walls and changing the thatch reeds. Further, the cost of maintenance due to material shortage is causing problems for the owners. With only a few existing “KAA DEN-MO-LEE”, we are trying to save them so that the traditional ways of art and living is restored for the coming generations.”

The enriching experience of the “KAA DEN-MO-LEE” will help Caritas India to replicate such disaster-resilient houses where the fusion of indigenous knowledge and modern technology brings safety and security to the people of the Himalayan region