Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c11.19

c11.19

No modern writer has praised the Mauryan polish with greater zest. Its rectangular spacious shining form (Āyatā, Vipulā, Ślakṣṇā) pleased everyone (praharṣiṇī) and produced the impression as if it was made of crystal (sphaṭikam cha sabhā-dravyam, ibid. 3-16). Spooner has mentioned the existence of two tanks to the north and south of the palace. ‘At one point near the actual village of Kumrahar and to the west of it, an old tank cuts into this high ground on the southern edge of the main road. This is called Kālū tank. Some hundred yards south of this is another tank, the Chaman-Ṭālā’. This situation of the tank forming an integral part of the palace architecture agress quite well with the accounts both of the Greek writers and of Sabhā Parva. An extensive park and lotus pond were essential components in the planning of the royal Palace. The latter is mentioned in the Sabhāparva as Nalinī overgrown with beautiful and fragrant lotus flowers (Padma-saugandhikavatī), birds of many forms and aquatic fish and tortoise in the clear waters. There were well-formed landing steps on all sides (Upatīrtha). The Sabhāparva particularly mentions that the lotus pond and the royal groves were on the two sides of the assembly hall (Taṃ sabhām abhitaḥ, ibid. 3.31). It was full of tame geese, peacocks and phasants (Haṃsa Kāraṇḍava-yutās Chakravākopaśobhitaḥ, ibid. 3.32), shady groves and trees set in clumps with branches woven together by some special tricks of horticulture, trees that are always green (Nityaṃ puṣpavantah), that never grow old and never shed their leaves. In any future excavation of the sites the position of the royal pleasance and their tanks should also be a guide in fixing the relative orientation.