Town Planning in Ancient India c8.59

c8.59

are installed the gods Indra, Vāsudeva, Guha, Jayanta, Vaiśravaṇa, the twin Aśvinīs, Śrīmandira and Śiva, Durgā, and Sarasvatī.¹ Except the superstitious belief that these deities sentinel the fort, there is nothing fortificatory in the arrangement. Perhaps Manu contemplates such a fort by a giri-durga resorted to by the Devas.² It is reckoned as a ‘durga’ because of the insuperable difficulty of its approaches, not that it is a resort or stronghold of men. Mount Everest may be an instance of it.