Studies in Indian Art c11.s2.7

c11.s2.7

In ancient architecture the *prākāra* and *vapra* go together. As stated by Dr. Coomaraswamy, "On the city side of the moat rises the wall (*pākāra*, Skt. *prākāra*), from a foundation or plinth (*vapra*)." [Ibid. p. 213]. In the same place he says that *vapra* and *prākāra* are sometimes treated as synonyms (Acharya, *Dictionary of Hindu Architecture*, 534), but in Kauṭilya's *Arthaśāstra* we have वप्रस्योपरि प्राकारम् i.e., the *prākāra* (wall) was raised on the *vapra* (plinth).¹ Dr. Otto Stein has also observed that the texts and the respective descriptions in literature are not always strict in distinguishing the *vapra* and *prākāra* (*Arthaśāstra* and *Śilpaśāstra*, *Archiv Orientalni*, Vol. 7, p. 483).