Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

Town Planning in Ancient India c12: Chapter VIII: The Village

Town Planning in Ancient India c12

Language
English

Contents

Chapter VIII: The Village

c12.2

Notwithstanding the uniformity of style that marked the broad features in the plans of an Indo-Aryan house, village, and town, the works on Indo-Aryan architecture, called Vāstu Vidyā (literally the science of habitation), make separate treatment of the lay-out of a village. Indeed the details about the latter subject are fuller than those about town-planning; and the civic architect is advised to utilise and adapt the self-same principles in the case of a town; of course, on a larger scale and with necessary modifications. Because, a village is a town in miniature, a variety of town (nagarabheda); the etymology of the word Trichinopallī, the name of a town in Southern India, clearly indicates it, ‘pallī’ being another equivalent of ‘grāma,’ the Sanskrit term for village.¹ The difference between a village and a town is that while the latter is artificial, the former is a natural unit. Hence nature plays an important role in rural life and can have wanton growth, whereas in a town which focuses and embodies the political and economic life of the people, buildings upon buildings are congregated together to accommodate maximum number of inhabitants within a minimum space, without jeopardising at the same time the city sanitation. A village may be said to be a garden interspersed with human habitations.

c12.3

¹ Readers should not confuse the Indian village (grāma) with its counterpart in the West. A village in English means a collection of houses with one long street, without any public buildings etc. This resembles what is known as a simple Daṇḍaka village in the Śilpa Śāstras. The measurement of a Pallī is half that of a Grāma.

c12.4

Mahāmahopādhyay Dr. Ganganath Jha writes :¹—"The points of difference between a town and a village were that the town was protected by a ditch and a wall, while the village was not so protected. The town was inhabited mostly by trades-people, in addition to the king and his appurtenances, while the village was inhabited by agricultural people." As to his first point Dr. Jha is wrong, for the Silpa Śāstras enjoin upon girth of walls and moats round the village too. Thus the Mānasāra lays down :² "The village should always be provided with rampart and encircling the ramparts should be excavated moats." What follows will go to

c12.5

¹ House building and Sanitation in Ancient India, *J.B.O.R.S.*, vol. I.

c12.6

² Ch. 9.

c12.7

एवं ग्रामप्रसारं च तद्विद्वैःप्रसयुतं । परितः परिखा वाद्ये कुर्याद ग्रामेषु सर्वतः ॥ further corroborate my contention. Dr. Jha has however approximated to the truth in his second point; but it can not be said that villages were inhabited only by agricultural people. Many professions and ranks other than agriculture were equally represented in them.

c12.8

I have already remarked that a village is a natural unit and had a natural growth. Nevertheless, Kauṭilya advises the establishment of villages throughout the kingdom for the sake of administrative efficiency. "Either by inducing foreigners to immigrate (paradeśāpavāhanena) or by causing the thickly populated centres of his own kingdom to send forth the excessive population (svadeśābhishyanda-vamanena vā), the kingdom may construct villages either on new sites or on old ruins (bhūtapūrvam abhūtapūrvam vā).

c12.9

"Villages consisting each of not less than a hundred families and not more than five hundred families of agricultural people of Śūdra caste, with boundaries extending as far as a kroś (2250 yds.) or two and capable of protecting each other shall be formed. Boundaries shall be denoted by a river, a mountain, forests, bulbous plants (gṛshti), caves, artificial buildings (setubandha)¹ or by trees such as śālmalī (silk cotton tree), śamī (acacia suma), and kshīra vṛksha milky trees).”¹

c12.10

¹ The proper interpretation of 'setubandha' should be irrigational embankments or artificial dams (like causeways in some cases), so that Dr. Shama Śāstry's rendering puts a wrong meaning upon the term.

c12.11

¹ Arthaśāstra, Bk. II, Ch. I. Re the boundary, the original text is कोशद्विक्रोशसीमान्; it may be interpreted in two ways: either as refering to the boundary of a village being extended to one or two kroś or the distance between the boundaries of the neighbouring villages being one or two kroś. The latter interpretation is more probable, though Dr. Śāstry translates it in the former sense.

c12.12

It seems that Indian villages were also sometimes founded for military purposes. In the Ummagga Jātaka, we find that the Rājā, previous to his starting on a military expedition, gave orders to his minister Basat:—“Go and build villages on the line of march.” The minister, after accomplishing his task and completing the arrangements, informed the king: “Great king, wait not a moment on the road, but advance immediately. I have already built villages for you at intervals of seven yojanas, establishing halting places, and filled the hundreds of villages that are on the way with cloths and ornaments, food and drink. I have kept elephants, horses, and vehicles ready for you in those villages. When you go from one village to another, leave behind in each successive village the unserviceable beasts and vehicles and take others in place of them.”² These routes of expedition constituted the great highways of the country and they also served as routes for trade and communication. It is very likely that the above mentioned villages were also utilised, subsequently to expedition, as resting places of caravans.

c12.13

² The Ummagga Jātaka translated by Yatawara, p. 187

c12.14

This brings us to the consideration of the classes that inhabited, and the fortifications that defended an Indo-Aryan village. Every devout Hindu must finish his daily ablutions and offer oblations to the deceased forefathers, before he can proceed with the day's work, at least, previous to his taking meals. Therefore a constant supply of pure water had to be secured in any locality before Hindus could settle there. It is for this reason that villages were laid out invariably in the vicinity of and round about tanks, lakes, or rivers which moreover ensured wholesome sanitation.¹ Like Kauṭilya, the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa also states that a village is a settlement of peasantry, mostly of the Śūdra caste, in the centre of arable lands,² so that they may till their holdings without any inconvenience of traversing a long distance to get to a tank. It will be erroneous however to suppose that all villages were exclusively or mostly inhabited by Śūdras. Villages there were in considerable number which were exclusively settled by each of the other three classes. Thus the Mayamata makes a detailed classification of the Brāhmaṇ villages in accordance with the numerical strength of their population:—

c12.15

¹ Vide Mayamatam, Ch. 9, l. 121.

