Chapter 4 - State or Public Buildings (The cognate structures)

Nyāya-śālā (courts of justice)—

Among the cognate buildings falling in the domain of Palace-architecture Courts of Justice, the Nyāya-śālās occupy the first and foremost place. These were attached to the seats of Government, Central or Provincial and theses eats were really the royal palaces themselves. Side by side the Nyāyaśālā was the sabhā, a notice of which has already been taken.

According to Viśvakarma-vāstu-śāstra as studied by K. Vasudeva Shastri—vide the Introduction:

“The court-house is looked upon as the embodiment of all deities and of all powers and the promoter of general prosperity. It is to be presided over by the king, possessed of all noble qualities and shrewdness and stability of judgment; and the minister and the preceptor also take part in the proceedings. The building must have an even surface and it must have all the various adjuncts and must also have the principal deities installed in it.

It must have seats for advocates and for state-guests. It may be a hall with walls and doorways or it may be like a hall of audience and the form may be either a square or circular. The mofussil court may have a treasury attached to it and it must have special seats provided for the occasional visits of the emperor, the heir apparent and neighbouring rulers. The metropolitan court-house shall be 12 daṇḍas in dimension and the hall in front and subsidiary halls may have half the breadth. Its forms may also be like those of moffusil court, with this difference that the metropolitan court may generally have three floors. The basement shall be as grand as possible and the steps leading to the dais about 32 in number. The dais and the hall shall have ornamented pillars so arranged as to enhance the grandeur and solemnity of the court of justice. The building shall have a canopy and the arrangement of pillars may be In one of the forms consisting of 48, 32 or 24 detailed in the text. The frontage of the court-house must have an ornamented arch (a Toraṇa).”

It may be remarked that in the ancient courts of justice prominent structural grandeur used to go to the placing of thrones on the proper place, the text describes seven types of such thrones—

1. Siṃhāsana,
2. Bhadrāsāna,
3. Kūrmāsana,
4. Vīrāsana,
5. Mānāsana,
6. Vijayāsana and
7. Paryaṅkāsana.

Which really are more suitable to presiding deities rather than to the presiding judges.

Court-house where Justice was administered by an assembly of learned lawyers was really a sabhā. “These sabhās” according to the text “are of three kinds: Sādhāraṇa-sabhā, Mukhya-Sabhā and Pradhāna-sabhā. In the Sādhāraṇa-sabhā a deity is supposed to preside over the assembly. In the Mukhya-sabhā a portrait of the king is installed at the presidential seat. In the third, the Pradhāna-sabhā, the king personally presides over it. In other words, in villages, the idol of the patron deity of the villagers adorns the presidential seat. In towns the portrait of the king is used and in the capital the king himself presides.”

Pustaka-śālā:—

The next important state building is the Library and the same text has elaborate expatiations on the construction of libraries, “They shall consist of a number of enclosures with a central platform for Vedic works and there shall be a seat for the preceptor. The library may have a number of storeys and a reading hall shall be attached to the library”. There was a good number of Āvaraṇas and it is laid down that in the first Āvaraṇa (i.e. the storey) the Vedic works arc to be apportioned; in the second the Smṛtis and in the third the goddess Vāṇī, Hayamukha, Śambhu, Umā along with their parivāras may be installed.

Vidyābhavana:—

The third, more useful state-building was the Vidyābhavana or a University or college, the building of which, as prescribed by this text shall have a very big central hall with front and back halls. On either side of the central hall shall be built wings with vacant spaces. There may be a number of storeys also and there shall be separate halls for discussion and for examination. The structure of the building must be grand and imposing. It shall be beautified by turrets and other ornamental structures.

Nāṭaka-saṅgīta-śālā:—

The next important state building to provide for recreation and amusement) so necessary in the life of the sabhyas the cultured people was this pavilion.

We know there is a very detailed and exhaustive treatment of the theatre in Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra. Avoiding the other details, this ancient text of Bharata’s Nāṭya-śāstra gives a very systematic account of the stage which was divided into the three parts called Raṅga-pīṭha, Raṅga-śīrṣa and Nepathya. Here in this text (V. V. S.) it is laid down that the theatre and the concert halls are to be built by the side of each other. It contemplates three kinds of buildings—Nāṭaka-śālā, Nāṭya-śālā and Gīti-śālā and these buildings are divided into three parts—Daiva, Gāndharva and Mānuṣa. In the Daiva portion which is generally at the hind part of the building, the deities to be worshipped as a preliminary to drama, dance or concert are said to be installed. The stage proper is the Gāndharva portion where music and dance are to be performed. The green room, which is behind, is to be divided into two portions, one reserved for male actors and the other for female actors.

