Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v1.c55.37

v1.c55.37

Now the question is : how many courts can we adduce from the Samarāṅgaṇa's treatment of the Royal palace—Rāja-Niveśa (cf. the Ch. 15). The S.S., does not distribute the vast Royal establishment into courts as Mānasāra does into Antaḥ-śālā and Vahiś-śālā. It allocates the different places of the big royal paraphernalia—the residential palaces, pleasure-gardens and ponds etc., as well as the administrative set-ups to the different plots (and they were as many as eighty one, cf. the Parama-śāyika plan) presided over by the different deities. Now as there is no explicit mention of the courts in the treatment of Samarāṅgaṇa's palace architecture, the whole thing remains only a conjectural analysis. As per the diagramtic representation appended in the end as many as five principal courts—two in the exterior and two in the interior parts together with the central one reserved for the inauspicious and unhappy establishments (S S. 15. 47-8) on the Pada of Brahmā, are a certainty. Again, what are courts? The different śālā-spans may be taken to be courts and the S. S. does make a hint at this (cf. 15 18 i.e., ‘Śālā-parikramopetam’ which may be interpreted as with courts alround.