Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v1.c51: Chapter III: Preliminaries of Town Planning

Vāstu-śāstra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v1.c51

Language: English

v1.c51.s1 (b) Land and Landscape Suited to an Ideal Town — 4 parts
v1.c51.s2 (c) Geological Survey — 62 parts
v1.c51.s3 (A) Temples — 20 parts
v1.c51.s4 (B) Gardens etc. — 3 parts

Chapter III: Preliminaries of Town Planning

This subject of the preliminaries is principally consisted of surveying of the region or regional planning, the site-planning including the examination of the land, testing of the soils and the selection of the site thereof, the levelling of the ground or Bhūkarṣaṇa along with the germination on the plot and offerings, the Balidāna etc. etc. Accordingly let us begin with the regional planning, the first pre-requisite of the town-planning.

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(a) Regional Planning: The planning of a town, a habitation, villages, fort, city or any other variety of group-residences, should take into account its location first—situation and surroundings, climate and soils, vicinity and frontiers. To put it in one word, the Town Planning pre-supposes the planning of the country, the Deśa or more correctly the regional planning—(the deśabhūmis) i. e. surveying the region on which the town is to be planned out.

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The first essential of town-planning, according to the S. S., is the survey of the soil conditions and their examination. In its chapter entitled ‘Bhū-Parīkṣā’, the 8th, the S. S. divides the land (deśa) into three varieties:—(1) Jāṅgal (2) Anūpa and (3) Sādhāraṇa (S.S. 8.2). The land almost barren, where well water is too far to be accessible, the wind is dry, hot and violent, and the soil is black in colour is called Jāṅgala. The region, opposite to the one described, full of water easily accessible from the wells, with beautiful landscape and cool climate, fish and meat in abundance, with rivers all round, plentiful trees, lofty and full of verdure is called Anūpa.

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A combination of these two characteristics, viz. climate moderate—neither too hot nor too cold, is called Sādhāraṇa, or i.e., having common qualities of both of them.

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The above classification is with reference to climate and geological formation. The S. S. further classifies the land (Deśa-bhūmis) into as many as sixteen varieties based more or less on human and cultural as well as natural factors. They are as follows :—

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| 1. Bālīśasvāminī | Easy to be administered and inhabited by good people—bhadrajana. |

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(b) Land and Landscape Suited to an Ideal Town

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A very beautiful delineation (vide the text Ch. 8. 27-35 and V. L. cf. the Desa etc. the Land and Landscape), upon the natural surroundings and situations, the land and the landscape suitable for the laying out of a town, or kheṭa or a village etc. is found in this text. The sum and substance of this prescription of the land and the landscape is that for an ideal town the surroundings and situation, land and landscape must consist, in the first place, of hills and mountains serving as natural frontier not easily to be crossed. From the security point of view, this is an invaluable asset. But it may be pointed out that on the plains—and the plains abound in our land—this rule can not be adhered to everywhere and hence fortification was needed. Practically all the ancient towns and cities on the plains were fortified towns. That is why strictly speaking, there was not much difference in the views of ancient manuals like Mānasāra and Mayamata on the layout of the towns and the forts.

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The second requirement is that an ideal town must have a green belt of forests where tall trees and plants full of verdure and flowers are found in abundance. This is necessary, not only from the point of view of healthy climate but is also conducive to the growth and maintenance of the population requiring fruits, fuel and fodder. Moreover, the natural scenery of this green verdure must add to the beauty and the grandeur of the town for which in the laying out of the modern garden cities so much money is spent.

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Thirdly, for life, water is a fundamental necessity. No life can subsist without a good natural supply of water and hence the rivers, lakes, ponds and tanks are indispensible pre-requisites for the laying out of a town. It may be noted here, that the most potent factor giving rise to the towns in ancient India, was this natural factor—the presence of water in abundance. Therefore, practically all the important towns and cities of ancient India rose either on the bank of a river or on the sea shore. Moreover, in India rivers like Gaṅgā and others have always been regarded as sacred and, therefore, the places on such sacred rivers, primarily a hermitage or a temple, gave rise to big towns. That is why we have all our famous Tīrthas, sacred places of pilgrimage situated on the banks of the rivers or on the sea shore.

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The abundance of water and trees and forests presupposes a fertile soil condition which is suited for a good harvest. Thus these are the prime considerations according to Samarāṅgaṇa for the laying out of an ideal town. We know that life on this earth is an interconnected and inter-dependent natural process, where plants, cattle and water play their most vital role.

(c) Geological Survey

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So far we have been surveying the land to be selected for the town-planning from the geographical stand-point. The ancient texts on Vāstu-Śāstra are full of details aiming at the physiographical or more correctly and more characteristically the geological survey of the land too. In these days of advanced stage of the Geological science, this may sound simply astounding, but the fact is otherwise. The different varieties of the soils having different different *colours, smells, sounds, touches* and *tastes* could not have been ascertained unless the physiographical and geological surveying and investigations had been carried out. The S.S. allots the four soils of white, red, yellow and black colours to the four castes respectively (8.48). This allotment may be symbolic, the colours of the ground answering the colours of the respective castes—the Sanskrit term for caste being ‘Varṇa’ literally colour. Similarly, from the point of view of the *taste* of the soil, sweet, astringent, pungent and bitter tastes have been allotted to the respective four castes. But it may be noted here that these prescriptions are not mandatory or obligatory they are only recommendatory (8.49).

