History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c35.s1.21

v1.c35.s1.21

We have clear evidence in the Vātsyāyana’s *Kāmasūtra* of the typical articles of domestic furniture then in use among the fashionable people, Nāgarakas. The articles that Vātsyāyana first draws attention to in the Nāgaraka’s apartment are two couches with beds, soft and comfortable and spotlessly white, sinking in the middle and having rests for the head and feet at the top and the bottom. At the head of his bed is a *Kūrca-sthāna*, a stand or perhaps a niche for placing an image of the deity he worships, besides, at the head there is also an elevated shelf serving the purpose of a table, whereon are placed articles necessary for his toilet in the early dawn. On the floor is a vessel for catching the spittle. On the wall, on *Nagadantakas* (brackets) are arranged his vīṇā, a casket containing brushes and other requisites for painting, a book and the garland of the Kurantaka flower.