PRELIMINARY STUDY

The preliminary study consisted of rough drafts of the site from satellite softwares to get an initial idea of the site, accompanied by accumulation of site context from various literary sources.These sources mentioned the religious affiliation of the population toward Hinduism and Shaivism which originally emerged from the mythical beliefs obtained from the ancient manuscripts.These highly religious influences were strengthened by the erection of stone cut temples ,predominantly in the simple Nagara style of architecture.The most important temple of the region attained the spotlight in our documentation,namely the Jageshwar temple.Like all temples ,the temple belonged to the Nagara style which has a tall Shikhara surmounted by an Amalaka and a Kalasa crowning the square sanctum sanctorum following a carved doorway consisting of the Jyotirlinga.

The study of residential patches and the spine road that supported most of the residential development in the site was given due importance next within our itinerary.The initial maps indicated most patches to be developed on the verges of the spine, apart from one patch wherein the infiltration of development was close to nil.Residences were noticed to follow vernacular architecture.The population growth was observed to be stagnant,with the level of urbanisation ranging from minimal to zero. The main mode of communication of the population was Hindi, thus eliminating any efforts and enabling ease of communication for acquisition of relevant information.

The required materials for the study expedition were rounded off to measuring tapes,sketchbooks,initial draft maps and other required stationery.

The documentation of Jageshwar Dham was taken up in great zeal inspite of the known negative degree temperatures onsite within the trip duration.Enough winter apparel was kept in stock to neutralise this predicted freezing temperature.