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.s7.16

v6.c40.s7.16

In addition to the noblemen’s mansions (*harmya*, *śālā*) and king’s palaces (*prāsāda*), comprising several storeys, casually referred to in *Vedas* and *Brāhmaṇas*, particulars of smaller houses may be inferred from the later Vedic literature like the *Atharva-veda*. Some early scholars, to whom the discoveries made in Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, and other places of pre-Vedic age were not available, have interpreted these details in a figurative sense which is no longer tenable. The *upamit*, *pratimit* and *parimit* really imply ‘timber pillars and beams in various positions, vertical, horizontal and slanting.’ The *vaṁśa*, or bamboos, were used mainly for the framework of roofing, the central horizontal bamboo supported on the main pillars (*sthūṇa*) being prominent. The *akshu* was ‘the wicker-work or split bamboo-lining over which was laid the thatch (*chhadis*) of hay, straw or long reedy grass (*palada* and *tṛiṇa*), fastened by net to keep the straw-bundles intact. The ridge on the top of the roofing (*vishuvant*) looked like parted hair. Fine clay for flooring and reed-work for walls completed the frame work of such a small house,’ which is still in practice in most parts of East Bengal.