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CHAPTER III ARCHITECTURE. Architecture is concerned with buildings and dwelling places for human beings, places of worship or temples, dams, bridges, lakes etc. The word 'Vastu' conveys a very much wider sense. According to Kautilya, the author of 'Artha sastra', 'Artha'sastra', buildings including other engineering works come under 'Vastu'. He defined the word 'Vastu' as Houses (or the sites of houses), 1 pleasure-gardens (Arama), bridges (Setubandhas), and lakes. The science of Architecture or 'Vastu Vidya' was cultivated in India from the early Vedic period. With a view to preparing the back-ground of my study of architecture in the Puranas, I will trace its nature from the earliest period to the fifth century A.D. It is true that except the remains of the Indus Valley civilization, no records of the architectural achievements of any period before the third century B.C. are available. Hence, I will trace the early history of the architecture in India with the help of literary evidence. The evolution of primitive man was from the nomadic stage to that of a hunter, then from the cave-man to the civilized man. The Vayu Purana (Ch. 8), Brahmanda Purana (Ch. 8) and the Markandeya Purana (Ch. 49) have traced the origin and evolution of man from the earliest times. The origin of the dwellings of men was meant for protection against heat and cold. According to the Vayu Purana the origin of the settlements of men is as follows :-

-117- "In the Tretayuga there was a climate crisis. The climate became extreme which brought many sufferings upon the people. Formerly, the people were of nomadic habits and had no fixed dwellings but later, due to the change in climate, they felt the necessity of resorting to some sort of shelter. They raised artificial structures amidst hills and dales, in the wilds and low lands and along the river banks, according to their requirements and tastes. 2 Thus, according to the Vayu Purana, the origin of civilization had taken root in the Tretayuga. The Brahmanda Purana account is almost the same as that of the Vayu and also that of the Markandeya Purana "Living on mountains and by the seaside, men (at the beginning of creation) lived wholly without habitations (V.15). Strife sprang up in consequence, their faces felt cold and they suffered heat and hunger. Then for the sake of combination and resistance they made towns at first; and they resorted to fortresses in inaccessible deserts and wastes, in mountains and caves; also they industriously constructed with their own hands an artificial fort on trees, mountains, and in water (Vs.34-36). As trees were their first kind of houses, so, with a remembrance of all that, those people built their houses..... (the) branches of a tree became the rooms

118 (salas) in the houses in consequence among the people. +3 This account in the Puranas is supported by the historicians. The first stage in the pre-historic culture is the Palaeolithic age. In this age man was primarily cave-dweller, a nomad and a hunter. And in the second Neolithic stage man settled in huts and villages, and was partly pastoral and partly agricultural. The Vedic culture of India shows the first efforts at building constructions, when man's efforts were made in response to a need. Indra in the Rgveda is often described as destroying a hundred of 'Puras' of the Dasyus and hence he is referred to as 'Purandara'. These Dasyus or Asuras of the Vedas are identified with the ancient Mohenjo-daro people. Consequently, we can assume that the Indus-valley civilization was probably destroyed by the migrating Indo-Aryans who settled in North India by about 2000 B.C. It is now admitted by scholars that the Indus Valley civilization is the first civilization known in India, which declined probably some time early in the second millenium B.C. If we admit that the Indus Valley inhabitants were the original inhabitants in India and their civilization was destroyed by the emigrant Vedic Aryans, it will be clear that before the Vedic times there was in India the existence of the works of Architecture in some form or the other. The archaeological finds at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro,

119 discovered in 1924, provide us with some architectural details in the third millenium B.C. Although investigations have revealed the nature of architecture which had no artistic value, the stability of construction and the striking knowledge of town planning seems astonishing. Both Harappa and Mohenjodaro were planned fortified cities. The town inside was divided by broad streets both east-west and north-south dividing the city into blocks. Notable structures in the Mohenjo-daro citadel were probably used as market-halls, store-rooms or offices and a complete bathing establishment or a great bath'. We find in this city a high standard of sanitation with sufficient water supply and a perfect drainage system. The houses were arranged in rows mostly in lanes. They were provided with several rooms, doors and windows. The building material used was brick. There were also sundried bricks. The bricks were cemented with mud-mortar. Vedic culture probably emerged towards the end of the second millennium B.C. Rgveda is the earliest available record of Indian civilization. 5 Dr. Tarapada Bhattacharya and Dr. Kanti Chandra Pandey have given a detailed and elaborate historical development of Architecture in India since ancient times. They have collated various important literary references covering a very wide range from the Vedas, Brahmanas, Srauta Sutras and Grhyasutras to the Arthasastra Kautilya or the period of of Buddha. I am giving here only those points which are important for my treatment of the subject.

