Town Planning in Ancient India c9.65

c9.65

posts were planted. The Smṛti Śāstras enjoin lighting lamps at the cross-roads. Divine edifices were also erected at the intersections of roads. The central site of a town or a village was almost always set apart for shrines of Brahmā. The great width of the cross-sections, and the well, the chaitya, the sabhā-vṛksha (council tree),¹ or the light-post (dīpa-sthambha)² situated at their centres minimised the chances of collision between countergoing vehicles. In ancient India it was the custom to make a ‘pradakshiṇa’ (or rounding of the cross-way with the right hand turned towards it) of the cross-roads³ and this was not possible if pedestrians or conveyances did not keep to the left. Indeed great stress was laid