Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c11.15

c11.15

A special architectural feature ot the pillard hall is given in the Sabhāparva, viz. that it was furnished with compartments for palacement of seats for its members (*Veśmāsanavatī*, 7.3, 9.5), a term of which the exact significance has been missed. If we have a view of the spacious hall (*Bhūyasī, Vipula*) divided into 8 rows of 10 pillars, the exact impression is that of its division into 63 squares plus the one on the side of the throne towards the east. Each of these squares, separated from the other by stately stone columns, was used for placing a seat for each member of the Sabhā and hence the name Veśmāsanā.