Discuss the salient features of the Harappan architecture. (Answer in 150 words)

Harappan architecture (c. 2600–1900 BCE) reveals an urban civilisation organised around planning, sanitation, craft production and civic regulation.

Urban planning

• Grid-pattern streets intersected at near right angles; settlements commonly had a citadel and a lower town.
• Standardised baked bricks, often in a 1:2:4 ratio, indicate shared building norms across a wide region.
• Fortifications, gateways and raised platforms show attention to security, flood control and public administration.

Public and private structures

• The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro suggests a significant communal or ritual institution.
• Granary-like structures, assembly halls and dockyard architecture at Lothal point to storage, exchange and maritime activity.
• Houses ranged from modest units to large courtyard homes, but lacked ostentatious royal monuments.

Sanitation and significance

Covered drains, soak pits, wells and bathroom platforms demonstrate remarkable civic sanitation. Dholavira’s reservoirs reflect adaptation to an arid environment. Overall, Harappan architecture was utilitarian, standardised and environmentally responsive, with unusually strong emphasis on public health.

Keywords: grid planning, baked bricks, Great Bath, drainage, Dholavira reservoirs, Lothal dockyard.