Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c9.33

c9.33

In the second court was the main Assembly Hall. It is here referred to as Gabbha, i. e. Garbha or the Hall which cannot be anything else but the Royal Audience hall. The walls of this hall were decorated with a number of painted motifs. The floor was highly polished and in the ceiling above rosettes or full-blown lotuses were carved in relief in the lustrous plaster of the roof (*Upari ulloka-padumāni dassesum*). Another important feature was the use of pendants made of fragrant flowery garlands (*Puppha-dāma*) and also of perfumed cloth twisted into required shape (*Gandha-dāma*, same as *Paṭṭa-dāma* of later literature).