c12.16

² See ‘grāma’ in the Śavdakalpadruma. तथा शूद्रप्राया सुसम्पन्नकृषिवला । क्षेत्रोपयोगमध्ये वसति ग्रामसंज्ञिका ॥

c12.17

There are three grades of the best class: a village settled by twelve thousand Brāhmaṇs occupies the superior grade (uttamottama); that by ten thousand Brāhmaṇs holds the middle grade (madhyama); and that by eight thousands is the inferior (adhama). The average villages are also graded into three sub-classes: a village of seven thousand vipras is the best among the mediocres (madhyamottama); that of six thousand vipras is the middling among them; while that of five thousands occupies the lowest rank. The inferior villages are also classified into three orders: the highest contains four thousand Brāhmaṇs, the middling three thousands and the lowest contains two thousand Brāhmaṇs. One thousand, seven hundred, and five hundred Brāhmaṇ inhabitants, constitute respectively the three grades among the very small (nīcha, mean or insignificant) villages. There are ten varieties of the smallest villages,

c12.18

rather hamlets inhabited by Brāhmaṇs ranging in number from 320 to 12.”¹ The above simple villages populated by the same class of men correspond to the pallīs or wards of a modern composite village and these wards have originated through several generations of persons living side by side who derive their descent from the same ancestor. This is manifest from the meaning of the word ‘ekabhoga’. This is defined to be a village in miniature inhabited by a single patriarch with his large retinue and menial staff.² Similarly a village of learned Brāhmaṇs is called Maṅgala (lit. auspicious), while that of noble Brāhmaṇs (viprendra) is also termed Agrahāram.³ With the progress of civilisation and communalism, such simple villages grew, however, rare until they were replaced by composite villages where all classes of people differentiated by birth and profession peacefully led a corporate life. It is in the most backward part of the country to-day that we come across traces of those antiquated simple villages.

c12.19

¹ Ch. 9, ll. 49—59. Also cf. Īśānaśivagurudebapaddhati, Kriyāpād, 25th Paṭala, sls. 42-46.

c12.20

² Mānasāra, Ch. 9 ; Mayamatam, Ch. 9, l. 61.

c12.21

³ Ibid.

c12.22

According to the Mānasāra and the Mayamata a village, exactly as a fort or a town, is defended by a girdle of walls and moats.¹ But the lexicographer Bharata's definition of a 'grāma' or village clearly asserts that a village is devoid of them: "It is an abode of many people, such as Brāhmaṇs and others, without any wall or ditch."² Whether this lack of fortification in a village postulates a later stage in the social and political development of the land when peace and tranquillity reigned throughout its length and breadth, cannot be definitely ascertained at this remote period of time, especially if we presume the correctness of the cautious opinion of Macdonell that in Vedic India "the villages were probably open, though perhaps a fort (pura) might on occasion be built inside."³ The difficulty in assuming such postulates increases when we meet with unmistakable traces of fortifications in good many antique villages in Southern India.

c12.23

¹ Mayamatam, Ch. 9, l 120. सर्वेषां ग्रामाणां परितः परिखा वडिथ वप्राः ।

c12.24

² Vide grāma in the Śavdakalpadruma.

c12.25

³ Macdonell, Vedic Index.

c12.26

The Mayamata sets forth the dimensions of the villages in two ways. According to their peripheral measurements, villages are of five kinds : the smallest village is twenty thousand daṇḍas in circumference and the contour of the biggest measures 1,00,000 daṇḍas; the perimeter of any other intermediate village can be calculated out by adding 20,000 daṇḍas to that of the preceding one. One residential block, generally inhabited by kinsmen (kutumva-bhūmi), measures one-twentieth of the whole village. Lengths of villages again admit of forty varieties ranging from 500 to 20,000 daṇḍas by a common difference of 500 daṇḍas. The breadth may be 300, 500, 700, 900, 1000, 1500, or 2000 daṇḍas.¹ Mānasāra also gives several such varieties of measurements. I need hardly add here that these were rather optional; but their wide range would but give a large scope for choice.

c12.27

¹ Ch. 9, ll. 8-16.

c12.28

I think it would be advisable to preface the classification of villages by recounting the salient features of a general village. "Each village is surrounded by a wall made of brick or stone. Beyond this wall there is a ditch broad and deep enough to cause serious obstructions in the event of an attack on the village. There are generally four gates at the middle of the four sides and as many at the four corners. Inside the wall, there is a large street running all round the village. There are two other large streets, each of which connects two opposite main gates. They intersect each other at the centre of the village, where a temple or a hall is generally built for the meeting of the villagers. The village is thus divided into four large blocks, each of which is again subdivided into many blocks by streets which are always straight, and which run from one end to the other of a main block. The two main streets crossing at the centre have houses only on one side facing the street. The ground floors of these houses on the main street consist of shops. The surrounding street has also houses on one side. These are mainly public buildings, such as schools, colleges, libraries, guest-houses, etc. All other streets generally have residential buildings on both sides. The houses high or low are always uniform in make. The drains (jaladhārā, lit. water passages) are made towards the sloping of the village. Tanks and ponds are dug in all the inhabited parts and located in such quarters as can conveniently be reached by a number of inhabitants. Temples of public worship as well as the public commons, gardens, and parks are similarly situated. The people of the same caste or profession are generally housed in the same quarter....The best quarters are generally reserved for the Brāhmaṇs and the artist classes....The quarters of the Buddhist and the Jainas are described in a few lines. The habitations of caṇḍālas as well as the places for cremation are located outside the village wall (in the north-west in particular). The temples of fearful deities such as Chāmuṇḍā are also placed outside the wall.”¹

c12.29

¹ Mānasāra, Dr. Acharyya’s Summary, pp. 8–9.

