Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c9.s1.6

c9.s1.6

Thus both palace and town architecture and other allied arts and crafts were developed in the Janapada age. Their actual remains are few because of the frail or perishable nature of the material used, but a prior tradition of *Śilpas* was established, e.g. architecture, town-planning, royal palaces, residential buildings, roads, assembly halls (Saṁthāgāra), charity halls (Dāna-śālā), gateways (Gopura), towers (Aṭṭālaka), moats (Parikhā), draw-bridges (Saṅkrama), wood carving (Kāṣṭha-karma), metal casting, stone-carving, making of wooden pillars, posts and rafters (Sthūṇā), capitals and basements (Kumbhaka), latticed windows (Vātapāna and Gavākṣa), heavy doors (Maha-kavāṭa), clay-figurines, fired bricks, ivory carving, goldsmith's work, plastering, polishing (Ghaṭṭa-Maṭṭha prabhā) in order to produce three kinds of bright effect, viz. Saprabha, Samaricha and Sodyota (Jīvābhigama). The commentators explain Ghaṭṭa as preliminary rubbing with rough stone and Maṭṭha with fine abrasive powder in which finished smoothness was produced. Prabhā is explained as lustre which is in the object, Marīchi as the radiant polish reflecting a net-work of rays, and Udyota as the highest lusture which being reflected from the surface casts a glow on the objects around. The existence of terms to indicate the bright metallic polish that we have on the Northern Black Polished Ware and on the Mauryan polished monuments shows that the technique of producing was a well known art. The polish on the Northern Grey Ware which belongs to the Janapada period and also some traces of it on the stone Yaksha statue from Parkham at Mathura takes the art to the pre-Maurya period and possibly earlier. The realistic description of the walls and ceiling of the Assembly Hall of the palace in the Mahā-Ummaga city is a pointer in the same direction.