Local Government in Ancient India c15.21

c15.21

In addition to these, the various Maṭhas of the country, as has been already stated, also served as centres of higher learning where advanced scholars gathered together to widen and deepen their favourite studies, under the guidance of distinguished specialists in the subject of their choice. The term Ghaṭikā or Ghaṭikāsthāna has been variously explained as a place of public assembly for Brāhmans, or a religious centre, or an educational colony. Sk 176 (*Epi. Car.* VII) refers to a disciple who, with his *guru*, went to Kāñci, and desiring to be proficient in *Pravacana*, entered into every Ghaṭikā and thus became a quick or a ready debater. Sk 23 of A. D. 1167 mentions a temple as the great Ghaṭikāsthāna of the city in which it is situated. But in Sk 197 of A. D. 1182, the Ghaṭikāsthānas are described as ‘supports to Dharma and mines for enjoyment’.