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) v6.c40.s1.9

v6.c40.s1.9

The layout of the whole city of any one of these periods or strata is thus missing from the account of Sir John Marshall and others. A provisional picture may, however, be imagined by joining up the various sections or areas as described by them. The city would thus look of irregular shape, the longer side in some cases being from north to south, and in others from east to west. The streets and lanes, however, are nearly straight. By the intersections of these the city is divided into different blocks. The central part appears to have been occupied by some public building or the Great Bath. Each block contained a number of buildings for the residence of the people of the same profession. The streets and lanes are all below the level of the buildings on their both sides. There appears to have been an extensive arrangement for drainage—a peculiarity which is strongly emphasized in the *Mānasāra* and other *Śilpa-śāstras*. The general city plan, excepting the irregularity, will also correspond to some extent to the plans elaborately described in the architecture of *Mānasāra*.