Human, House, and Habitat - Decoding the morphology and Cultural Landscape of Chalamthang Village

Abstract

Chalamthang is a hillside village in East Sikkim, located on the forested lower slopes of the Maenam hills in the Eastern Himalayan state of Sikkim, India. Historically named after its orange orchards, the village is organised into clusters of houses interwoven with stepped agricultural fields, kitchen gardens, cattle sheds, and circulation paths. Together, these elements form a vernacular cultural landscape, shaped through long term interactions between human habitation, livelihoods, and the Himalayan terrain. Agriculture and community-based ecotourism constitute the primary livelihood systems, reinforcing strong spatial and functional relationships between domestic architecture, farming practices, seasonal cycles, and surrounding alpine forests. This study documents the morphology and character of Chalamthang through the lens of Cultural Landscape Theory, with a particular focus on understanding the relationship between houses, humans, and habitat. Using contour mapping, site sections, and measured drawings, the research examines how vernacular houses align along contours, negotiate steep slopes through stepped configurations, and collectively stabilize the terrain using plinths, retaining walls, terraces, and paths. The study positions the house as a spatial anchor within a larger socio-ecological system, demonstrating how vernacular architecture mediates between landscape, livelihood, and everyday life in the Eastern Himalayas.