Preliminaries (b): Land and Landscape suited to an Ideal town

A very beautiful delineation (vide the text Ch. 8.27-35 and V.L. cf. the Desa etc. the Land and Landscape), upon the natural surroundings and situations, the land and the landscape suitable for the laying out of a town, or kheṭa or a village etc. is found in this text. The sum and substance of this prescription of the land and the landscape is that for an ideal town the surroundings and situation, land and landscape must consist, in the first place, of hills and mountains serving as natural frontier not easily to be crossed. From the security point of view, this is an invaluable asset. But it may be pointed out that on the plains—and the plains abound in our land—this rule can not be adhered to everywhere and hence fortification was needed. Practically all the ancient towns and cities on the plains were fortified towns. That is why strictly speaking, there was not much difference in the views of ancient manuals like Mānasāra and Mayamata on the layout of the towns and the forts.

The second requirement is that an ideal town must have a green belt of forests where tall trees and plants full of verdure and flowers are found in abundance. This is necessary, not only from the point of view of healthy climate but is also conducive to the growth and maintenance of the population requiring fruits, fuel and fodder. Moreover, the natural scenery of this green verdure must add to the beauty and the grandeur of the town for which in the laying out of the modern garden cities so much money is spent.

Thirdly, for life, water is a fundamental necessity. No life can subsist without a good natural supply of water and hence the rivers, lakes, ponds and tanks are indispensible prerequisites for the laying out of a town. It may be noted here, that the most potent factor giving rise to the towns in ancient India, was this natural factor—the presence of water in abundance. Therefore, practically all the important towns and cities of ancient India rose either on the bank of a river or on the sea shore. Moreover, in India rivers like Gaṅgā and others have always been regarded as sacred and, therefore, the places on such sacred rivers, primarily a hermitage or a temple, gave rise to big towns. That is why we have all our famous Tīrthas, sacred places of pilgrimage situated on the banks of the rivers or on the sea shore.

The abundance of water and trees and forests presupposes a fertile soil condition which is suited for a good harvest. Thus these are the prime considerations according to Samarāṅgaṇa for the laying out of an ideal town. We know that life on this earth is an interconnected and inter-dependent natural process, where plants, cattle and water play their most vital role