Studies in Indian Art c11.s3.15

c11.s3.15

Then the poet describes in elaborate detail the architecture of the samāja-vāṭa furnished with prākāra and parikhā, i.e. first a moat then an outer wall, and then the dvāratoraṇa or the main gateway in the enclosure wall which gave access to the inner grounds. Inside it were rich pavilions and palaces (vitāna, prāsāda) furnished with many articles of comfort and show (Ādi, 176. 16-93). The Epic description faithfully reflects the early Indian architecture of cities and city-gates as found in many places in the Buddhist and Jaina literature (cf. Milinda Pañha, 1.34 and 380 ff.). As Dr. Coomaraswamy has shown: the most conspicuous and necessary parts of a city are the moat (Parikhā) and rampast (prākāra), gates (dvāra, gopura), more specifically gate-houses (dvāra-koṭṭhaka) with their defence towers (dvāra-aṭṭālaka) and the king's palace (prāsāda, harmya, raja-niveśana, Vimāna, etc.). [Early Indian Architecture, Cities and City-gates, Eastern Art, 1930, p. 211].