-120In the Rgveda there are several names for a house such as Dama, Grha, Harmya, Pastya, Sadana, Durona etc. Rgveda refers to a palace with thousand pillars belonging to Mitra and Varuna. ("Rajanau isvarau anabhidruha sadasi uttame sahasrasthuna asate" Rg. II.41.5). References to pillars, Sthuna, Stambha, Skambha are found through out the Rgveda for both free-standing pillars and supports. In the Rgvedic period, a god named 'Vastospati' was invoked at the time of building a house (Rg. VII. 54-55). He was later on in the Veda identified with Indra and Tvasta: Tvasta later on became an authority on Vastuvidya to the writers of the South Indian School. In Vedic times to construct a 'Vedi' (altar) was a necessary part of the sacrificial ritual. In Sutra literature we get information about the construction of different types of altars. There we get information about the number of bricks to be used in different layers, their size, and division of layers. The Satapatha Brahmana (III. 6.4.27) and the Aitareya Brahmana (IV.1) explain the octagonal form of the Yupas or sacrificial stakes. Most of the Indian pillars are octagonal and even early literature (such as the Pali Jatakas) refers to such octagonal pillars. The origin of eight faced pillars may be sought in the injunctions of the Brahmanas for making the 'Yupas' eight sided. The ancient ritual suggests the probable origin of Indian architecture. Ceremonials connected with house-building like Vastu-Yaga or the worship of the Vastupurusa, the

-121Vastusamana ceremony which we find in the Brahmanas, Grhyasutras, Pali texts and the Epics, provide us with the clue of the origin of the building operation. Selection of sites called 'Vastu Pariksa; and the selection of soil were discussed in the Grhyasutras. These ceremonials and the selection of site form an important topic in the Puranas and in all later works on Vastu Vidya. The Asvalayana Grhya Sutra contains three chapters which deal with the examination and selection of the sites and the soil. There is also a discussion about the allocation of sites to the different castes, or respective kinds of houses for the respective castes which is followed by later works on architecture. Regulations for the position of the doors of a house are also found in the Gobhila and Khadira Grhya Sutras. Maya is a very important name in the history of Indian He was to demons what Visvakarma was to Gods. architecture. In the Ramayana, Kiskindhakanda (Ch. 50-53), there is a beautiful detailed description of the underground mountain fort built by Maya. In the Sundarakanda there is a description of the beauty of Ravana's houses in Lanka. Description of the cities of Dvaraka and Indraprastha in the Mahabharata give a clear idea of the city and the types of building. In the Sabhaparvan, Ch. 1, there is a reference that Maya built an assembly hall for the Pandavas where divine, demonical and human ideas were presented in stone, lime, bricks and paints.

-122 The Ramayana refers to the types of houses viz. Padma, Svastika, Vardhamana and a Vimana called 'Puspaka'. The Mahabharata mentions houses of Svastika, Vardhamana and Nandyavarta types. In the Buddhistic Pitaka and Jataka literature, we find innumerable references to architectural works, descriptions of towns, multi-storied dwellings, pleasure-gardens, painted chambers, royal residences described as 'Pasada' and 'Vimana' etc. The period of the Jatakas is not later than the third or the second century B.C. The distinction made in later Vastu works between various kinds of houses is also found in the Pali texts. The canons refer to such houses as Vihara, Mandapa, Addhayoga, Pasada, Harmmya and Guha with their distinctive features. The Acaryas in the Vastuvidya are referred to in the Jatakas and Buddhist canons. And the ceremonials connected with house building as 'Pasadamangalam' are mentioned in the Jatakas. The 'Arthasastra' of Kautilya supplies us with valuable information regarding the developed state of Indian Architecture in general, and civil architecture in particular in the period not later than 1 st century A.D. There are many chapters solely dealing with architecture such as 'Durga-nivesa' (II. 4) or the king's 'private dwelling house'. He refers to the layout of the kingdom, the fortified capitals, king' palaces, the underground chambers of the treasury house and store houses. He gives a very clear picture of cities of

- 123 different sizes, fortifications, connecting road-ways and city-gates. Bharata's Natyasastra (Adhyaya II) gives the necessary rules for the construction of theatres. There we get the technical nature of ancient Indian theatre. From this brief summary of the literary evidences of the history of Indian Architecture we may conclude that by the time of Buddha or that of Kautilya's Arthasastra, and even earlier, the science of architecture had been fully developed in India. Actual architectural remains are found from the third century B.C. i.e. the Maurya period. The remains of Pataliputra, modern Patna, are very important because Magasthenes, the Greek Ambassador at the Maurya court, has given full description of this city. We find here the main architectural types namely the stambhas or pillars, the stupa, the caitya hall and the Vihara. Emperor Asoka erected many monolithic stone pillars with imposing capitals. Very elaborate and informative histories of Indian architecture have been written before, covering the period from the 2 nd century B.C. to the 6 th century A.D. The very valuable works of Mr. Percy Brown, Dr. Coomaraswamy, Fergusson, Dr. V.A. Smith are well-known. With the help of these researches, I am giving here a brief account of architectural specimens in the period from the 2 nd Century B.C. to the 6 th Century A.D.

