Christian retreat center in sielmat village, Churachandpur, Manipur

Abstract

A Christian retreat center is essentially a place for Christians (and non-Christians alike) who come together for spiritual growth. With the site located at a serene location in Sielmat village, it is perfect for a place to have a spiritual retreat. A Christian retreat program can last for a few hours to several days or weeks, depending upon the program. Also, a Christian retreat session, in particular, includes speakers and pastors from several places as well. Thus, setting up a retreat center in Sielmat village would not only help in promoting the publicity of the village but also an institution like this would help several students get job opportunities as well. The main inhabitants of Sielmat village are the Hmar tribe and their main religion is Evangelical Christianity. In recent years, the village has become the main institution for Christian institutions and colleges. With a strong cultural and religious background already established in the village, the main intent of the thesis is to define the cultural and religious identity of the village through architecture. This has been done by studying the vernacular and developing an architectural language for the village which will act as the driving force of the design. This has been studied in depth through literature studies and case studies of the village’s architecture style. After understanding the culture and religion of the Hmar tribe, the contextual framework was established through site analysis. Also, the literature and case studies helped in synthesizing the concept of the design. Consequently, both these studies helped shape the design into a tangible form which eventually became the final output of the design.