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

STANDARD VILLAGE

PLANS

15

social
grades is
shown bytherelativedepthof
shading in the

plan
;

the

highest class, in the centre ofthevillage,

occupying

thefour

blockswhich areleftunshaded.

Theouterblocksof

houses, towhichR^m R^z makes

no

reference,

wereprobablythebazarsplaced near thegates

ofthe

town
orvillage, both for convenience and for the
purpose of

collecting tolls. In the Umagga
Jataka

there are

frequent

references to the fourbazars placed

at the north, south,east,

and

west, andserving their respective quarters inthe

King's

city.

Thetwomain streets,asalways,formedthecosmic

cross.

In thecentreof thevillage, at the meeting ofthe

crossways,

was, says the Manasira, the auspicious

place fortheassembly-hall,or foratemple

ofBrahma,

whichhad

fourentrances.

The Nandyivartatype ofvillagecon-

tainedagreatnumberofshrinesdedicated

tovariousdeities, forthelocationofwhich

the Minasara gives minute directions.^

This part

ofthesubjectwill beconsidered

more fullyinanotherchapter.

Theplan calledPadmdka(fig.

4),

after

thelotus

leaf,isinterestingas showinghowsedulouslyIndian

town-planners avoided the

inauspicious lay-out in which the

mainstreetsrunupondiagonallinesinthedirectionof

theinter-

mediate

pointsofthe compass,theobjectionstowhich

are

not

merelysentimental.^ A

planwithstreets radiatinginall direc-

tions

from thecentreofthevillage,

like

the

spokesofawheel,

wouldbethe

first to suggest itselfto an

Indian designer, on

account of its

symbolism. He avoided it for very practical

Fig.

3.

-TheSymbolicFigure

Nandyjtvarta.

>

RimRiz,

"EssayontheArchitectureofthe

Hindus,"

pp.

45-6.

2

WhentheEuropean

expertswhohaveplannedthe

newDelhiarebetteracquainted

withIndian

conditions,theywill,Ihope,

eliminatethefeaturesintheirpreliminaryscheme

whichwillmakethe

lay-outoftheimperialcity

inauspiciousinIndianeyes.