c12.30

According to their shape, and method of street-planning, folk-planning, and temple-planning, Mānasāra classifies the villages into eight types,² called Daṇḍaka, Sarvatobhadra, Nandyāvarta, Padmaka, Swastika, Prastara, Kārmuka, and Chaturmukha. Mayamuni bases his classification mainly upon planning of streets and his divisions are named Daṇḍaka, Swastika, Prastara, Prakīrṇaka, Nandyāvarta, Parāga, Padma, and Śrīpratishṭhita.³ Kāmikāgama divides the villages into fifteen classes and after enumerating all the varieties named by Mānasāra and Mayamuni, cites four more, to wit, Sampatkara, Kumbhaka, Śrīvatsa, and Vaidika. I shall describe the villages now one after another by free translations from the originals as recorded in the above books. It is impossible tó render all the lines into English, because in addition to their ‘most barbarous Sanskrit’, there are legions of incorrigible errors owing to ignorant amanuenses and false readings.

c12.31

² Mānasāra, Ch. 9.

c12.32

³ Ch. 9

c12.33

² Three words, 'kakanī,' 'kartari,' 'kṛkarī' are used in the texts, by way of similitude, when describing two streets crossing one another at right angles. These words are of doubtful signification. Kartari may mean scissors so that its two handles crossing one another may convey the idea. Perhaps erroneous transcription has tampered with the same word.

c12.34

(1) Daṇḍaka :—Literally it means a village that resembles a phalanx or a staff. Māyamatam defines it thus :—"Its streets are straight and cross each other at right angles at the centre, running west to east and south to north. The village has four gates on four sides. Even if it has only one street (row of houses ?) yet it is also called daṇḍaka."¹ The detailed description given by Mānasāra runs thus : "The village called daṇḍaka is rectangular or square, and possesses a rampart of the same shape. It consists of one to five parallel streets (running generally from west to east) and two more streets may be planted (forming right angles) at both extremities of the above parallel streets. And a third transverse street crosses them in the middle. The width of the street varies from one to five daṇḍas. The middle-most street may be made equal to or broader than the rest. The two transverse streets at the extremities have a single row of houses; the prin-

c12.35

¹ Ch. 9, ll. 82-84.

Dandaka

c12.s1.1

cipal (central) streets are lined with a double row of houses, i.e., by one on each side. Each house should be three daṇḍas broad or four or five daṇḍas broad according to reasons and suitability, and their length may be twice or thrice their breadth. The village is to be girt round by a wall or a ditch. There should be four large gates in the four cardinal directions; as many smaller ones at the several corners. To the west without the village, or in the same direction in the part presided over by Varuṇa (the king of water) or by Mitra, should be erected a shrine to Viṣṇu. At the north-east quarter, either within or without the village wall, on or near the chambers held sacred to Parjjanya or Aditi, a temple should be established to Śiva. ‘A shrine to Chāmuṇḍā should be built near the north gate without the wall. There should be two principal reservoirs one towards the south-west and the other towards the north-east.’¹ This is called the village Daṇḍaka especially suited to Brāhmaṇs. It may contain 12, 24, 50, 108, or 300 Brāhmaṇ families. That which is inhabited by twelve cottages of sages (munis) and is situated in the midst of forests and mountains is called āśrama or hermitage. The village situate on the bank of a river, accommodating twenty-four houses of yatis or holy mendicants, is technically termed puram. A village which contains fifty residences of those who have performed holy sacrifices (dīkshita) is a praiseworthy vāstuka or habitat. The village where there are 108 householders is called ‘maṅgala.’ A village possessing one hundred houses of Vikāries (Buddhists ?) is called a ‘koṭa.’ Or the number of Brāhmaṇ houses may be arbitrary. What is omitted in this description should be supplemented according to the Śāstras.”¹ According to Kāmikāgama, the offices of the village officers and of the village Pañchāyats should be located in the eastern portion of the town.

c12.s1.2

¹ The lines within the inverted commas do not occur in my MSS; I have extracted them from Rāmrāz.

c12.s1.3

¹ Mānasāra, Ch. 9.

c12.s1.4

(2) Sarvatobhadra :—It is oblong or square. The village may be divided into interlineal chambers after Maṇḍuka or Sthaṇḍila. In the centre should be located the temple dedicated to the Triad—Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva. This may be fittingly inhabited by Brāhmaṇs, Tapasvis or those who observe austerities and perform sacrifices accompanied by great corporal sufferings (i.e., anchorites), yatis or religious mendicants, Buddhists (pāṣaṇḍāśramis), Brahmachāries (celebate

Sarvatobhadra

c12.s2.1

students of the Vedas), or yogīs or meditators of God. The number of car-streets (rathyā) in it varies from one to five with a boulevard going round the village. The internal streets are lined with a single row of houses while a double row of houses ranges along the outer streets.¹ The streets should be so constructed as to demarcate the four annular divisions of the plot ending in the Paiśācha.² Here several lines occur in the original, but their readings are too faulty and their meaning too obscure for translation. "Without the walls (?) should be placed shrines of the deities who preside over and defend the several quarters of the villages. Pilgrims' pavillions, rest-houses, colleges, halls should be located at the several corners. Other divine edifices (religious halls ?) should be established in whatever quarters desirable. Towards the quarter of Agni (south-east) a water-shed should be erected. The village should be secured by a wall and a ditch, with four large gates on the sides and as many by-gates at the corners. The artisans and craftsmen should be assigned quarters along the boulevard (mahārathyā). The hamlets of Vaiśyas (the trading class) and Śudras (the servant class) should be allocated towards the south. In the plots between and including the two consecrated

c12.s2.2

¹ Rāmrāz gives a different version: "It has four streets of equal length on the four sides within the wall, meeting one another at right angles and two more crossing each other in the middle. Between these may be formed 3, 4, or 5 as many more streets as the extent of the village will admit on each side parallel to the middle-most street."

