Arampur architecture basically relies on four materials: dried-mud, brick, concrete, and stone. The oldest buildings, monuments of an imperial rule more than five hundred years ago, have survived because their builders used stone quarried from the nearby Kaimur Hills. The massive tomb reputed to contain Bakhtiyar Khilji represents the most striking example of this construction. Other buildings, like Sadi Khan’s tomb, have not received the same or any maintenance from the Archaeological Survey of India hand are crumbling.

Today, the poorest make due with kacca (“unfired,” “raw”) homes of dried-mud walls topped with either a tile or thatch roof. These require the constant maintenance of resurfacing the walls with mud to ensure their stability. Although attractive in their seemingly organic shapes, these homes become dangerous when torrential rains, not uncommon during the monsoon, weaken the structure and can cause a collapse of heavy mud and roofing materials.

The most resilient homes built today rely on brick construction. Those with the least limited resources use a concrete mortar between the bricks, steel-reinforced floors, and concrete plastering. Those with less money use mud for mortar and wall-surfacing or use none at all. A baked tile roof is preferred. Generally speaking, any home constructed out of bricks is referred to as pakka (“proper”).

Homes built with brick and concrete commonly have flat roofs allowing more floors to be added for family expansion or a more obvious display of wealth. This involves building up the new walls and then establishing a false ceiling using wood planks fixed into place by bamboo pole supports below. After laying a rebar latticework atop this false ceiling, workers fit bricks into the lattice and apply layers of cement to form the uniform roof. If desired, another floor can be added atop this one.