Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v1.c53.72

v1.c53.72

In the Catuśśāla buildings, there were four rooms arranged on the four sides of a quadrangle which was the open space in the centre. Śālā, as we have seen, is a long structure of one span only. I have remarked that this class of *śālā* house was most common. Sir John Marshall’s account of the ancient city of Sirkap corroborates this: “The city of Sirkap (in the ruins of Taxila) shows several large blocks of dwellings, separated one from the other by narrow side streets. Although the plans of these houses exhibited considerable variety, they were all based on the same principles. The unit of their design is the open quadrangle surrounded by chambers (Catuśśāla) and this unit is repeated two, three, four or more times, according to the amount of accommodation, required by the occupants (A guide to Taxila pages 70-1).