History of Towns in India: Satyayuga, Tretayuga, Dwapayuga and Kaliyuga
History of Towns in India: Satyayuga, Tretayuga, Dwapayuga and Kaliyuga
History of Towns in India: Satyayuga, Tretayuga, Dwapayuga and Kaliyuga
• The Hindu culture which developed in India was centered around the four Vedas
namely, Rik, Sama, Yajur and Atharva.
• According to Vedas there are four ages (‘yugas’) of human existence on earth namely
Satyayuga, Tretayuga, Dwapayuga and Kaliyuga.
• All the cities were well planned and were built with baked bricks of the same size,
the streets were laid at right angles with an elaborate system of covered drains.
• There was a fairly clear division of localities and houses were earmarked for the
upper and lower strata of society.
• There were also public buildings, the most famous being the Great Bath at
Mohenjodaro and the vast granaries.
• Production of several metals such as copper, bronze, lead and tin was also
undertaken and some remnants of furnaces provide evidence of this fact. The
discovery of kilns to make bricks support the fact that burnt bricks were used
extensively in domestic and public buildings.
Mohenjo-Daro
Mohenjo-Daro was planned with a broad boulevard 30’ wide, running north and south,
and crossed at right angles every 200 yards or so by smaller east west streets. Along
these impressive avenues were shops and food stands.
The grid layout is an indication of the perception and care that had gone into the
planning of the city.
Mohenjo-Daro being the most well laid out city of
IVC, was sophisticated and was devoted to public
hygiene. Running along the sides of the streets
were neat, brick-lined open sewers much like
those in old Asian cities today, and at intervals
there were catch basins dug below sewer level to
trap debris that might otherwise have clogged the
drainage flow.
The sewers were built mainly to drain away used bath water. Many houses had
bathrooms, their floors built of waterproof brick and fitted with drains leading directly
to sewer pipes.
A Home
for
Comfort
Most doors were on the lanes behind the main streets, and they opened into inner
courtyards. Interior courtyards provided light and air and windows were screened
with grilles of terra cotta or alabaster. Most houses had stairways serving second
storey with bedrooms.
A palace
for
Bathing
The most conspicuous monument to Mohenjo-Daro’s concern for cleanliness was the
Great Bath.
A complex brick structure two stories high, it was one of the most massive structures of
Mohenjo- Daro and a triumph of engineering.
A Vault for
Community
Wealth
Other building on the Citadel, the most unusual next to Great bath is Granary. More
than 150 feet long, 75 feet wide and probably three stories high.
CITY PLANNING OF MOHENJODARO
▪ There were no fortification.
▪ Zoning were distinct for different groups. The city was divided into three distinct
groups or divisions –
• The religious, institutional and cultural areas around monastery and great
bath in the western part including the temple.
• The north part was principally for the production of agriculture and
industries.
• The southern part principally for the administration, trade and commerce at
the meeting of the east road and the first street near the palace.
SALIENT FEATURES
• The construction technique was very well advanced, buildings were made of
sundried bricks.
• Underground drainage and sewerage systems were also provided to the houses.
• The principal buildings were the monastery and bath, indicating the influence of
religion as the main source of the development of the culture and defense was felt
not as important.
• There was an all round development of arts and crafts, science and technology.
C
B A
F D
DECLINE OF INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION
The reasons of decline & fall of such a well established and flourishing
civilization are still unclear; probably the IVC declined because of the
considerable ecological changes produced by its own expansion &
activities.
By about 1700 BC, the Harappan culture was on the decline, due to
repeated flooding of towns located on the river banks and due to ecological
changes which forced agriculture to yield to the spreading desert.
The enormous demand of baked bricks & construction timber might have
brought about extensive deforestation in the entire region resulting in more
frequent & destructive floods & changes in the course of the river.
The Aryan invasion about the middle of the 2nd Millennium BC also
might have contributed to the fall of this great civilization.
INDO – ARYAN PERIOD
TIMELINE
• The Aryans were fair skinned nomadic
cattle herders who originated from Central
Asia and spoke Indo-European language.
THE VEDAS
the legends and religious chants and rituals that had previously been YAJURVEDA
passed down from generation to generation.
•The notion that every element of creation - humans, animals, SAMAVEDA
plants, etc. had a portion of the soul dwelling in them gained
acceptance within ancient Indian society. With it came a respect for ATHARVAVEDA
all living things.
RELIGION
The Aryans brought with them into India a religion based on the worship of gods and
goddesses. They worshipped fire god Agni, as depicted in the Vedas.
Later, the Aryan nature deities lost much of their importance, and three new gods took their
place: Vishnu: the preserver; Shiva: the destroyer; and Brahma: the creator.
Sanskrit epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are said to have their ultimate origins during this
period.
CASTE SYSTEM IN THE VEDIC AGE
PLANNING ACCORDING TO CASTE SYSTEM
►After temple, there is a zone of Brahamanas, then of Kshatriyas and after that
the is zone of Vaishyas. At last, the zone of Shudras come.
THE ARCHITECT
• Architects were known as STHAPATI.
• Architecture was mainly confined to VASTUSHASTRA.
• Architect had his team which consisted of following :-
•Draughtsman ( SUTRAGRAHI)
•Carpenter (TAKSHAKA)
•Mason ( VARDHAKI)
• They were considered as four faces of BRAHMA ( The creator of universe).
VASTU
AN ANCIENT SCIENCE OF PLACEMENT AND DESIGN
• The villages were situated on the river banks, by the sea shore or by the side of the
lake.
• A flowing stream was always preferred over stagnant water for sanitary considerations.
• The Indo-Aryan villages were planned keeping in mind the connection of man with the
environment.
• A typical village plan comprised of a rectangular enclosure with its four sides facing the
four quarters, divided into four wards by the two main streets, with crossed each other
in the center and terminated at the four ends by four principal gates.
• There were four subsidiary gates near the corners of the village enclosure so that the
whole circumference of the walls was divided into eight.
• The Vedic religion was, thus, the moving spirit of the organization of the Aryan village
communities.
• The execution of every minutest planning and design was governed by laws that are
applicable even today.
The names of the four
principal gates of the Northern gate: to Senapati or
Aryan town or village: Kartikeya, the War God.
Private spaces
Public spaces
Circulation spaces
VEDIC TOWN PLANNING TYPOLOGY
Different shapes of towns as per Vastushastra :-
❑ Dandaka
❑ Sarvathobhadra
❑ Nandyavarta
❑ Padmaka
❑ Swastika
❑ Prastara
❑ Karmuka
❑ Chaturmukha
DANDAKA
• This plan is suitable for the place where the site of the town is in the form of a
bow or semi-circular or parabolic and mostly applied for towns located on the
seashore or riverbanks.
• The main streets of the town run from north to south or east to west and the
cross streets run at right-angles to them, dividing the whole area into blocks.
• The presiding deity, commonly a female deity, is installed in the temple build in
any convenient place.
CHATURMUKHA