Md. Ekram Hossein

Architecture of Arakan

Architecture (ARC)

Shelter

Illustrative

Maitta ghor is a mud house even though it is made of cane or bamboo and palm leaf. It is called a mud house because the floor is made of clay. Clay floors keep the houses cool and are comfortable to sleep on.

There are several different designs for a maitta ghor depending on their orientation, such as L-pong, U-pong and T-pong shape. Maitta ghors are the smallest and least expensive form of housing in Rohingya villages. It costs around 600,000 Kyat to make, and is 18 feet long, 12 feet wide, and 9 feet high.

A carpenter makes the frame of the house and the bamboo craftsmen make the walls with nipa palm leaves and bamboo or cane which are attached using ropes, wire or nails. There are two or three rooms with an attached kitchen in a house like this. A majority of villagers lived in houses like these.