Chapter 27 - The Various types of Palaces (Rājagṛha)

[Note: This chapter corresponds to Chapter 30 of the original Samarāṅgaṇa-Sūtradhāra]

In the two chapters (XV and XXX) devoted to the Palace Architecture, the subject matter differs, while in the former the palace described is the type which is fit to be the abode of a ruling monarch with all his establishments and sets up, domestic, recreational and administrative. It is prescribed to be planned on the model of Śālā architecture—no storeys, only court-yards and rooms, in the latter as m my as fifteen type of palaces have been described and, therefore, both differ fundamentally in the architectural details and the use thereof. To the capitals, the former is the most suited type. The latter variety with its characteristics of mansion-like super-structures is fit only to be occupied occasionally and perhaps built not in the capital but scattered here and there on the places forming the secondary residences.

The most characteristic features of the architecture of these palaces is their excessive use of the Pillars. These palaces give an impression of pillared-hall structures, though the employment of the Storeys have made them ostentatious buildings. The fifteen varieties of the Rājagrha with the number of their pillars and storeys together with other characteristics arc tabulated in part IV.