RAS question
Jharokha in architecture serves what purpose?
Correct answer: (B) Viewing platform for women (purdah system).
In Rajasthan architecture, a jharokha served as a viewing gallery that allowed women under the pardah system to observe events without being seen.
Explanation
A jharokha was not primarily a military or storage feature; it was a suspended enclosed gallery built for controlled visibility. Rajasthan Foundation describes it as a gallery that served as pardah for women to observe events. Women who lived under the purdah system could look out at the public world while remaining screened from view. The same architectural idea also connects with royal darshan, where a ruler could appear for public viewing from such a projecting space. So the functional clue is visibility with separation: the jharokha lets the observer see, while architecture preserves social and ceremonial distance.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Defence is wrong because a jharokha is an enclosed viewing gallery serving pardah, not a fortification or weapon-facing feature.
- (C) Storage is wrong because jharokha is linked with observing events; havelis are mansions, not jharokhas as storage spaces.
- (D) Water storage is wrong because johads are rainwater storage tanks and stepwells are water-access structures, while jharokhas are for screened viewing.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan architectural terminology, especially the function of visible elements in forts, palaces and havelis. It recurs in RAS because art and culture questions often ask candidates to match a structure with its practical or social purpose.