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Again in every text on Vāstu-Śāstra, some account of the unfit soils is found (8. 52-62). The S. S. directs that the soil having the following characteristics should be avoided for the planning of any town: one, which is full of ashes, charcoal, skulls, bones, husks of corns, hair, poison, stones; similarly one abounding in rats, rubbish ant-hills, and gravels. Again lands which are hollow, dry, zig-zag, having decayed wood, and subterranean pits, barren, with water currents moving to the left, devoid of rains, where trees are bitter, thorny, useless, dry, devoid of fruits, abounding in birds eating raw flesh and where worms are also found, are not to be selected; where any religious piety or food, drink, vanish like the sounds of a tūrya (musical instruments); where the river flows towards the East; which smell like oil or a dead body; which have a smoky colour, mixed colour or no colour, dry colour—all these also must be rejected. From the point of view of *taste*, bitter, saltish must be avoided. Land which is sharp and dry, too hot or too cold to the touch, should be rejected. Land that has the *sound* of a jackal, camel, dog or donkey or the torrent or a cruel sound like that of a breaking jar must also be avoided (these sounds are simply symbolic of the sound of the soil).

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The import of all these directions regarding the selection of the ground for town-planning is that impurity, insanitation, sterility or barrenness, hollowness, irregularity of sites and plots must be avoided at all cost, so that laying out of the buildings and the planning of the roads are not affected and the stability of the structures erected on them is ensured. All this is possible when well-planned soil tests and geological surveys are carried out. Again this shows that not only the fertility and the solidity of the ground are ascertained, but also the mineral resources were tapped and the building materials explored. Again this is also necessary from the point of view of the stability of a town, situated on the bank of a river, in order to ward off any possible flood or erosion. This brings us to another point of consideration in the selection of the site, namely, the *proclivity* of the ground. The S. S. (8.66) directs that the ground should have its *proclivity* either to the North or to the North-East or to the East proper and it should resemble a mirror (in its elevation in the middle). The S. S. in two other places also takes this topic of *proclivity* and *declivity* of the ground. In its chapter entitled “Gṛhadoṣa” (the 48th) it opens with the direction that the ground slanting towards the direction presided over by Varuṇa, Yama, Marut, Fire or if depressed in the middle, is unfit and brings poverty, disease and death.

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More pointedly, it says that a ground having its declivity towards the quarter of Fire, suffers from the fear of fire, towards the south from death, towards South-West from ailments, towards the West from the destruction of the grains and. wealth, towards North-West from foreign residence, quarrels and ailments and the one sloping in the middle is the worst of all and is instrumental in bringing total destruction. Again in its 20th Chapter in connection with the raised or low grounds in the vicinity of the house, it has laid down that a house having a low ground on the left and raised on the right, is beset with many ills (cf. wrong orientation—it will be insanitary). Similarly, if it is low on the right and raised on the left that too is unfit. Further, hollowness and a low ground at the back are also bad. Only the ground with westward slope and frontal projection (as much as it can be) is the fittest one. In his Yukti-Kalpataru (vide Nagara-racanā-śāstra verse 136-7), Bhoja is more specific. He says that the ground should be elevated in the middle and slanting towards the East and North-East. A Southern declivity is responsible for all insanitation and brings diseases; a declivity towards North is conducive to wealth, while a westward slope destroys peace and prosperity; a depression of the ground in the middle conveys poverty, while a depression on the border brings in happiness.

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Practically all the Śilpa-Śāstras are unanimous in extolling an easterly declivity of the ground. It offers the full benefit of the morning sun. After the site was chosen, the four points of the compass were fixed by means of a gnomon (Śaṅku).

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The purification and consecration of the ground, though much elaborated in manuals like the Mānasāra and the Mayamata, are conspicuous by their absence in the S. S. and some remarks may be made in the end of this chapter.

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These elaborate precautions in the selection of the site for the town-planning as we find in these texts point out that in ancient and medieval India, town-planning was probably the concern of the State. Such a wide range of the prescriptive directions could not have been within easy reach of individual resources. Town-planning seems to have been a social function in which the society as a whole took part.

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Havel (vide A Study of Indian Civilization pp. 7.8) simply relates the truth when he says: “It will probably be revelation to modern architects to know, how scientifically the problems of town-planning are treated in these ancient India’s architectural treatises. Beneath a great deal of mysticism which may be scoffed at as pure superstitions, there is a foundation of sound common sense and scientific knowledge which should appeal to the mind of the European expert”.