c12.s2.3

² Vide Chapter VI.

c12.s2.4

Abstract Plan of Sarvatobhadra

c12.s2.5

to Indra and Agni, *i.e.*, along the whole extreme southern side of the village should be erected in rows the houses of cowherds (gopāla) *i.e.*, agriculturists; and just outside the walls (?) to their south should be constructed the cow-sheds, guarded by pallisades. Between the chambers of Pitṛs and Varuṇa (both inclusive) *i.e.*, between the west and the south-west, the weavers and drapers are to have their quarters. A little further off are the stalls of yarn-dealers and shops of wheel-wrights. The blacksmiths are to be quartered between the chambers of Varuṇa and Vāyu (both inclusive) and further opposite to them are the fishermen and the butchers to be established. The hermits, the physicians, and the Ambaṣṭhas are to be assigned quarters between the plots dedicated to Vāyu and Soma. The shrine of Viṣṇu may be located in their midst.¹ Over across them are the blocks of the oilsmen. Without the north-eastern gate, but by the side of the eastern wall should be erected a temple for the worship of Chāmuṇḍā, the Immanent Śakti (i.e., Power) of Viṣṇu and the huts of caṇḍālas or outcastes should be further removed from it. This is the human habitation (janavāsam) beyond the pale of the village. Tanks or reservoirs should be constructed either in the south or the east or in the intermediate quarters. The master-builder should lay out the rest in conformity to the injunctions of the Śāstras.

c12.s2.6

¹ Here occurs a line whose meaning is not quite clear.

c12.s2.7

(3) Nandyāvarta :—The dimensions of this village are the same as before. It may be square or oblong. It is divisible into as many parts as are contained in the mystic figure Chaṇḍita (also called Maṇḍuka) or Sthaṇḍila, if it is square, or in the figure Paramaśāyika, if it is oblong.

c12.s2.8

NANDYĀVARTA (in Maṇḍuka)

c12.s2.10

NANDYĀVARTA (in Sthandila)

c12.s2.11

The Chaṇḍita consists of 64 divisions, (being the square of eight) of which the four divisions in the centre are called Brāhmya, *i.e.*, dedicated to Brahmā. "They should be entirely appropriated to sacred purposes."¹ The twelve plots that surround the Brāhmya zone, are called Daivika, those belonging to the Devas. The next zone encircling the Daivika contains twenty divisions and is called Mānuṣya or that held sacred to men; and the outermost zone containing twenty-eight chambers (or plots) is named Paiśācha, that is, the one appropriated to demons. "These several rounds should be occupied by different classes in order of their superiority; *i.e.*, the Brāhmaṇs should have the Brāhmya and so with the rest."¹ The figure called Paramaśāyika contains 81 equal parts, being the square of nine, of which the central nine plots form the Brāhmya; 16 around these, the Daivika; 24 around these, the Mānuṣya; and the outermost 32, the Paiśācha. The figure Sthaṇḍila consists of 49 equal divisions, being the square of seven, of which the middle one is called the Brāhmya; eight around these form the Daivika; 16 around these, the Mānuṣya; and the outermost 24, the Paiśācha. The village has four large streets along the sides, running in each direction at right angles. The eastern street (i.e., the street in the east) beginning from the north (strictly speaking from the north-east corner) runs on to the south

c12.s2.12

¹ The lines within the inverted commas do not occur in my MSS. and I have quoted them from Rāmrāz.

c12.s2.13

Abstract Plan of Nandyāvarta

c12.s2.14

and projects out (to a small distance from the cross-street which intersects it); the southern street commencing from the east (i.e., the eastern street at the south-east corner) runs on in a westerly direction and opens out to the west. The western street beginning from the south (i.e., the southern street) runs on in a northerly direction and shoots out to the north. The northern street, running from east to west, juts forth in the east, (beyond the eastern street, at the north-east corner).¹ This plan in the lay-out of streets is like the mystic figure Nandyāvarta in the opinion of the experts. All other streets running from south to north and from east to west should follow this plan. There may be three, five, or seven such sets of streets, with a row of houses on each side. The lanes (mārgāh) may be planted in number varying from one to five. The lanes that lie transverse between the main roads should have no houses (opening on them).² A vīthī or street is that which is lined with houses, while a mārga or road is that which is devoid of (or irregularly lined with) houses. The streets of all (the villages ?) fall on the great boulevard (mahāmārga ?). The small roads should be planted at the intervals of six or seven ‘rajjus’ (1 rajju = 10 daṇḍas = 60 feet). The streets should be 3, 4, or 5 daṇḍas wide, whereas in the village divided into the mystic

c12.s2.15

¹ Rāmrāz proceeds hence with a different version not warranted by my MSS. "The number of streets in the outer compartment should be determined according to its extent, and in the compartments called Divya and Mānushya, 3 or 4 more parallel streets may be made from east to west, with as many cross ones north to south, forming as it were, so many courts or enclosures. The broad streets run through the middle of the village, from east to west and from north to south cutting one another in the middle where should be erected either a temple for Brahmā or a maṇḍapa for general meetings." Rāmrāz seems to give here a summary.

c12.s2.16

² The difference between a mārga and a vīthī is the same as between a road and a street, the former having discontinuous rows of houses. Or, does mārga here signify an interjacent alley between building blocks ?

c12.s2.17

NANDYĀVARTA (Circular Plan. After Ananthalwar and Raes, Indian Architecture.)

c12.s2.18

figure Paramaśāyika, the street round the middle-most nine divisions may be 6, 7, or 8 daṇḍas broad. The streets may be equally wide or some may be wider. The excesses in breadth over the standard street may be ⅛, ¼ or ½. The great boulevard (mahāmārga) may be as wide as the standard street or less by ¼ and the other small roads may be ⅜ or ½ as broad.

