Town Planning in Ancient India c5.36

c5.36

The scope of Indian town-planning comprises descriptions of markets (āpaṇa), streets and lanes, ditches, temples (devālaya), royal palaces and other buildings, i.e., housing of citizens (sarvvajana-gṛhāvāsa), arched gateways with flags hoisted upon them, sheds for drinking water (prapā), pleasure gardens (ārāmagṛha), tanks, and women of the town.¹ Though no mention is made here of the ramparts, it is superfluous to remark that their construction was one of the important functions of the civic architect. The Mānasāra and the Mayamata discuss the following cognate topics of town-planning :—(1) examination of soil (bhū-parīkṣā); (2) selection of site (bhūmisamgraha); (3) determination of directions (dikpariccheda); (4) division of the grounds into squares (padavinyāsa); (5) the offerings (balikarmavidhāna); (6) the planning of villages and towns (grāmavinyāsa, nagaravinyāsa); (7) buildings and their different storeys (bhūmividhāna); (8) cons-