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Town Planning in Ancient India c17.s1: Ayodhyā

Town Planning in Ancient India c17.s1

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Ayodhyā

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This was a city twelve yojanas long, three yojanas broad. There were in it many fine wide streets, all symmetrically arranged; their level varied to suit the ground and to facilitate the circulation of traffic. They were regularly watered and occassionally strewn with full bloomed flowers. The king Daśaratha made large extensions of the city in order to relieve congestion. The city had stout arched gates with large door-panels, a fine lay-out of lanes and other minor roads, was fitted with mechanisms, equipped with a variety of weapons and wore a resplendent appearance. There lived in it many skilled artisans, craftsmen, and charioteers. Multitudes of lofty castles, countless flags flaunting on high, hundreds of guns (śataghnī), numerous gardens and mango-groves enhanced its beauty and magnificence. Surrounding the city was a belt of Śāla trees.¹ In all quarters of the city were special theatres for females. A deep-water ditch girding the city made it difficult of access. There were innumerable horses, elephants, cows, camels, asses, towering palaces of the best stone or marble, and sport-houses for the ladies. It was laid out on a plain and there were many seven-storeyed buildings. The houses were arranged one beside another so that there was no plot of land without human dwellings. The water of the city was limpid and sweet to the taste. The facades of all the houses, owing to a harmony in their design and symmetry in their arrangement, were magnificent to behold. There were town-halls and squares in the city. Ladies' parks too were not wanting.²

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¹ The original text is ‘śāla-mekhalā,’ It may also mean ‘wall-girdled.’ But evidences are not wanting to show that there were cities in ancient India that possessed girdles of trees.

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² The Rāmāyaṇa, Ādi Kāṇḍa, Ch. 5.

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