c12.s2.19

This village Nandyāvarta (literally an abode of bliss) is best suited to Brāhmaṇs. But from what follows it is clear that it is also intended for a mixed population including all the four varṇas or castes. If the village is inhabited by 58, 108, 300, 1008, 2000, or 4000 Brāhmaṇs in all the rounds Daivika, Mānuṣya, and Paiśācha, it is called Maṅgala (or abode of bliss). If, on the other hand, it contains also the ruling class and Vaiśyas in preponderating number, then it goes by the name of Pura. Again if the predominant people be Vaiśyas and Śūdras it is called Agrahāram. In these human habitats (martyāpada), Brāhmaṇs are assigned quarters in the outskirts (within the wall).¹ The royal palace may be placed in any of the rounds Daiva, Mānuṣya, or Paiśācha. But the latter round is especially fit for Vaiśyas and Śūdras. There should be planted in the Paiśācha round streets numbering from one to seven (?). The Vaiśyas should be placed in the first street on the south. The castle of the paramount emperor (chakravartty) should be established in the plot belonging to Varuṇa, while in the plot dedicated to Mitra, Jayanta, or Rudrajaya should be erected the house of an ordinary king as well as the museum (kautukālayam). The headquarters of the provincial satraps and feudatory chiefs (sāmanta-pramukhādi) are to be stationed in the south-west corner. The sacerdotal caste are to be provided with sites in the plots belonging to Sugrīva, Puspadanta, Dauvārika, or Rākshasa; while the plots presided over by Gandharva, Roga, or Śosha are specially fit for the twice-born classes. In the same quarters are to be stationed the brothels and theatres. The wheel-wrights have their workshops in the divisions consecrated to Nāga or Mukhya (?). Art-studios (Śilpa-śāla) and looms are located in the north, while hospitals and dispensaries are established in the plots held sacred to Aditi or Diti. The village police have their barracks in the division of Jayanta; and charity-houses are placed in those belonging to Mahendra or Satya. Arsenals are to be constructed in the plots of Vṛṣha or Antarīksha. Surrounding the above quarters stand the following :—The oil-dealers have their row of stalls along the street on the north and the potters are also provided in the same quarters. The vendors of liquors and meat are relegated to the west, while the hunters and fowlers are quartered in the south. The laundry is placed in the south-east or north-west. The pillared pavillion of guests is raised in the south or in the east, while colleges or muths are given sites in the east or the west. The cobblers and the shoe-makers and others of kindred calling are located in the north. Surrounding these are to be the quarters of other craftsmen.

c12.s2.20

¹ This is against the general scheme which places the Brāhmaṇs towards the centre. Besides, the designation ‘Agrahāram’ of a village peopled mainly by Vaiśyas and Śūdras is contrary to recognised nomenclature, as the quarters of the Brāhmaṇs alone go by that name.

c12.s2.21

Then the distribution of sites is dwelt upon. On all sides of the village, as for instance, in the Ārya and other directions, even in the outskirts of it, should be designed and distributed the temples of Viṣhṇu and His various manifestations. In the round containing the plot of Indra, the shrine of Viṣhṇu is erected in the Rākshasa plot. Śrīkara is located in the east, while Nārāyaṇa in the south or north and Keśava on the north. Images of Viṣhṇu should be established in desirable number in the east and the north, while Nṛsiṃha should be enshrined in the south-west or the north-east. Viṣhṇu should face the village, while Narasimha should have his face turned away from it. Lakshmi and Nrsimha should generally face the village, but in the divisions belonging to Rudra and Rudrajaya, Indra and Indrajaya, Apa and Apavatsa, Savindra, Isa, Jayanta, or Parjanya, the latter should have its back turned upon the village. Siva, either in the east or in the west should face the village and in the case of other gods, there is no such hard and fast rule as above. Within the village walls, in the plot consecrated either to Pitrs or to Dauvarika, is to be the shrine to Subrahmanya; or in those quarters may be established the mote-halls of Jainas or Bauddhas. Vainayaka's shrines may be located in all the eight directions. The temple of Sarasvati should be constructed in the plots of Mukhya or Bhallata, while that of Lakshmi in those of Aditi or Mrga. Without and close by the gates of the village should be established the shrine of Bhairava to guard the village or it may be on the street in the parts belonging to Rakshasa or Pushpadanta. Beyond the village pallisades towards, the divisions apportioned to Soma, the temple of Kali should be located. About a kros (roughly two miles) away from the village, either in the east, or in the north, the quarters of the Candalas should be raised and about ten daṇḍas to the north of the village, is to be placed the cremation ground.

c12.s2.22

The village should have a girdle of wall encompassed by a ditch. The main gates of the village should be located near the four corners. The eastern gate should be opened in the quarter of Īśāna; the southern gate in that of Agni; the western gate in that of Pitṛs and the northern gate in that of Vāyu¹.....Expert authorities do not generally recommend four gates in the four cardinal directions; or two gates may be constructed in the east and the west. The four streets making up the boulevard may have openings (chāra) at their termini. Side-gates or by-gates may be opened in the north in the plots belonging to Nāga, Mṛga, Aditi, and Diti; in the east in those of Parjanya, Antarikṣa, and Puṣā; in the south in those of Gandharva and Bhṛṅgarāja; and in the west on those of Sugrīva and Asura. Else, travellers' gates (janadvāram) may be constructed in the plots belonging to either Mukhya, Bhallāṭa, Mṛga, Aditi, Jayanta, Mahendra, Satya, or Bhṛśa.

c12.s2.23

¹ Here some lines follow whose reading is too faulty for any clear construction.

