The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

STANDARD VILLAGE

PLANS

13

theextentof

thelargestcitieswouldbe 20,000dandas,orabout

30 English miles square. Ofthis area about one-third was

devoted tobuildingspace,andtheresttotheagriculturallands

ownedbythecommunity, Itshouldbe

observedthat neither

avillagenor

atown

wasusuallysquare

inplan,butarectangle,

with

the long sides running east andwest, so as to secure a

proper circulation of air even in the largest cities. In the

descriptionofAyodhyagiven intheRim^yana, theproportion

betweenits

breadth

andlength isasoneis

tofour.

Fataliputra

wasabout

9

milesin length

and ij

miles inbreadth.

Hindu

Gaur was also a long rectangle. One of the long sides

generallyfacedalakeorriver,an arrangementwhichprovided

bathingfacilitiesforall theinhabitants,andobviatedtheneces-

sity

of

buildingdefensiveworksallround.

Itwillbeinterestingtoexamine

indetailsomeofthevillage

plans,ofwhicheightstandardtypesare

givenintheManasara.^

The simplest one(fig. i), calledDanddka, after the staff

carried

by

sannydsins, was speciallyintended forahermitage

(asrdm) or other

religious community. It consisted of from

one to five long parallel

streets running east and west, with

three shorter ones intersecting them

in the middle and at

the twoends. Therewere two

bathing-tanks near the N.E.

and S.W.

angles of

the village, and various shrines appro-

priate fortheparticularsectto

which the villagersbelonged

—

theprincipal one being placed

at thewest end of the Raja-

patha, with

its

entrance facing the

rising sun. Minordeities

hadtheirtemples onthe

outskirtsofthe

village, outsideorin-

sidethewallorfence,whichhad

fourlargegates

facingthe two

main

streets, and

smalleronesatthe

angle of thevillage. It

contained fromtwelvetoover

three

hundred houses. In the

given plan each of the eight

inside blocks

had two rows of

houses

;

the

narrower outside

blocksonlyone.

J

RamRiz,

"

Essayonthe

Architectureof

theHindus,"

p.42.