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So far we have been busy with the architectural preliminaries, there are however certain important injunctions in the Śilpa-texts for ritualistic preliminaries, some of which like Halakarṣaṇa may be deemed as helpful in the context of the architectural preliminaries as well. Hence some remarks may be made in the words of Sri B. B. Dutta, T. P. in A. I..pp. 60-62 :

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“The selection of the ground over the Sthapati (the civic architect) now turns his attention to its purification and consecration. The rites to this end prescribed both by the Mānasāra and the Mayamata are almost identical and they are these:—“In an auspicious moment the Sthapati after pious ablutions, clad in fresh garments, and adorned with garlands of flowers, in the presence of the assembled people, makes an offering of fried paddy and white flowers to the deities and with invocations for the welfare and prosperity of the builder (or of the architectural enterprise he is going to undertake), he sprinkles consecrated waters in all quarters, and drives away the evil spirits that may haunt the place. Then he, guiding the oxen, draws furrows across the ground towards the east or the west, the grass and the weeds having been plucked out in the first instance. Usually he turns the first furrow and thereafter the Śūdras hired for the purpose complete the ploughing of the ground”. A new plough was specially made for the occasion. The fourth chapter of the Mānasāra deals with the construction of a plough and with ploughing. The newly made plough was yoked to a pair of oxen, strong and without blemish, with gold and silver rings on their horns and hoofs. When the ploughing was finished, the oxen and the plough were presented to him as his prequisites, the people reverencing him as their guru. Then all kinds of seeds (generally sesasum seeds, pulse and kidney beans, i.e., sacrificial grains) mixed with cow dung are sown with incantations pronounced over them. When the crops have matured and flowers are in bloom, the cows, generally the cattle of the community, together with oxen and calves, are put to graze on them and they are allowed to remain there for one or two nights; for the ground is purified by the grazing of the cattle, consecrated by their exhalations, purged of impurity by the hilarious bellowing of the oxen, cleansed and sanctified by froth flowing from the mouths of the calves, laved by bovine urine, besmeared with their ordure and chequered with slipped cud and their foot-marks. The foregoing procedures of selecting and sanctifying the ground were followed in all cases of a village, a ward, a fortress, and the like ".

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As regards other ritualistic details, they are reserved for the part V—Temple-architecture.

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*N.B.* (i)—Among the other notable architectural preliminaries like, Site-planning or Vāstupada-vinyāsa including the orientation, the ascertaining of the cardinal points by means of a gnoman, etc., etc., and marking out the area, etc., i.e., marking off the perepheries of the town, with especial reference to the dimensions etc., the former has already been dwelt at length in the previous part and the latter is reserved for the chapter ahead—vide Folk-planning.

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*N.B.* (ii)—This chapter is principally based on the S.S. and details of other texts—vide V. L., have not been delineated upon as these may be purviewed there.

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ROAD PLANNING

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Streets and their planning form one of the most important canons of town-planning and our ancient sthapatis were wide awake to this vital principle. Roads have a threefold function: they are high ways for traffic; secondly they demarcate the plots for buildings and constitute a vital limb in the site-planning and thirdly they have sanitary value, providing arteries of free ventilation. Though as per the details of some of the Śilpa-texts it seems that the roads were not so spacious as we have today but some of the ancient works have compensated in regard to adjusting the width of streets to the volume of traffic. Thus we read in the Devī Purāṇa—ch. 72.78-9—"The royal street or high way should be made as wide as ten dhanuṣ i.e. forty cubits, so that men, horses, elephants, and vehicles can have free movement without interference and congestion." Śukrācārya, prohibits construction of small lanes such as 'vīthīs' (small lanes) and 'padyās' (foot-ways) in the metropolis or large cities. In Kauṭilya's Arthaśāstra (Book II ch. IV) we find mention of roads for chariots, roads for cattle, roads for elephants and roads for minor quadrupeds as well as for men, which tradition is also fully followed in the Harivaṁśa, Viṣṇuparva ch. 38—"Vehicular streets (rathyā), avenues (vīthī) and men's roads (nṛṇām mārgāḥ) were constructed separately in the city." Further in the Devī and Brahmāṇḍa Purāṇas, the deśa-mārgāḥ or diśām-mārgāh i.e. country roads are stated to be as wide as 30 dhanuṣ, Grāma-mārgas 20 dhanuṣ and Sīmā-mārgas only 10 dhanus which clearly shows the grasp of the several roads of towns conforming to the different traffic circulations.

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With this general introduction, let us concentrate on the evidence as furnished by the Samarāṅgaṇa-sūtradhāra, the principal text of our pursuit—vide my thesis on the subject.

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Now before proceeding with the planning of the roads a relevant point for consideration crops up; namely, whether road-planning should come first or the Pada Vinyāsa is to be given priority. Street planning, as a matter of fact, is generally based upon the lines of the divisions of the plots under Pada Vinyāsa scheme. The wards so marked off by principal streets are exactly identical with the blocks lined off in the Pada Vinyāsa. According to all Śilpa-Śāstras including the Samarāṅgaṇa, distribution of professions and castes as well as allotment of sitēs are made entirely with reference to Pada Vinyāsa, a pada or a block being set apart for a particular caste or profession. I have already referred to the thirtytwo such schemes of Pada Vinyāsa (vide Mānasāra). Thus the mode of division into Padas is drawing as many a rectilinear parallel lines as the scheme in question warrants, together with the similar number of the transverse parallel lines, viz. the sketch of the Caṇḍita, noted above and illustrated in the Appendix where there are equal number of rectilinear as well as transverse parallel lines.

