A roshandan (
Hindi/
Urdu: रोशनदान or روشندان) is a feature of many dwelling structures in
North India and
Pakistan that is a combined
skylight
A skylight (sometimes called a rooflight) is a light-permitting structure or window, usually made of transparent or translucent glass, that forms all or part of the roof space of a building for daylighting and ventilation purposes.
History
Open ...
and ventilating window.
''Roshandans'' are usually located high on a room's walls, and often on top of windows. They are essentially smaller windows that swivel open when needed. Smaller ''roshandans'' are sometimes called ''roshandanis''. The high location of ''roshandans'' means that, for part of the summer (except for the months when the
Loo winds blow in the region), they can be kept open to allow heated air just below the ceiling to escape while retaining relatively cooler air inside.
In wintertime, they are kept shut and used purely as skylights.
Etymology
The term ''roshandan'' literally means "that which has/admits light" in several
Indo-Aryan languages, derived from
Persian.
Though the word ''roshandan'' is often translated to ''ventilator'' in
English in the
Indian subcontinent, this is incorrect literally speaking.
References
Architecture in India
Windows
{{Architecture-stub