Town Planning in Ancient India c5.6

c5.6

In India town-planning is a very ancient science Indo-Aryan traditions trace its origin to Brahmā, the Creator-Aspect of God. The sage Mānasāra (the author of the treatise of the same name) gives the following mythical genealogy of the artists. “From the four faces of the Brahmā, the creator of the universe, originated, in order, the heavenly architect Viśvakarmā, Maya, Tvaṣṭar, and Manu. Their four sons are called respectively Sthapati, Sūtragrāhī, Vardhakī, and Takshaka”.¹ These four seem to be the apotheosized ancestors of the four classes of artists on earth. The Mayamata also ascribes the origination of the science to Pitāmaha or Brahmā and the sages that followed him. Maya only compiled and expounded the principles exactly as he got them from his predecessors including those mentioned above.¹ The treatise Viśvakarmaprakāśa is attributed in origin to the renowned divine architect Viśvakarmā.² The author only reproduces what was explained by Viśvakarmā for the benefit of the world. In that treatise the genesis of the science is traced to Svayambhū or Brahmā who taught it in the days of yore to the wise sage Garga. Parāśara derived it from Garga; and Parāśara told it to Vṛhadratha who taught it to Viśvakarmā, and the latter gave it to Vasudeva and to the world.¹ Beneath this mythological genealogy lie hidden certain truths: the science is so ancient in this ancient land that its origin is lost in hoary antiquity; the traditional lore was handed down from generation to generation. Caste-guildism never allowed its extinction and saved it from oblivion. It is retained to this day, especially in Southern India where the masons and craftsmen very carefully preserve the manuscripts on the subject and are quite familiar with the principles and technical terms used in the treatises.