KANGRA-KULU EPICENTRAL AREA. 



61 



The method of inserting the wood-bonding requires, however, fur- 

 ther illustration. In houses of ordinary pretensions this wood bonding 

 takes place at vertical intervals of from 3 to 5 feet. Two parallel 

 beams are laid along the layer of masonry, one on the inside and one 

 on the outside. At the end of one wall they are crossed by the beams 

 of the wall at right angles, and wooden pins hold the crossings to- 

 gether. Cross-ties of wood, dove-tailed or tongued, similarly hold the 

 two parallel beams in position at intervals along their length (fig. 21). 



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Fig. 21. 



Usually rubble masonry, cr roughly shaped blocks carefully packed 

 together, occupy the interspaces and form the next courses until 

 another wooden course is begun. 



In the best constructed houses and temples the wooden layers are 

 Kat-ki-Kuni build- in continuous contact at the corners of the build- 

 ings " ing 5 whilst long and beautifully shaped flat slabs of 



stone alternate with wood along the face of the walls. This style of 

 building is called Kat-ki-Kuni, or " timber- cornered," and combines 

 the weight, solidity, and coolness of a stone building with the flexibility 