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Another notice, before the canons of the street-planning are taken into account, is that the preliminary procedure of the division of the whole area into the rough partitioning of the plot in order that the principal component parts of the town-plan namely, the fortification consisting of the surrounding walls and ditches, Aṭṭālakas, gates and Gopuras and the requirements of the principal currents of traffic circulation, may become of easy handling. This scheme as pointed out consists firstly of the measurements of towns, respective standards of measurements of length and breadth in the three varieties of the towns, namely superior, medium and the inferior are already noticed; secondly, the whole area is to be partitioned out in sixteen blocks, six highways and nine Catvaras; thirdly, the whole plot should have six artery lines (Vaṁśas) in two groups of three belonging to the fourfold pada and these should run from East to West. This rough partitioning is a common procedure in all the categories of towns—superior, middle and inferior, according to S. S. (10. 1-5).

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This, it seems to me, was the initial stage in the planning of a town. This is what we understand to be the layout of the whole area under planning. We can infer that the town-site was demarcated, to begin with, by three moats, rampart wall, towers and gateways. This marked the initial step in the planning of a city (*Nagara-Māpana*). The Pārikheyī-bhūmi determined the configuration of the site.

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Samarāṅgaṇa prescribes as many as thirtyfour roads in a model town running both from East to West as well from South to North. These roads are so planned as to cover both the interior and exterior planning in the most healthy orientation giving not only the benefit of the sun-shine and ventilation but also comfortable residences.

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The first priority is given to the central path called Rāja-mārga to be located on the central or the middle vaṁśa. Its dimension of breadth varies with the three varieties of the towns—Jyeṣṭha, Madhya and Kaniṣṭha as 24, 20 & 16 hastas (i.e. 36, 30, 24 ft.) respectively. It should be wide enough for free traffic circulation more especially for the four-fold army (Caturaṅga-Bala), the king i.e. princely procession, and also the townsmen (the mass of humanity). It should be made firm with gravel (Kāśinaśarkara). This is the principal path.

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Again two highways technically called Mahārathyā, the large chariot or vehicular roads should be placed on the Upāntastha Vaṁśa, the dimensions being 12, 10 and 8 (18, 15, 12 ft.) in the three varieties.

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In addition to these paths, a set of four ways called *Yāna-mārga*—vehicle-streets are to be laid and their dimension of four hastas (i.e. 6 feet) is fixed in all the sizes of the towns. Their location however, is enjoined in the middle of the Pada. Again it is directed that all these four Yāna-mārgas should each have two *Jaṅghā-pathas*—the foot-paths and these are to be located on both sides of the Yānamārga, and their respective dimensions being 3, 2½ and 2 hastas (i.e, 4½, 3¾ and 3 ft.).

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Besides these fifteen roads, so far enumerated to be laid out in a town, there still remain two more roads called *Ghaṇṭā-mārgas*. They should run along the boundary wall and have all the qualities and specifications of the Rāja-mārga. The laying out of all these seventeen roads, as already hinted at, is concerned only with two directions, namely from the East to West. Similarly, the same number of these different categories of roads and streets and foot-paths having the indentical dimensions, etc. are to be so laid out as running from the South to the North. This reaches the number thirtyfour. It does not end here. The text further enjoins that in order to provide space, ventilation and passage circulation, a number of lanes and byelanes should also be provided in any scheme of road-planning. This is more necessitated as per the site-planning, the folk-planning, the demarcation of the respective blocks done with the help of these lanes and byelanes. It is the fundamental constituent of an Indian town plan.

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This is only a rough statement of the road plans. There are certain statements which need elaboration and critical examination. Firstly the main streets, namely the Rāja-mārga, Mahārathyā and Yāna-mārgas (chariot roads)—all run from East to West or from the North to South in a rectangular chess-board system. That is, they are laid out in parallel rows cutting one another at right angles. This is the recognised method even in the present times. A remarkable extant illustration of the ancient system is: Jayapore, the city founded by Mahārāja Jai Singh, the great astronomer. We know that principle of orientation was meticulously adhered to by the Indian Town Planners. All the manuals of Vāstu-Śāstras are emphatic against any structure or Vāstu pointing towards the diagonal corners of the heavens. It is in keeping with this that the city was laid out axially to the cardinal directions, and all its streets ran straight from East to West and North to South. In ancient Vāstu terminology (cf. Mānasāra Ch. IX), this plan is known technically as *Prastara*. It is similar to what we understand by the chess-board plan these days.

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Secondly, what are the Vaṁśas on which all these roads are said to be laid out? We are all familiar with the settling down and forming thereof (though only diagramatically and mystically) the body of the Vāstu-Puruṣa, the Presiding Lord of the whole plot of land in such a manner that the whole piece of the plot is covered by the different limbs of his body. He is described as hump-backed and of crooked shape. Therefore, it is made possible for Him to cover the entire land. The S. S. in its 12th Chapter describes the Mahāvāṁśas together with Śiras, Vaṁśas, Sandhis, Anusandhis and Marmas in relation to the formation of the mystic body of the Vāstu-Puruṣa. Their architectural concomittants in the site-plans would be the śiras or Nādīs taking for their convergence the sixteenth part of the Pada, the Mahāvaṁśas are two in number, located in the centre running both from East to West as well as from South to North and take for their convergence the fifth part of the Pada; similarly, Vaṁśas, Anuvaṁśas, Sampātas, Marmas all running in the middle take the eighth, the tenth, the twelfth and the sixteenth part of the Pada respectively for their respective convergences. Thus, leaving aside all other technicalities the Mahāvaṁśas are the central arteries in the body of the town commonly so drawn as to serve as the prototype of the rectangular roads converging in all the directions in a town.