-124Erection of Stambhas and Stupas is common to all ages and styles of Indian Architecture. Monolithic pillars with large animal capitals and the monolithic railing preserved at Saranatha are important monuments of the Art in Asoka's time. The pillars or stambhas consist of a long tapering shaft ranging from about 40' to 50' in length and the capital is generally in the form of an animal, fixed on the top of the shaft, both carved out of single blocks of stone. These pillars represent the highest skill of the Mauryan artists shown by their noble stature, pleasing proportions, high finish, glass-like polish, and above all, by the magnificence of the capitals executed with skilled mastery acquired through intensive training. The lion-capital of Asoka displays a technical perfection and a complete mastery of the secrets of modelling and carving in the round. The next development in Indian architecture was the stupa architecture. The stupa is a hemispherical mound set on the foundation of stone blocks. It consisted of a solid hemispherical dome called 'anda'. It stood on a circular or square base called 'medhi' and on its flattened top was a kind of platform enclosed by a railing known as 'harmika'. The later stupas are enclosed on all sides and this enclosure was called 'Vedika'. In the case of the Bharhut and other stupas the Vedika consisted of a series of perpendicular pillars. The top of the pillars was bound together by a series of coping

-125 stones (Usaisa). Originally there was a 'Chatravali' or umbrella planted firmly in the brick-work. The Vedika was either plain or richly decorated with sculptured figures and lotus patterns. Gateways called 'Torana' faced each of the cardinal points. Their design was probably a copy in stone of the wooden village gates. They consisted of two high posts crossed on the top by one, two or three slightly arched bars. The 'toranas' were also richly carved. The great railing 'Mahavedika' at Bharhut was profusely carved, but the one at Sanchi was plain and without any decoration. The best preserved remains of the large type of stupa are at Sanchi, in sharhut, and at Amaravati. The andas of stupas were made of large unbaked bricks and rubble and were covered with a thick layer of white plaster which was usually decorated with a coating of colour and gilt. B.C. According to Cunningham the age of the Bharhut stupa was the period of Asoka, somewhere between 250 B.C. and 200 It is probable that the original stupa of mud and brick belonged to Asoka's reign and the railings and gateways of stone were added later in 2 nd Century BC. The crowning glory of the 'Great stupa' at Sanchi is its richly carved gateways. There were many pillars on the Sanchi plateau, mostly of the Gupta age but the earliest and most remarkable is the pillar of Asoka near the South Gateway distinguished by its perfect workmanship. There are stupas in the Caitya halls carved out of as

.126. can be seen at Karla and Ajanta. They are monolithic and merely symbolic. The Caitya halls are carved in rocks with the exception of the structural Caitya halls at Sanchi. There are eight important Caitya halls carved in the Hinayana period (200 B.C. to 200 A.D.) viz. Bhaje, Karle, Nasik, Ajanta etc. The Caitya hall consists of a long rectangular hall, and the side opposite to the entrance is semi-circular. The hall is divided by two rows of columns into a big central nave and two side aisles. The rock cut stupa stands at the end, and the columns continue round the path, thus providing a pradaksina path. The roof is vaulted and resembles the ribbed roof of the wooden hall. The early Caitya halls have a close resemblance to their wooden prototype. For example, there was much wood work used in the cave at the earliest excavation at Bhaja. The architecture of Caitya hall can be compared to the several parts of a Hindu temple. The apse which is at the extreme end of the Caitya hall, corresponds to the 'garbhagrha' of the temple exactly placed in a similar position, the nave corresponds to a mandapa and the aisle on the two sides around the apse to the 'Pradaksina patha' of a temple. of a temple. Thus, the basic elements of a temple were comprised in a Caitya hall. The other architectural structure in rock cut style was the Vihara, the dwelling place of the Bhiksus. The Viharas consisted of cells built round a central court yard, entered by a door way, in front of which was a verandah or a porch. The

- - 127 rock cut Viharas had generally one and sometimes two storeys. The best idea of free standing Vihara is given by Dharmaraja Ratha at Mahabalipuram which is carved out from a boulder, in imitation of a multi-storeyed Vihara. In the period before the 4 th Century A.D. the Hindu shrines were constructed of perishable material, but it is only from the Gupta age onwards that building in stone becomes general and we can trace the history of Hindu Temple from this period although the small shrines had been erected much earlier. The fully developed Hindu Temple consisted of a main shrine called Vimana, which had inside a small rectangular Cella, the Garbhagrha. The Vimana was surmounted by a high tapering tower, the 'Sikhara'. The inner cella was dark and had only a door which led through a small vestibule to the mandapa, a pillared assembly hall in front of which was often a porch called ardha-mandapa.