The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c7.27

c7.27

The centre of the village, at the intersection of the two main streets (fig. 2), was the recognised meeting-place for the Council of Elders which regulated local affairs. A banyan or a pîpal tree planted on a mound sufficed for the mote-house or assembly-hall, except when the village was a large one, and could afford a pillared *mandapam*, or a pavilion of wood, brick, or stone.