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Thus this is the picture of street planning as described in the S.S. For its fuller presentation, the appended sketch of the road-plan, would be more helpful. Here, in this sketch, are drawn not only the principal thirty four streets, but also a number of lanes, byelanes and and side streets connecting the central road and going through the different localities to give full space to the different localities and providing them with necessary light, air and good and healthy orientation as well as allocating places to the necessary articles of daily use. It may be pointed out here that the subject of street planning in works like Mānasāra, Mayamata, Artha-Śāstra of Kauṭilya, Nītisāra of Śukra, Purāṇas like Devī and Brahmāṇḍa is exhaustively treated and their elaborate notice is taken by Sri B. B. Dutta in his ‘Town Planning in Ancient India.’ But for the sake of completeness, the broad principles of the street planning which are found in them may be noticed. Firstly, it was according to the number and directions of the streets and the arrangement of houses along them that most of the classifications of towns like Daṇḍaka and its further categories were denominated (Mayamata, the 9th Chapter). Similarly, Mānasāra classified the towns, according to street planning and site-planning under eight heads, like Daṇḍaka and Nandyāvarta etc. (Chapters IX & X). Secondly, diagonal streets (very common these days) were not advocated by these Śilpa-śāstras of old. The two princpal roads of every town continued upto the main National Highways and thus serving the main purpose. There was however, an exception. The diagonal streets were inevitable when exigencies of the situation such as hilly tracts, were the natural factors for laying out such streets. Thirdly, it can not be said that in ancient India or in the early Medieval India the roads of the towns did not have the foot-paths lined parallel to them, (Sri Datta is doubtful in this respect, ibid. 133 page). The S. S., as we have already noticed, does provide for Jaṅghāpathas (space for pedestrians) on both sides of the vehicular streets—the Yāna-Mārgas (S. S. X. 12). Fourthly, special attention in the ancient system of the street planning was devoted to the trimming of the outer-sections of roads. It served manifold purposes such as beautifying the intervals of the long roads with some architectural objects, like temples, towers or tall trees and also serving the cultural life, the socio-political not excluded, by allotting these central projections on the cross roads to some public building like the Sabhā, the Assembly hall (cf. the modern town hall) or a shrine or monastry. Thus these junctions of the roads were so planned and finished as also to satisfy a psychological need—the monotony of the hazy vacuity of long straight streets wearing the eye sight if there is nothing in front to fix the eyes upon. Again we have noticed that the centres of the town (the junctions of the roads included) were reserved for imperial palaces with their picturesque plants and the flower gardens presenting a delightful panorama to the pedestrians winding their way along the streets. Again it was with this broad aesthetic principle that buildings constructed on the roads were not done so in an irregular fashion. There was cooperation in alignment and structure (vide description of Ayodhya in Ramayana). Lastly, the streets were elevated in the middle looking like the back of a tortoise and they were made firm with gravels and the like i. e. Kāśma-śarkara (vide S. S. X. 8). There were drains also on both sides of the roads (vide 'Fortification' of this Part).

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All this amply justifies that principles of advanced street planning were not unknown to this work.

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*N.B.*—As regards the details of other books like the Mayamata and Mānasāra, I take the liberty to reproduce them as Sri B. B. Dutta has done.

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Mayamata: “That town is called Daṇḍaka which has only one easterly street resembling a phalanx or a staff (daṇḍa) with houses arranged along it. If the town possesses, also, only one northerly street intersecting the other at the centre it is called Kartarī-daṇḍakam. If it further contains two building alleys running east to west (prācīnau kuṭṭimau) at the extremities of the northerly street, then the town is known Vāhudāṇḍakam having four gates in the four cardinal directions. If there are several sets of houses along the two sides of northerly street with many houselanes intervening between, it is called kuṭikā-mukhadaṇḍakam. If the town is planned with three east-to-west streets and three other north-to-south streets, it is termed Kalakābandha-daṇḍakam.” The last four rural towns—these rather resemble the subdivisional town in modern India—are clearly the four varieties of the daṇḍaka towns. “Noted among other towns is Vedībhadrakam. It has three streets directed north and south and three vīthīs or streets running to the east. These streets are separated by many residential lanes (kuṭṭimamārga), one lane intervening between every two streets. The Svastika town does not differ in plan from a Svastika village. The Svastika is also a town which has six streets facing north and six others facing east, all encircled by another road and these dividing the city into residential plots (vīthīpadam). The town-plan is known as Bhadrakam, if it consists of four streets running east-wise. In it there are one street going round the quarters of Brahmā and three lanes to the east intervening between the rows of houses. If the number of similarly directed streets be five and five and there be many building plots, the name of the town is Bhadramukham. Another type is Bhadrakalyāṇam; the number of streets in it facing north is six, dividing it into many building plots. The plan is known as Mahābhadram, if the number of such streets be seven and the rest as before. The town plan of Subhadra has eight streets facing the east and eight more transverse to them. The lanes which divide the building plots of this town-plan are furnished with gates and cross-bars. The Jayāṅga is the name of the town containing the imperial head-quarters. This town has a net-work of nine streets lying east to west with nine others transverse to them. It has four main gates in the four cardinal directions and four other subsidiary gates in the four corners. The lanes between the building plots are provided with portals which open out on the main streets. The experts designate the town as Vijaya in case it is divided into many building-plots by lanes fitted up with gates and cross-bars to bolt them with. The number of main streets in it is ten versus ten. The imperial castle is installed in the town. Another town called Sarvatobhadra has eleven streets crossed by another set of eleven. The royal mansions are situated on any site barring the central quarters dedicated to Brahmā. In the front of the royal castle is a vast courtyard where is situated the harem. The rest should be planted according to necessity and exigencies of the situation. Its street running towards the east (tatprāg-diggata-mārga) is called Rājavīthī. The buildings of the rich range on both sides of it. Adjoining them are the quarters of the merchants. To their south are settled the weavers and to their north are established the wheel-wrights (cakriṇaḥ, carriage-drivers?). In their neighbourhood are quartered kindred professions." The prescriptions of the Mānasāra are almost identical.

