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Kullu's main roads in red beside the Beas and NH-3

Kullu

Under an architect's lens

How a temple town on the Beas became a ribbon along a highway — read through its streets, its grain and its edges.

Where

The town in a few lines

Valley
The Kullu Valley, on the Beas
Between
Manali and Mandi
Coordinates
About 31.96° N, 77.11° E
Road
NH-3 (earlier NH-21), Chandigarh – Manali
Built in
Kath-kuni: timber and stone, laid in layers
Today
A tourism and cultural hub

Origin

Kulant Peeth

An ancient settlement known as Kulant Peeth — the end of the habitable world. It grew along the trade routes of the Beas, with deep roots in temple culture and mythology, and was shaped by three forces: agriculture, pilgrimage and, later, tourism.

Growth

From river settlement to ribbon

Kullu shows a linear-ribbon form: the valley leaves it nowhere to grow but along the road and up the slopes.

  1. Traditional

    A river settlement

    Clustered villages beside the Beas, growing organically; people moved on foot.

  2. Colonial

    Roads and administration

    New roads connected the valley, and the town took on an administrative structure.

  3. After independence

    Growth along the highway

    Tourism drove expansion, and the town began to stretch along the highway.

  4. Today

    Ribbon development

    Building spreads along NH-3 and up the slopes to the periphery: hotels, resorts, scattered informal growth.

Figure-ground

Fine grain, uneven texture

Drag across the town: the street network alone, then every building drawn. The grain is fine and uneven — dense in the old core, loosening towards the edges.

Kullu as a figure-ground: every building drawn
Kullu's street network alone
StreetsBuildings

Image of the city

Landmarks, nodes and edges

The places that make Kullu legible: what people steer by, where they gather, and the lines they cannot cross.

Line map of Kullu town between the hills and the Beas
  • Landmark
  • Node
  • Edge

Pin positions follow the original study sheet.

  1. The temple at the heart of the old town and of Dussehra — the organic core grew around it: dense, narrow streets, homes over shops.

  2. The main public hub, where the highway meets the town's lanes and most visitors arrive.

  3. The open ground that fills with the valley's deities every Dussehra; the one large open space in a tight town.

  4. A minor landmark, part of the institutional band beside the ground.

  5. Where the town meets the Beas. The river is a strong edge: it divides movement as much as it draws people to it.

  6. The Chandigarh–Manali highway is Kullu's spine — and the reason it grows as a ribbon along the valley.

Building in the valley?

Tell us about the site and what you want to build. We reply within a working day, usually on WhatsApp.

  1. We call youA short conversation about the brief and the site.
  2. We walk the siteLevels, light, the trees worth keeping.
  3. We send a proposalScope, stages and fees, in writing.
Studio
Bhuntar, Kullu, Himachal Pradesh
Hours
9 am – 6 pm

10-digit mobile — we add +91.