Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v2.c13.s2.8

v2.c13.s2.8

A large number of houses were needed for the accommodation of the kings invited to Indraprastha on the occasion of King Yudhishṭhira’s royal feast, *Rājasūya*, and the poet describes the lodgings assigned to the guest: “O king, these and many other princes of the middle country (India proper) came to the great ceremonial, *Rājasūya*, of the sons of Pāṇḍu. By order of the virtuous monarch, to them were assigned dwellings replete with refreshments of every kind, and having by them charming lakes and ranges of ornamental plants . . . . . Those houses were lofty as the peaks of the Kailāsa mountain, most charming in appearance, and provided with excellent furniture. They were surrounded on all sides by well-built high walls of a white colour. The windows were protected by golden lattices and decorated with a profusion of jewellery. The stairs were easy of ascent; the rooms were furnished with commodious seats, and clothing, and garlands; and the whole was redolent with the perfume of the finest agallochum. The houses were white as the goose, bright as the moon, and looked most picturesque even from a distance of four miles. They were free from obstructions, provided with doors of uniform height, but of various quality, and inlaid with numerous metal ornaments, even as the peak of the Himālaya. The princes were refreshed by the very sight of those mansions.”¹