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On the evidence as deduced by Ramraz's 'Essay on Hindu Architecture' and that furnished by the celebrated Mayamatam, denominations of the various kinds of streets in a town have been elaborated by Datta as follows:

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"A street that goes round the village or town is called Maṅgalavīthī which should be one to five daṇḍas wide. That which runs from east to west is called Rājapatha; that which had gates at both extremities is termed Rājavīthī; that which has 'sandhis' (literally junction) is Sandhivīthī; and that which lies in a southerly direction, is named Mahākāla or Vāmana". According to Mayamuni, the streets that run straight like a staff from east to west are called Mahāpathas (broad highways). Of them the street passing through the centre (that is, the plot presided over by Brahmā) is called Brahmavīthī and this forms the navel of the network of streets. On both sides of this street and comparatively smaller than it are those streets (rest of the Mahāpathas?) called Rājavīthīs and these are fitted with gates (at the extremites). The Maṅgalavīthī and the Rathamārgas (car-streets) all are kuṭṭimakas (because they seem to have been paved with slabs of stone). These roads if furnished with transverse doors go by the name of Nārāca-pathas. The comparatively narrower streets facing towards the north and equipped with gates and bolts are called Vāmanapathas. The street that goes round the village is called Maṅgalavīthikā and the corresponding street in a capital is called Janavīthikā. But in ancient authorities and in other towns, this street is technically termed as rathyā or the road along which the processional chariot (ratha) is dragged. The streets are one to five dhanuṣ wide".

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JĀTI-VARṆĀDHIVĀSA

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(Folk-planning)

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*N. B.* Folk-planning here means not only the planning of the residential houses but also the market-places, the shops etc. along with other essentials which constitute the residences and establishments of the ‘*Jātis*’ and *Varṇas*’. Again it may be remarked that Road-planning and Folk-planning, being essentially based on the site-planning (what has been termed as Vāstū-pada-vinyāsa—vide ‘Fundamental Canons’ Pt. I), both these canons may be deemed as simply the gradual development of the site-planning according to Hindu Texts of Architecture.

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After the planning of the roads, the next important topic is the planning of the boundary wall, ditches, ramparts, etc. of the town. To put it in one word—the subject of fortification is taken in hand after the roads are prescribed or laid out. But as per the discussion already made in previous pages, I have in my own way suggested that the question of residential houses be taken up first and then that of the fortification. This goes well with the arrangement of the Town-Planning. After all, a town is not an individual business. It is a business of society. It is a corporate business in which the individuals, the society and the government all take part in evolving a model town. Once the roads are planned out, the plots carved out, the individuals and the societies start their work of building residential houses and Public Works Department take up the neccessary planning of fortification, water reservoirs, gates, Gopuras, parks, gardens, tanks and so on so forth. Thus the civil planning and the individual planning go simultaneously in order to speed up the work. Moreover, if the fortification is laid out first, the building operations necessitating the delivery of the materials would be obstructed to a great extent. Hence in order to avoid congestion and inconvenience, in the passage of the transport and traffic as well as providing the fullest freedom in the circulation, the priority should go to the folk-planning first and the fortification should come afterwards. The S. S. does support this procedure (Ch. X).

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It may be pointed out at the very outset before taking up the site-planning or folk-planning as prescribed by the S. S. that folkplanning and site-planning though materially indentical, have their respective importance in the respective angles from whith the planning starts. There were principally five kinds of towns in ancient and the early medieval period—temple-cities, capital-cities and commercial towns, forts, and big villages, like Kheṭa, Nigamas, etc. corresponding to five principal needs of the civilised life, namely worship, state-craft, commerce, defence and agriculture. They had their especial characteristics each as per the special requirements in each case. It may however, be noted that in accordance with the previous thesis that the S. S. prescribes only three principal categories of towns—Pura, Kheṭa and Grāma; the Pattana (the secondry capital) and Puṭabhedana, the commercial town are really the especial categories of Pura. It may, however, be permitted to remark that this might be the evolutionary period of the growth of towns. But, as time passed, all these specialities like temples, fortification, market places, council halls, and seats of government, were amalgamated into one uuit, if not wholly atleast partially. According to the S. S., a town of superior variety used to serve all these necessities. Accordingly, the norms of the town-planning especially the folk-planning of the S. S. substantially differ from both the groups of this class of earlier literature, namely the Śilpa-Śāstras like Mayamata, Mānasāra, etc. and works like Arthaśāstra and Śukranītisāra. In the former, the folk planning hinges upon Pada-Vinyāsa, whereas in the latter, there is no importance to it. Samarāṅgaṇa combines both these and has evolved a composite planning in which on the one hand, the purpose of the padas presided over by the different divinities was served by the construction of the temples and shrines in the interior, as well as the exterior part of the town, on the other, the arrangement of the corporate and the co-operative, the public and the State buildings together with segragation of the residential houses castewise and profession-wise also was made.