c12.s2.24

Divine edifices (maṇḍapam) should be erected in the squares held sacred to Brahmā, Agni, or Mitra. Councils and town-halls (sabhāsthāna) should be established in the plots dedicated to Bhūdhara and Asura. All the above distributions and allocations are required by the authorities on Śilpa Śāstras to be made on the ground divided into the mystic figure Caṇḍita.”

c12.s2.25

The Mayamata gives the following succinct description of villages of this type: “The village has five highways running from east to west, while the number of main thoroughfares running transverse to them is variously recommended from thirteen to seventeen. It has four main gates on the four sides. Because of the peculiar orientation of its gates and numerous streets it looks like the mystic figure Nandyāvarta. Hence its significant designation.”

c12.s2.26

According to Kāmikāgama, it may be circular or quadrangular.

c12.s2.27

(4) Padma or Padmaka :—Mayamatam says there are five varieties of this village. The number of easterly streets may be seven, while the number of northerly streets may vary from three to five. Or, the streets running from east to west may be six or seven, while the transverse streets may be twenty. The Kāmikāgama fixes different numbers of northerly streets varying from seven to twenty-nine, while

c12.s2.28

PADMAKA¹

c12.s2.29

तद्गेहेऽथ तथा स्थाप्यं मण्डपं वा सभां वयेत् (?) ।
तद्बहिः पूर्ववीथीषु पञ्चेरावर्त्तकेषु] च ।
चतुष्षष्ट् सप्त वाष्टकं वाथ वीथिका ॥
मध्य इदं विना कुर्यात् चतुर्द्दिक्षु चारकल्पकं । मानसारे नवमीऽध्यायेः ।

c12.s2.30

The plan given above is a departure from the one suggested by Rāmrāz and others. But the very name Padmaka and the word ‘आवर्तकेषु’ (circular) occurring in the above extract embolden me to it places the number of cross streets at seven. Mānasāra’s details are: Its length and breadth are made equal, while the enclosing walls are circular. Or, the village and its walls may be quadrangular, sexagonal, or octagonal. The village ground should be divided into the mystic figure Sthaṇḍila or Caṇḍita. The divine edifice and the council house should be erected in the central plot. Round about this plot should be planted streets numbering four to eight and they are lined with houses. There should be gates in four cardinal directions. The rest is identical with the above-mentioned Nandyāvarta.

c12.s2.31

¹ तद्गेहेऽथ तथा स्थाप्यं मण्डपं वा सभां वयेत् (?) । तद्बहिः पूर्ववीथीषु पञ्चेरावर्त्तकेषु] च । चतुष्षष्ट् सप्त वाष्टकं वाथ वीथिका ॥ मध्य इदं विना कुर्यात् चतुर्द्दिक्षु चारकल्पकं । मानसारे नवमीऽध्यायेः ।

c12.s2.32

(5) Swastika :—The lay-out of streets contemplated by Mayamuni in this village is as follows: The eastern street beginning from the north-east projects out to the south; the southern street begins to run from the south-east towards the west; the western street runs in northerly direction commencing from the south-west; the northern street beginning to run from the north-west shoots out in the eastern direction.

c12.s2.33

Mānasāra’s particulars are exhaustive: Lengths and breadths of the village may be arbitrarily pro-

c12.s2.34

suggest the above plan as the right one answering the description. If my interpretation is correct of which I am not quite certain for want of a more reliable manuscript or text—then here is a town-plan consisting of oblique street.

c12.s2.35

[Figure: PADMAKA (in Sthandila)]

c12.s2.36

portional, and the ground should be divided into the mystic figure Paramaśāyika. Streets in it should be planted up to the extremity of the Paiśācha round. The streets should be planted in conformity with the figure Swastika. There should be two streets passing through the centre of the village, one running from west to east and the other cross-street running from south to north cutting the former in the middle and the rest of the highways should emanate from one or other of the four branches of these two cross-roads. The (northern-most) easterly street runs from the north to the north-east; the eastern-most southerly street beginning from the east terminates in the south-east; the southern-most westerly street starting from the south abut on the south-west; the western-most northerly street setting out from the west ends in the north-west. The above four streets starting from the extremities of the four (i.e., two) cross-roads are directed clock-wise round the village and together with the latter, from the figure Swastika by four plough-like (┌-like) streets each bent respectively at right angles at the four cardinal points of the compass; thus each of these plough-shaped streets has two extremities one at the farthest point of the cross-road and another at the corner and each of them has two openings one on the sides and the other at the angular points.

c12.s2.37

SWASTIKA

c12.s2.38

In the first quadrant having the plots of Brahmā, Soma, Īśāna, and Āditya at the angles, the parallel streets run from west to east; in the second quadrant within the corner-plots of Brahmā, Āditya, Agni, and Yama, the parallel streets run from north to south; in the third quadrant enclosed by the corner-chambers belonging to Brahmā, Yama, Nirṛti and Varuṇa the parallel streets run from east to west; in the fourth quadrant formed by the corners occupied by Brahmā, Varuṇa, Vāyu, and Soma, the parallel streets run from south to north. These streets have rows of houses on one side only. At both the extremities of these streets there are building blocks on a smaller scale. The surrounding boulevard too is lined with a double row of houses. Ramparts should defend the village and a ditch is to enclose these ramparts. There are eight main doors, four at the extremities of the cross-roads and the remaining four at the termini of the four branches of the figure Swastika. There may be eight other supplementary doors, constructed on the plots belonging to Bhṛśa and Antariksha, Bhṛngarāja and Mṛsha, Śosha and Roga, Aditi and Diti. The principal doors are designed like a plough, furnished with double door-panels. Here and there are the turrets over the walls fitted with varieties of missiles to be utilised in times of battle.