Mārga-śālā:—

The rest houses really finds a very glorious and unique description in the newly discovered text of viśvakarma-Vāstu-śāstra.

“Rest houses and armed out-posts shall generally be built for every krośa. They are imperative in roads in forest areas. The rest house may be a pillared hall with walled enclosures, platforms for taking rest and cooking rooms. These rest-houses shall be beautified by paintings of scenes from the Epics and Purāṇas The frontage shall be ornamented by turrets. By the way it has to be observed that no mansion or other construction for public use is mentioned in our Śilpa-śāstra without ornamentation by turrets, kalaśas and toraṇas the arches etc. By the side of the rest house shall be planted fruit-bearing and other trees and head-load rests. Ponds and wells, cart stands and sheds for bulls, horses and elephants with supply of provisions shall be arranged.”

This is only a brief enumeration of the state buildings of flourishing capital town or a large metropolis in ancient and medieval India. There are so many other public buildings owned by the state, constructed by the ruling kings, like cow-sheds, the Go-śālā, the park for the deer and other pets, the Mṛga-śālā, and the catvaras—the resting places etc. etc. Among them the Mṛga-śālā, it may be brought home to the readers, used to be enclosed by fences of iron and provided with reserviors of water and grounds for ladies of the palace and nobility to sport themselves with the pets.

Gates to the towns:

In the end two topics need to be dwelt at some length. These are the entrance gates to the towns and the water-reservoirs. The former topic is the subject matter of town-planning where under fortification some remarks are already made on ‘Pratolī’ structure which was a component part of fortification. According to the Aparājita-pṛcchā however these pratolī-structures have been made more conspicuous by their varieties and sub-varieties like Eka-polī to pañca-polī which need not be taken in greater details here for the want of space. They arc described alright in the Vāstu-lakṣaṇa and the more curious readers may read them there. All these pratolī structures, it may be again remarked as per my own thesis, are really the imitating struc-tures of Gopura-architecture in temples. Towns and temples of old used to be laid out in some kind of allied and complementary beautification of their own. These were to all intents and purposes, the ornamental structures. These pratolīs, accordingly, were the beauty of the palace-gates and the town-gates of old especially in the Nāgara or the Northern school of architecture.

Water-reservoirs:

Now coming to the latter topic, the water reservoirs, they are a special treatment in the Aparājita-pṛcchā and let us have a bird’s eye-view on these different and manifold varieties of the water-reservoirs, the Kūpa, the Vāpī and the Taḍāga. Without going into details they are being tabulated as here under:—

10 Varieties of Kūpa:

1. Śrīmukha,
2. Vijaya,
3. Prānta,
4. Dundubhi,
5. Manohara,
6. Cūḍāmaṇi,
7. Digbhadra,
8. Jaya,
9. Nanda,
10. Śaṅkara.

N.B.—These varieties vary with their respective dimensions i.e. Śrīmukha is said to be laid out in four hastas and the Śaṅkara (the last variety) to be laid out in thirteen hastas. All these should be laid circular. The wells having inferior dimensions are really not Kūpas, but Kūpikas.

4 Types of Vāpīs:

1. Nandā—Eka-vaktrā and tri-kūṭā,
2. Bhadrā—Dvivaktrā and ṣaṭ-kūṭā,
3. Jayā—Trivaktrā and nava-kūṭā,
4. Vijayā—Caturvaktrā and dvādaśa-kūṭā.

N.B.—Side by side with Vāpīs, Kuṇḍas arc also described which are really religious structures, and the text has given a vivid description of these where there are so many side structures as well as provisions for the enshrinement and installations of a host of deities and therefore they are needless to be dwelt at greater length, only a brief mention of these may be made.

4 Kuṇdas:

1. Bhadraka,
2. Subhadraka,
3. Nanda and
4. Parigha.

Lastly:—

6 Types of Taḍāgas:—

1. Sara—like ardha-candra,
2. Mahāsara—circular,
3. Bhadraka—square,
4. Subhadra—with excessive bhadrās,
5. Parigha—Bakaikasthala,
6. Yugma-parigha—Bakas abounding on both the banks.