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Now in relation to the directions the following eight-fold division of the residential quarters representing eight-fold circle of the directions presided over by the respective deities may be very briefly tabulated as under—

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*N. B.* The folk-planning begins from the South-East and the East is fully reserved for imperial quarters, a special consideration for the aristrocacy of those days and it was natural also in the political structure of those days:—

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| South-East. | Goldsmiths and those earning their livelihood by fire and other such artisans together with the fourfold army. |

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South. Vaiśyas, potters, or cart-wheelers (Cākrikas), dice-players, and the professionals in the dance and drama together with the Śreṣṭhīs and Deśa-Mahattaras.

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South-West. The hoggers, the shepherds, the hunters, the fishermen and those belonging to the department of punishment (Damanādhikṛts).

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West. Charioteers, soldiers, all those skilled at weapons together with the head of the treasury, the Mahāmātya, the Ādeśika and the artists and Niyāmakas.

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North-West. People belonging to the Public Works Department and the labourers, distillers and sellers of wine together with the chief of the Police (Daṇḍanātha) along with other officers.

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North. The hermitages of ascetics, the Brāhmaṇas the Assembly hall, water-shed, the dwellings of the Priest, the Astronomer, and Brahmavādins.

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North-East. Sellers in commodities like clarified butter and fruits.

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*N. B.* It means their number was very large, as a separate quarter is reserved for only these two classes of professionals.

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East. The Royal dignitories like the Priest, the Prime minister, Commander-in-Chief.

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*N. B.* The king himself; with all his establishments (vide S. S. ch. 15th.)

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So far this is only the profession-wise allotment of the residences. As regards the castewise allocation in a town, the text recommends the following procedure:—

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*N. B.* The Vaiśyas (the merchant class, sellers in articles of daily use) and the physicians should be distributed in all the quarters along with the Police and the Army.

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This is the scheme of the settlement of various castes and professionals in a city, i. e. planned habitation of the city population according to the S. S. A special notice in this connection are the royal dignitories or State-functionaries like Niyāmakas and Ādeśikas which throws a light on the composition of the government of those days and persons like Deśa-mahattaras etc. composing the then society.

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One point needs a bit of clarification here. It is strictly speaking literally the folk-planning, the Jātivarṇādhivāsa—the planning of the residential houses castewise and profession-wise on the eight blocks, on the eight quarters. Here in this scheme, we do not find any mention of the residence of the king (also cf. Agnipurāṇa where too the Rāja-Veśma is conspicuous by its absence). The planning of the palace, the S. S. does not include in folk-planning or site-planning It is a separate unit of planning altogether. Therefore, in this scheme of town-planning the central parts of the town are reserved for the roads and the palace in all its establishments, domestic, like the chambers for the queens, the palaces of the princes and the princesses as well as those for the queen-mother, ministers, commander-in chief and other dignitories of the kingdom, and the pleasure gardens, ponds, lakes, flower-beds, and all contributory to a vast paraphernalia of an Indian king. The S. S. as a standard manual on palace-architecture, has devoted a separate chapter to the planning of a palace as a component part of town-planning which reads like another plan altogether with all the characteristics of a big town. As temples of old grew into cities, similarly the palaces of old also grew into great towns. To put it more succinctly, let us draw a graph to show the place of a palace in a capital town:—

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| NE | N | NE |
| W | Rāja-Veśma | E |
| SW | S | SE |

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It is this nine square scheme of habitation with the king in the centre.

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It may be remarked here that this scheme of the town plan of the S. S. in connection with the Jāti-varṇādhivāsa and the royal palace is strikingly similar to one given in the Agnipurāṇa, (the detailed accounts of the Agnipurāṇa's scheme and those of other texts may be seen in Datta's book T. P. in Ancient India).

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Bhoja has dealt with this subject also in his Yukti-Kalpataru. The accounts however, are fundamentally similar. It may be noted as sri Datta has also concluded that the general feature that is conspicuous in all the prescribed plans, as advocated by the different authorities on the subject, is, that generally in the central part of the town all the public buildings of importance, such as the royal palace, the court, the town-hall, the temple, the council house and the like are to be located. This was an ideal arrangement both for the healthy and efficient functioning of the corporate life of the citizens as well as from the point of view of the architectural appearance and grandeur of the metropolis.

