Echoes of the Past, Visions for the Future: Stained Glass and Climate Mitigation in Indian Mountain Churches

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-535-5_23How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Stained glass architecture; heritage conservation; adaptive reuse; Himalayan churches; sustainable design; passive cooling; photovoltaic glass; climate-responsive architecture; light modulation; thermal regulation; material ecology; colonial ecclesiastical heritage; sacred space; eco-sensitive restoration; local ecological knowledge; vernacular traditions; double glazing; reflective coatings; solar-integrated glass; aesthetics; spiritual symbolism; environmental resilience

Abstract

This paper mainly brings forward the sustainable possibilities that can be imagined and implemented with the use of the traditional stained glass and its manipulation with newer scientific technologies, particularly reimagining the beautiful Himalayan chapels of India, where the stained-glass windows narrate tales of devotion, colonial history, and masterful craftsmanship. These windows have been appreciated as decorative and narrative, communicative and aesthetic. Nonetheless, this paper views windows differently. It attempts to explain the stained-glass windows of the mountain churches of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand within the discourse of heritage conservation and sustainable design.

With the focus on the mountain churches’ stained-glass windows, this paper discusses the history and meaning of glass windows with reference to stained glass in the subcontinent. From this narrative frame, we analyse the glass’s decorative binding and material value, particularly regarding Himalayan light’s interplay with sacred space, and the glass’s thermoregulated qualities in extreme climates.

The paper then shifts to discuss the glass’s framed edges and proposes the contemporary glass as a passive cooling and energy-saving glass, especially with the addition of photovoltaic panels, double-glazing windows, or light-reflective coatings. Using documented case studies and local ecological philosophies, we argue for the preservation of the glass windows not as a mere luxury of the past, but as a poetic and practical design to adaptive architecture for fragile, climate-resilient mountain ecosystems.

This research encourages us to view stained glass as more than an object of history; rather, something that connects the realms of beauty and functionality, memory and creativity. Within these stained-glass windows, which have been colored by the passage of time and tempered by light, we might discover astonishing answers to the challenges posed by a warming world.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Sarwan Kumar
AU  - Pallavi Majumder
AU  - Lekh Ram
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/03/16
TI  - Echoes of the Past, Visions for the Future: Stained Glass and Climate Mitigation in Indian Mountain Churches
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Creativity, Innovation & Design (ICCID 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 315
EP  - 329
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-535-5_23
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-535-5_23
ID  - Kumar2026
ER  -