c12.s2.39

Mystic Figure Swastika

c12.s2.40

Full of various classes of people the Swastika is fit for habitation of kings and should be adopted in the Sthānīya (or local fastness or town). The royal palace may be erected in the four cardinal directions or at the corners or in the centre. When erected in the four cardinal quarters, it should be placed, without the central plot presided over by Brahmā, at the four plots, Aryyamā and others. There seems to be a classification of this type of village under different denominations, to wit, Āgata, Samgraha, Vijaya, and Sthānīya, according to the method of allocation of the royal palace. In the Āgata the palace may be situated on the plot belonging to Varuṇa, Āditya or Indrarāja; in the Saṃgrāma, it may be located on the plot consecrated either to Yama or Soma; in the Vijaya, it may be set up on the plot held sacred to either Soma or Vivasvān; in the Sthānīya, it may be assigned a site in the plot belonging to either Mitra, Varuṇa or Aryyamā.

c12.s2.41

In the Sthānīya and the other three, the temple of Viṣṇu should respectively be erected on the plots presided over by Mitra, Varuṇa, Vivasvān, and Mahendra. The plots of Indra and Indrajaya, Rudra and Rudrajaya, or Āpa and Āpavatsa, Īśāna and Jayanta, should be alloted for the shrines to Īśa facing away from the village. The Buddhist temple should be established on the plot of Vāyu and the monastery of the Jainas should be erected on the south-west plot of Nirṛti. There should be four gates on the four sides and the temple to Bhairava should be raised beside them. The temple of Durgā and Ganapati should be established in the four directions or in the four intermediate directions, while the six-faced God should be located in the plot belonging to Sugrīva; the temple of the fever-god in that of Agni or Puṣā; the temple of Bhāratī (Goddess of Learning) in the plot consecrated to Āditya; the temple of Bhūteśa (the Lord of Beings) in the plot belonging to Sauraka or Mukhya. The temples of Viṣṇu and Rudra may be suitably distributed. Human habitations should be laid out round about these divine edifices. The outermost road is lined with a single row of houses, while the other streets have a double row of houses. The above is the list of the internal divinities, while there is no fixed number of the external ones. The phallic emblem of Pāśupata may be set up within the village and, according to the Vaikhānasa, the remaining phalluses too may be established within it. The temple of Chāmuṇḍā is to be placed away to the north or the east of the village, facing the north. Without the village, to its east, north, west or south-west, the maṇḍapam of Senālokanāyaka (?) is to be established.

c12.s2.42

The rest is identical with the preceding types.

c12.s2.43

(6) Prastara :—Etymologically it means a village resembling a couch. Mayamuni says it is intersected by three streets running from east to west and by several transverse roads numbering from three to seven.

c12.s2.44

Mānasāra’s description of the village is too crude and the MSS. I have access to is too erroneous for a literal rendering of it. What follows is a free but substantially correct summary of the description. The village is either square or oblong in form. It is divisible into the mystic figure Paramaśāyika, Caṇḍita or Sthaṇḍila and the Paiśācha annulus is determined by this division and demarcated by a boulevard going round it. Within this round the space is divided either into four, nine or sixteen wards by a net-work of appropriate number of highways, the arrangement being respectively one versus one, two versus two, and three versus three. These highways are variously widened to six, seven, eight, nine, or eleven daṇḍas. In the wards again roads are planted according to the chess-board system. But all the wards are not divided into equal number of plots by these roads. One is divided into nine plots, another into sixteen, the third into twenty-five, and so on. This distinction in the division is accounted for by the degree of rank and wealth of the persons that are to occupy the ward. Thus the ward of the very rich and of those of the highest rank contains the biggest plots, that is, is divided into the lowest number of them.

c12.s2.45

PRASTARA

c12.s2.46

It seems that provisions are made in this village plan for its extension by enclosing larger areas with fresh walls. There may be even eight or twelve such exogenous enclosures. The shape of every such enclosure should be identical with that of the original village.

c12.s2.47

Even in modern times arrangements like the above are made in all important town-extensions where there are assigned separate sites for houses, colleges, and bungalows in certain prescribed dimensions for each class.

c12.s2.48

In the north of the village is quartered the Vaiśya class and in the borders called the Paiśācha plot, all the artisans and craftsmen. Accommodation for the royal palace, shrines, courts, hospitals, colleges, and other buildings is made in the same way as in the Sarvatobhadra plan. The village is enclosed by walls and ditches with four principal gates on the sides and four subsidiary ones in the corners. The number of gates may also be twelve or more.

c12.s2.49

(7) Kārmuka :—It literally means a bow. Its shape is semi-circular or semi-elliptical like a bow and hence its name. The towns of the varieties of Paṭṭana, Kheṭa or Kharvaṭa are planned after this. The Paṭṭana has a preponderance of Vaiśyas; the Kheṭa is generally inhabited by traders and labourers; while the Kharvaṭa is inhabited by lower classes of people. The

Kārmuka

c12.s3.1

रथ्या चैकवेक (?) स्यात् पश्चिमोगतं तथा ॥
दक्षिणे पूर्वके रथ्या उत्तरे पूर्वकेऽपि वा ।
दक्षिणे पश्चिमे रथ्या चैवमग्राष्टुः ॥
तद्वै वीथो बाच्छेतुं कामुकं तकारवत् पृथक् ।

c12.s3.2

Kārmukha plan is generally suited to a riparian site or a sea-shore. There are two car-streets (both quadrangular ?) and one principal road. If the bow faces the west, one of the car-streets runs (along the circumference of the semi-circle) from south to east and the other from north to east. But if the village faces north then the former street runs from west to south. The other principal (straight) street runs from north to south (in the former case) or from east to west (in the latter case), thus the three streets forming the figure of a bow. The number of transverse streets may be one to five. Houses range on both sides of them. There may be additional radial roads. Divine edifices should be distributed as before. The gates of the village may be as many as desirable and its circumvallation is optional. The temple of Viṣṇu or Śiva should be raised at the juncture of its two cross streets. The temple of Īśa or Śaṅkara may be erected in the middle of the right side.