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Thus this is the evidence of the S. S. A brief notice of the folk-planning as prescribed by other notable texts like the Mayamata etc., may also be taken—vide also V. Lakṣaṇa. "The Mayamata makes an exhaustive treatment of the proper distribution of the residential quarters interspersed with market stalls (antarāpaṇakam). It particularly deals with these inter-residential stalls and the articles sold in them It lays down: "Whether in small towns or large cities, I shall now deal with residential sites and the shops situated in their midst. Within the processional boulevard, circumscribing the city are situated in rows the houses of the merchants. To the south but a little removed to the sides are given sites to the weavers; to the north are the residential plots of the wheel-wrights (carters? cakriṇām). Along the processional street are settled the various artisans and mechanics, e.g, blacksmiths, or even day-labourers. Inter residential market-stalls may be set up along the roads encircling the chambers of Brahmā and those stalls should be reserved for fruits and betel-leaves. In the quarters held sacred for the deities from Īśa to Mahendra should be erected the stall for fish and meat, dry articles, and vegetables. The stalls for staple foods and edibles are fixed in sites from Mahendra to Agni; and from Agni to Gṛhakṣata are raised sheds for basins and pottery. From Gṛhakṣata to Nirṛti should be allocated the shops for brass and bronze. The cloth shops are set up in the quarters from Pitṛs to Puṣpadanta; and from the latter to Vāyu should be laid out the mart for rice and paddy. From Vāyu to Bhallāṭa quarters are meant for the drapers (tailors and cutters) and those who deal in salt and oils. From that to Īśa are situated the shops for perfumeries and flowers. The above are the nine intervening shopping sheds in the outer-most sites. But along the roads that are laid out within the boulevard are stationed the stalls and shops of jewels and precious stones, gold, clothes, drugs and candiments such as mañjiṣṭhā, pepper, pipal, ginger, honey, ghee, oil and the like, medicines and these in all directions. Then he makes allocation of the sites for divine edifices consecrated to various deities. In all directions are allowed all sorts of habitants. About two hundred daṇḍas to the east or to the north-east of the town the cottages for the chāṇḍālas and the washermen should be raised as in the settlement of a village. The above is the scheme of site-planning of an ordinary town. But in a port or commercial emporium such inter-residential shopping stalls are not desirable ; but on the other hand to secure economic efficiency, they should be concentrated, being set up in continuous rows on. either sides of the highways. In the other types of cities, every thing should be arranged with regard to the peculiar needs and interest of them ".

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This is the typical folk-planning in relation more to the professions than to the castes, which in that hoary age may be taken as a very advanced folk-planning akin to one in modern-times. As regards the other authorities, the relative tabulations will do but some words on Kauṭilya's and Śūkra's folk-planning may also be said. Without going into details it may be said that in Kauṭilya's scheme, it is the streets and not the Pada-vinyāsa that divide out the city, unlike the plans of Śilpa-śāstra, hence our thesis that in ancient India there was no dearth of civil planning or civil architecture gets supported.

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Similarly according to the dictates of Śukra and the advice of the Agnipurāṇa, the folk-planning does not hinge upon Pada-vinyāsa, though the site-planning of the former is a bit different from that of Kauṭilya's. Unlike Kauṭilya, Śukra provides for the Sabhā or the Council house in the centre of the capital (sabhāmadhyām rājadhānīm) and the royal palace in the midst of the council buildings (rājagṛham sabhāmadhyam). The court and the Śilpa-śālā or the museum (literally, hall of arts), both are to be stationed to the north of the palace. Leaving a space of hundred cubits from the palace (probably towards its north) the ministers, the clerks, the councillors, and officers should be located in detached lodges. Two hundred cubits away from the palace, either to the north or to the east, are allowed sites for the military cantonments. Śukra observes a certain order in the allocation of different classes of military barracks. First, the important personages (prakṛtayah), then the ordinary people, next the officers, then the commanders of the army, then the infantry, then the cavalry, the attendants of horses or elephants, next the guns and ordnances, the mares, the constabulary and sentry thereafter, lastly foresters ; this is the order to be followed in the location of these sites or quarters. Wealth and birth were the determining factors in the distribution of sites for dwellings of the citizens round about the royal palace. The inns and restaurants should be well protected and provided with ample supply of water. The cognate houses, their relation being determined by similarity of business or identity of castes, shall be congregated together in a row. In the towns or villages the buildings should face either the north or the east. In the market place, the stalls or shops are to be placed according to the classes of commodities. The best plots along the side of the high ways should be distributed with regard to the wealth and power of the residents. In this way the king should plan both the town and the grāma." To sum up the basic canons of town-planning in ancient India, we may conclude in the words of B. B. Datta—T.P.A.I. pp. 147-8 :

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Cites (13)

Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra — Bhoja, Sanskrit
Kauṭilīya Arthaśāstra — Kauṭilya, Sanskrit
Mayamata — Maya, Sanskrit
Agnipurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Mānasāra — Sanskrit
Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit
Aparājitapṛcchā — Bhuvanadeva, Sanskrit
Śilparatna — Śrīkumāra (Śilparatna) 1500, Sanskrit
Śukranīti (Śukrācārya) — Śukrācārya, Sanskrit
Viśvakarmaśilpa — Viśvakarman, Sanskrit
Devīpurāṇa — Sanskrit

Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v1.c51: Chapter III: Preliminaries of Town Planning

Contents

Chapter III: Preliminaries of Town Planning

(b) Land and Landscape Suited to an Ideal Town

(c) Geological Survey

Cites (13)