This paper elaborates on a conceptual framework to validate the argument that cultural dimensions of the affected communities are not effectively and sufficiently addressed in the current post disaster humanitarian and development processes. This has been well articulated in this study from the analysis of shelter reconstruction process in 2004 tsunami hit fishing villages of Tamilnadu. The main contribution of this paper to theory and practice is to introduce a new interdisciplinary framework that is developed to analyse the vulnerability component in the recovery process from a built environment perspective. Firstly, it explains the relevance of the conceptual framework that synthesises two different fields of enquiry i.e. cultural anthropology and urban design to analyse the role of culture in the evolution and development of traditional settlements in post disaster contexts. This is followed by the analysis of reconstruction processes in three tsunami hit fishing villages in Tamilnadu, Southern India, in which the author has carried out primary research as part of his (awarded) PhD study. The analysis of this primary research unfolds the specific impacts and the reasons for such responses in the post tsunami reconstruction process, by comparing and contrasting the findings from the three case studies.