Roof structure in Mustang


The roof is the uppermost portion of the building which protects the building from rain, wind, and sun. Based on the purpose of a roof, availability of roofing materials, and traditions of construction, roofs are found in various shapes and designs. Based on geography, roofs of various designs made up of various materials such as banana leaves, straw, glass, copper, concrete, aluminum, wood shakes, and shingles, etc. serving the purpose, the roof is made concerning the issues of very geographical location. While roofs serve the purpose of all factors, roofs are usually made to protect from rain in many areas, whereas in some areas, roofs are made to protect from cold and other climatic factors. Since it rains very barely in Mustang, people here have been building thatched roof made up of wood shakes, shingles, and straws.


Mustang is situated beyond the mountains and rainfall is very scarce here. Even during the monsoon season all over Nepal, this region receives very minimum rainfall. It’s only during the winter season that this place receives snowfall that has been its major source of water which comes from the mountains of this area. However, it is situated in high altitude that the temperature here is very low which sometimes falls to an average of -10 degrees Celsius. People here put on thick woolen clothes to fight against the harsh cold during winter. However, the structure of the house built in this area has plays a vital role in the cold winter. The house here is built of stone and mud-brick which has more insulating properties than any other locally available materials, on top of that roofs are made thatched contributing to maintaining warmth within the house. 

The structure of the house in Mustang is rectangular with a flat roof. Stones, mudbrick, timber, straws, wood shakes, etc are construction materials used. House is made with small windows as walls of the house bears the load of the whole house i.e. load from the roof and floors are transferred to a foundation of 20-22 inch thick wall. With timbers from Bhote Pipal serving as pillar and timber shake as to fills the roof. First, the pillar is laid, timber is held horizontally with ends on walls and pillar supporting its mid-load, and then shakes and shingles are laid on top of that. Wild straws are placed on top of shakes and shingles, mud is filled to cover holes and so. Finally, moorum flooring is done to make it as flat as possible. The roof is provided with a big hole in every room serving as ventilation and sloped roof to drain rainwater or snow melted water. During the time of snowfall, residents throw snow out of roof using local shovel which is the downside of the flat roof. Firewood from Juniper, Bhote pipal, etc is laid on the edge of the roof as a part of the design and storage of firewood. Local people here believe that a house without firewood on the edge of the roof is a sign of bad omen, either the house owner has nothing left to sustain life or he is losing his wealth day by day. It is also a tradition to place religious flags on the roof based on the number of family members who have crossed 13 years of age. The flat roof provides a base to dry clothes, meat, fruits, etc which is a part of the socio-cultural life of people of this region. A place to burn juniper (religious incense) to perform religious activities can be seen on the roof here. It’s amazing how people in the past had the concept of insulation and proposed design based on it, even though they had no modern knowledge.


This past decade due to climate change, the whole world has been facing its consequences and mustang as its share has been receiving heavier rainfall year by year. The continuous downpour has led to the seepage problem of roof counter-attacking the very objective of the roof. Now people are placing plastic beneath the moorum flooring to minimize the effect of rain. However, due to modernization and ease transportation, many residents are shifting from thatched roofing to concrete roofing, which on one hand solves the problem of seepage but on other hand, it’s a way of cultural extinction.