Vernacular Architecture of Marathwada: Black Stone Houses

Traditional domestic architecture in Latur and Marathwada uses locally quarried basalt (black stone) construction that exploits the region's abundant geological resource. Village houses were built with thick basalt walls (2 feet or more) laid in lime mortar, providing thermal mass that kept interiors cool in summer and warm in winter. Roofs were traditionally flat earthen terraces supported on wooden beams or stone slabs, or pitched tile roofs in better-built houses. The distinctive feature of Marathwada vernacular architecture is the wada (courtyard house) form: multiple rooms arranged around a central open courtyard that serves as the functional and social centre of domestic life. The courtyard facilitates crop drying, buffalo housing, and family gathering. Traditional lime plaster (chanai) walls in contrasting white, ochre, and terracotta colours gave Marathwada villages their distinctive visual character. This vernacular tradition was largely abandoned after the 1993 earthquake; concrete construction now dominates.