c12.s3.3

(8) Chaturmukha :—It is square or oblong

c12.s3.4

एतद्विषत्पञ्च वीथीरेवं प्रकल्पयेत् ॥ व्यासञ्च द्विपथं तिर्य्यङ्मार्गे यथेच्छया । चतुर्दिक्षु प्राक्प्राग्दैः येसपत् पदविन्यसेत् ॥ मानसार नवमोऽध्यायः ।

c12.s3.5

Here it is clearly directed that the streets should be oblique (तिर्य्यक्) and resemble the letter त like a bow.

c12.s3.6

lying east-to-west-wise, so that its walls are also of similar shape. There are four great car-streets on the four sides. Two large streets crossing at right angles in the centre divide the whole site into four square blocks or wards and the principal four gates are raised over the terminuses of these two highways and there may be constructed supplementary doors as in the former cases. Each of the four wards is again planted with four (comparatively) smaller roads crossed by the same number of them. Rudra and his attendant deities should be installed within the village. The Brāhmaṇs should be assigned sites as in the Padmaka plan. If the village be chiefly populated with the trading class, then it is called Kolakoṣṭha. According to some, the twice born class should fill up the four wards. The south-eastern ward is to be inhabited by the Brāhmaṇs; the south-western block by the ruling class; the north-western, even the north-eastern ward too, by the trading class. The Śūdras or the artisans and labourer class are relegated to the extreme borders, namely, the Paiśācha block. The shrines of Viṣṇu, Rudra, and other divinities should be planted as in the preceding ones. What has been omitted in this description should be supplemented from the plans of the foregoing villages. Residential

Chaturmukha

c12.s4.1

blocks (Nārāyaṇa)¹ should not be constructed on the car-streets; else, it will provoke perdition.

c12.s4.2

¹ Does ‘narāyaṇa’ mean passages of men, i.e. foot-paths intended for pedestrian traffic?

c12.s4.3

(9) Prakīrṇaka :—According to Mayamuni there are five varieties of this type. The number of easterly roads is fixed at four, while that of the transverse, that is, northerly roads, varies from eight to twelve respectively in either of the five plans. According to the Kāmikāgama, the number of northerly streets varies from four to seventeen; and yet it fixes the number of various plans at five like the Mayamata. Prakīrṇaka really means a ‘chāmara’, a fan made with big chowries (hairy tails) of yaks fastened to a handle.

c12.s4.4

(10) Parāga :—This village, according to Mayamuni, possesses six easterly streets and eighteen to twenty-two northerly ones. The Kāmikāgama, on the other hand, would lay out in it six to twenty-three northerly streets confining the gradual increment to unity and six cross-roads facing east. It is a small village but cob-webbed with such a large number of streets that facilities of traffic and locomotion are comparatively largest and easiest in it as the name implies.

c12.s4.5

(11) Śrīpratiṣṭhita :—Mayamuni defines it to be a village consisting of eight principal highways facing the east and of northerly streets numbering twenty-eight to thirty-two. The Kāmikāgama, while prescribing the same number of east-to-west streets, varies the northerly streets from eight to thirty-six, probably with common addition of four, thus bringing the number of varieties down to eight. The radical significance of the name is that Śrī, the Goddess of Fortune, is established and permanently secured in it.

c12.s4.6

(12) Sampatkāra :—This and the following three are varieties of villages especially noted in the Kāmikāgama. It consists of five streets running from east to west crossed by twenty-one transverse streets. The etymological meaning of the name indicates that it is very auspicious and secures wealth and prosperity.

c12.s4.7

(13) Kumbhakam :—Its shape is like a pitcher as the word denotes. It is either circular or polygonal. The number of streets in it is many and they run parallel to the contour.

c12.s4.8

(14 & 15) Śrīvatsa and Vaidika :—In both these types, there is no limitation to the number of streets but in the latter, it is obligatory that each street should be lined with houses on both sides. In this plan, the houses are allowed to be built up in more storeys than one.

c12.s4.9

The descriptions of the last seven villages vouchsafed to us in the Mayamata or in the Kāmikāgama are very meagre, but one feature to be marked in all of them is that the number of northerly streets in all the types far exceed that of the easterly streets. This means that the villages were elongated east to west and east-to-west streets are longer so that winds could not blow up clouds of dust, while the buildings were open to free ventilation which in India generally runs from north to south or south to north.

c12.s4.10

It should be borne in mind that the villages in question were quite different from the existing villages of Bengal. These are results of unconscious spread of human habitation, in the wake of increasing population, into soil which was originally overgrown with woods and thickets. There is no vestige of conscious planning in the Bengal villages. But the villages under consideration were something like towns in miniature. There was the same juxtaposition of house blocks raised in rows; the same sort of folk-planning as in the town. Hence while in Bengal a garden-village will be out of question, every village here being a settlement amidst trees and woods, in the villages of ancient India—prototypes of which are still visible in Southern India and in some parts of Northern India—it was thought possible to lay out what is known as a garden-village exactly like a garden-city. Mr. Venkatarama Ayyar furnishes us with a picture of such a garden-village, corroborating his general description by many examples from the Deccan. He says that such garden-villages were planted round a temple either of Śiva or of Viṣṇu or other holy Divinity commanding parochial, and not unoften extra-parochial, reverence and influence. This exogenous lay-out exactly answers to that of a temple-city or a garden-city. "The temple may be ever so modest a structure; but it must have a tank adjoining it; and also a flower-garden and an open space about it. And the practice of building houses abutting round such an open square or in front of the tank adjoining the temple is very useful from a hygienic point of view, for admitting fresh air and light to each and every home.

First 102 of 108 passages. Read on

Linked texts (9)