How to Build a Yurt
If you travel to Central Asia, such as in Mongolia, you’ll probably see round collapsible dwellings used by nomads. These felt structures are called yurts, and if you have the right materials, you can build one, in an hour or maybe even less. Just follow these yurt-building instructions.
What You’ll Need:
Roof poles (can range from 20 to 250 pieces, depending on your yurt’s size)
Qana or khana (wooden lattice wall frames), at least 4 to 20 pieces
Bagana (central support poles), up to 14 pieces
Uni (roof poles)
Toghona (roof crown or ring)
Canvas or isegei (felt)
Flet or wooden door and frame.
Fasteners or ties
Starting The Yurt
Get your khana pieces, the number depending on how big you want your yurt to be. Common yurts today have between 4 to 20 khanas.
Erect your bagana, if you have some. If your yurt will be small though, you can skip these materials, and your yurt will still be sturdy.
Get the toghona and put it on top of the support poles. If you skipped the bagana you can also skip this part.
Raising Your Yurt Walls
Get your khana and expand them, in a circular formation.
Find the ends of the khana and bind them together, except for a couple of ends at your doorway, which is where you’re going to put the door. Most traditional khanas are bound to each other with 13 fastenings, since this number is very significant to nomads who live in these structures.
Get the door frame and put it between the ends of the khanas that you left open. Bind them in place.
Completing The Yurt
Get the uni and lay them on top of your lattice work, just at the apex. The slotted or shaved end should be pointing towards the center. Tie them to the lattice, then raise the ends pointing to the center above it.
Make sure each roof pole is hooked into the toghona. The tension of the uni between the khana and toghona and the khana’s tension will keep your yurt erect.
The yurt’s center is left open relatively, allowing ventilation. If it’s rainy or cold, you can cover it with an eruke, a piece of felt or hide.
Cover your yurt with layers of canvas or felt. If the weather is very cold, add more layers. Secure them in place with ropes.
You don’t have to go to Mongolia just to construct a yurt. Making it is easy as long as you have the right materials and if you follow these steps.