Eco friendly house in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India
Rammohan G
Radhanath Swami names it "Gaud Desh" - The most Practical Domicile
Based on an interview with the Rahul Deshpande aka Rupavilas das, Venu Madhuri Project Coordinator, India
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One
secret of becoming rich is to save money, Rupavilas saved not just money but also time, health and environment. Right in the city of Kolhapur surrounded by many cement cottages stands a chocolate cake like red Laterite stone cottage of Rupa vilas. “Bhakti
Rasamrit Swami inspired me saying make a preaching house, and Radhanath Swami named it Gaud Desh”
How is Gaud desh cost effective? This house of 1725 square feet, if constructed with RCC would have required 5000 kg of steel and 875 bags of cement. A huge difference as compared to the actual use of 500 kg (10%) of steel and 275 bags of cement saving 4500 kg steel and 600 bags of cement. With the normal construction rate at of 1200 Rs/ square feet going in market the house stands out for 670 Rs/ square feet.
The house stands on load bearing walls with no pillars and slab saving cost of constructing pillars and slabs. First floor is of wood. There is no paint utilized inside and outside house which would generally cost about one lakh rupees, from inside, the house is plastered with mud “why should we use the costly, harmful and polluting paints, when nature has given variety of natural colored mud that go with cow dung” says Rupa vilas.
This type of house saves a lot on electricity bills because during summer it remains cool inside and during winter it keeps warm. There are no fans in the main hall because the cross ventilation between the windows and doors is so scientific that there is least usage of light and fans. “Our electricity bill has dropped from three digits to two digit number” says Rupavilas.
Every house needs LPG gas for cooking and boiling etc, Gaud desh has its own bio gas plant providing enough gas for reducing their LPG requirement.
Over and above all Rupa vilas has not taken a single penny loan to make this house.
How is Gaud desh eco friendly? The house made of approximately hundred year old teak and other wood which Rupavilas acquired from demolishing contractors who demolish old buildings that saved buying new wood. To save valuable soil Gaud desh is made from recycled white soil (best soil for construction purpose). The astonishing peculiarity of this soil is it can be reused n number of times.
Instead of drilling a bore well in mother earth Gaud desh is dependent on rain water harvesting methods and has its own underground water tank with a capacity of 4000 liters.
Rupvilas has no electric fridge but is soon acquiring a natural mud fridge which keeps eatables fresh and cool. Apart from their LPG stove there is also an occasionally used mud stove which runs on wood fuel giving natural flavor to food.
All house waste including night soil is used for bio gas hence avoiding polluting mother earth and the slurry from bio gas can be reused as a good fertilizer for farming and gardening.
How is Gaud desh traditional? Traditionally families were joint families and Rupavilas Pr’s family is a family of four generations all living together. Building this house was a family affair, Making friends with Muslim demolishing contractors to get old wood, working with the architect, researching designs from old houses etc was Rupavilas job, his mother Srisundari matatji and wife Nityalila devi cooked snacks and drinks for the construction workers to inspire them, his 67 year old father Brajmandal Pr pushed the construction while Rupavilas was away, his children vilasini 8 and chaitanya 6 carried small pieces of wood for the windows. Traditional houses are built by materials acquired locally so is Gaud desh it has used maximum of naturally available material like stone, mud, wood and cow dung from a radius of 80 km. of the surrounding.
The floor is coated once in ten days with cow dung’ Nityalila who is commerce graduate loves doing this as she is convinced of all the benefits of cow dung to the family and environment. Because of stone, mud and roof tiles one can experience the natural coolness in the house, mud acts as cooling agent and cow dung has insecticidal properties, plus it benefit kids to develop sharper brains because of specific bacteria in it. Srila Prabhupada (Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami) mentions the importance of cow dung in one lecture in 1968 in L.A. “In villages especially, there is large quantity of cow dung, and they’re, all over the house they have smeared to make the house antiseptic. And actually after smearing cow dung in your room, when it is dried, you’ll find refreshed, everything antiseptic. It is practical experience. And one Dr. Ghosh, a great chemist, he examined cow dung, that why cow dung is so much important in the Vedic literature? He found that cow dung contains all the antiseptic properties. In Äyur-veda, cow dung dried and burned into ashes is used as toothpowder. It is very antiseptic toothpowder”
Construction of house was done based on traditional Vastu principles. The altar is located with such arrangement that sunlight enters the alter giving a divine look. There are two gardens a vegetable garden growing toor dal, palak, methi, lemons etc and a medicinal garden growing kadipatta, adulsa, vajradanti, lemongrass etc.
The first floor has two balconies and a huge wooden swing. The walls contain stone carvings in which one could light a lamp and on the door is a string attached to a non electric bell inside the house.
Rupa vilas pr realized that construction of Gaud desh was a dynamic process it brought out the best in the family. While constructing ‘Gaud-Desh’ the family treated each and every labor with love and affection. Trying to connect them to Lord, the family gifted all the workers Bhagvad Gitas and most of them are reading it.
After the completion of the house a leading newspaper “Sakal” had a front page cover story about the house. Rupa vilas kept attending several phone calls after the news, and many visitors to see the house. Amongst the hundreds of visitors the prominent were Sri Aditya Javdekar of Vilas Javdekar eco homes, Sri Ambadas Bidkar famous perspective artist who commented “it is my dream house”, MLA Dr. Sujeet V. Minchekar.
The house is attracting people because it is simple and traditional “this house reminds me of my home in konkan, I wish I could live like this” commented a neighbor who is admits to be caught up in today’s social pressure and adores Rupa vilas for breaking through.
Rupa Vilas is a chemistry graduate and holds masters in Environmental Science; presently he is working as project coordinator for Venu Madhuri Trust which is inspired by Bhakti Rasamrita Swami and Radhanath Swami. Venu Madhuri is meant to for integrated, sustainable rural development. Recently Venu Madhuri has received a state level award for Excellence in Energy Conservation and Management in village development area.
Thanks and Regards,
Ram
Impediments that come in life serve to strengthen the sincere and discard the ones who are insincere.
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