Design Gallery
Panjaris and Rabsals
Life, learnings and more from Ladakh
by
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The Asian Museum built under LOTI (Ladakh Old Town Initiative) scheme, has worked
endlessly to study and preserve the old, local way of building a protruding wooden balcony,
the Rabsal. -
They have detailed out the rabsal's that can be seen in different parts of the museum's
building. -
They have used panjiri's fittingly on the floors above as decorative partitions and on windows.
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The deep blue peeling paint, on the wooden screens in LAMO (Ladakh Art and Media
Organization) adds to the ancient old – home feel of the structure. -
The wooden screens or jali's have been used as partitions that allow light to filter in through
the balconies. -
As rabsals are usually created for big building of importance that are constructed at a
height, they offer an interesting view. -
These rabsals or 'protruding balconies' can be seen on the Leh Palace. The King of Ladakh
would ideally be the most important person, evident by the number of rabsal's on Leh Palace. -
After him, only the nobles, ministers and officials were allowed to have a rabsal built on
the facade of their house. -
The rabsal's of Leh palace command a sweeping view of the city. While some panjiri's
light up dark corridors and passages within the palace. -
Wooden panjiri's lead us into the Samtanling Monastery temple.
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They cast decorative shadows upon the wall.
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Eye pleasing geometrical patterns carved into this wooden panjiri, allows sufficient light
into the temple space of the Samtanling Monastery.
Panjari's are screens, and a Rabsal is a protruding wooden balcony, both are conspicuous parts of a Ladakhi house that a family owns, depending on their position and status. Rabsal's are always attached to the sitting room or the 'don-khang' of the house, its where the guests could be entertained and dinners hosted. Adding some flamboyance to the simple stone and mud buildings the rabsal serves a practical purpose, allowing maximum sunlight into the house, keeping away the cold draughts and dust from the spacious terrains. They also become a large window for the family to enjoy the view outdoors. The absence of glass in earlier times, gave way to mesh-like designs called 'pinjkari' or 'panjari' incorporated into the rabsal, they work like shutters that can be opened during the day and closed at night. It is difficult to say where exactly the idea of the rabsal was initiated or when, but some sources state that it could have originated from Kashmir and others, from Tibet.
