23 October: Harappan architecture
Friday 23 October 2026
GS Paper 1 · 150 words · 10 marks
Discuss the salient features of the Harappan architecture.
(UPSC Mains 2025, GS Paper 1, Q1)
You have seven minutes. Write your answer before you read anything below.
Open only after you have written
How to approach this question
The directive. Discuss asks for the main features, each with a short explanation. Name a site for every feature you give.
A shape that works in 150 words.
| Part | Words | What to write |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | 20 | One line on what the architecture was like overall |
| Point 1 | 30 | Town planning: citadel, lower town, grid streets |
| Point 2 | 20 | Building material: standard burnt bricks |
| Point 3 | 30 | Drainage and water supply |
| Point 4 | 30 | Public buildings |
| Conclusion | 20 | What the buildings tell us about the society |
Material you can use.
| Feature | Example |
|---|---|
| Citadel and lower town | Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Kalibangan |
| Three-part plan | Dholavira: citadel, middle town, lower town |
| Brick size ratio | 1:2:4 (thickness, width, length) across sites |
| Covered street drains | Mohenjo-daro |
| Water storage | Dholavira's reservoirs |
| Public buildings | The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, the large structure at Harappa called a granary, the brick basin at Lothal |
Mistakes to avoid.
| Mistake | What to do instead |
|---|---|
| Writing about seals, script or trade | Keep to buildings, streets and water |
| Calling the Lothal basin a dockyard as settled fact | Say it is often read as a dock |
| Listing sites with no feature attached | One feature per site, with a line on what it shows |
| Ending on how advanced the civilisation was | End on what the buildings say about how the cities were run |
A model answer
Harappan architecture was planned and standardised, and most of it served civic needs.
Town planning. Mohenjo-daro and Harappa had a raised citadel and a larger lower town. Main streets followed a rough grid. Dholavira had three parts: a citadel, a middle town and a lower town.
Standard bricks. Bricks followed a ratio of 1:2:4 at sites hundreds of kilometres apart.
Drainage and water. Covered drains ran along the streets, and house drains fed into them. Many houses had their own wells and bathrooms. Dholavira stored rainwater in large reservoirs.
Public buildings. The Great Bath at Mohenjo-daro, about 12 metres by 7, was sealed with bitumen. Harappa had a large structure often called a granary. Lothal had a brick basin that many scholars read as a dock.
No palace or temple has been identified. The buildings point to a strong civic authority and a concern for hygiene and water.
Word count: 148.
| Where | What earns credit |
|---|---|
| Opening | It answers the question in the first line |
| Body | Every feature has a named site |
| Conclusion | It says what the buildings show about the society |