Town Planning in Ancient India c14.s1: Temples
Town Planning in Ancient India c14.s1
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Temples
c14.s1.1
The temple of the tutelary—hence the principal—deity of the city is another important centre. It is the Brahmapīṭha installed in the Brahma-sthāna, the square in the centre. The whole compound of the temple is divided into various courts. Mānasāra recommends five such: the innermost court is called antaramaṇḍala; the second antarnīhāra; the third madhyanīhāra; the fourth prākāra; the fifth and the last is known as mahā-maryādā or the extreme boundary where the gopuras are constructed. Around the shrine of the principal divinity the temples of the attendant deities are to be erected. “At the eight cardinal points of the innermost or the first court, the temples of a group of eight deities are built. Groups of sixteen and thirty-two deities are located in the second and third courts respectively.”² Even the temples of the Bauddhas and the Jainas were sometimes included in the compound. The compound bristled with numerous maṇḍapas for such purposes as bath, bed, assembly, horses, musicians, dancing girls, cows,¹ stores and the like. There were also tanks and gardens within the compound. Outside the walls of this temple-group were laid out on a rectangular plan, four broad streets to demarcate its individuality and other streets abutted on these, thus emphasising the importance of the centre. I have detailed on council-tree and pillared pavilion that were reared round it in various other connections.
c14.s1.2
² Mānasāra, Chs. 31 & 32, Dr. Acharyya's Summary.
c14.s1.3
¹ Mānasāra, Chs. 31 & 32, Dr. Acharyya's Summary.
Linked texts (1)
- Mānasāra — Sanskrit