A Chaupal (

Hindustani Hindustani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Hindustan (another name of India) * Hindustani language, an Indo-Aryan language, whose two official norms are Hindi and Urdu * Fiji Hindi, a variety of Eastern Hindi spoken in Fiji, and ...

: चौपाल or چوپال), or chopal, is a community building or space in the rural areas of

North India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. It is the hub of community life in villages, especially for male inhabitants. In smaller villages, a chaupal can be a simple raised platform that is shaded by a large tree, typically a neem, banyan or pipal fig tree. In larger villages, the chaupal may be an elaborate structure that also doubles as a community guesthouse (or

mehmaan khana A mehmaan khana ( Hindustani مہمان خانہ, मेहमान ख़ाना, bn, মেহমান খানা) is a drawing room where guests are entertained in many houses in North India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Alternative names i ...

). Indian and Pakistani

panchayat The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical ment ...

s (village administrative bodies) usually function and hold hearings in the village chaupal. Indian villages have a strong social norm of village exogamy, and the chaupal is often also the site where the groom's party are received and hosted when "''a daughter of the village''" is married. Chaupals are constructed and maintained using community funds, sometimes collected in the village using community donations (known as चन्दा, چندا, ''chanda'').

The notion of chaupal in popular culture

Although chaupals are fundamentally a feature of rural life, in the popular perception a chaupal is any place where people "''sit and discuss their problems, celebrate their pleasures, share the pains of an individual, family or a particular group, sort out their disputes''." It is "''a sacred place of secular nature''" that "''guarantees freedom of speech and expression to everybody''." Television talk shows, online websites and forums affiliated with the region sometimes attempt to mirror that atmosphere of free conversation and social engagement by including the term "''chaupal''" in their names.

References

{{coord missing, Pakistan Indian culture Pakistani culture Architecture in Pakistan Architecture in India