Mehargarh

 Town planning in India is an ancient science starting

from
 Indus valley
 Vedic Period
 Medieval period
 Modern age
 The Indus Valley Civilisation (3300–1900 BCE) also known
as Harappan civilisation extending from what today is
northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. It
flourished in the basins of the Indus River
 As of 1999, over 1,056 cities and settlements had been
found, of which 96 have been excavated mainly in the region
of the Indus and Ghaggar-Hakra Rivers and their tributaries.
 the major urban centres of Harappa, Mohenjo-daro,
Ganeriwala in modern-day Pakistan; and Dholavira, and
Rakhigarhi in present-day India
 The Indus cities are noted for their urban planning, baked
brick houses, elaborate drainage systems, water supply
systems, and clusters of large non-residential buildings
 The Indus Valley Civilization (also known as the Harappan culture)
has its earliest roots in cultures such as that of Mehrgarh,
approximately 6000 BCE.
 Mehrgarh is a Neolithic (7000 BCE to c. 2500 BCE) site to the west
of the Indus River valley were farming and herding in South Asia
started. The culture migrated into the Indus Valley and became the
Indus Valley civilisation.
 Trade networks linked this culture with related regional cultures
and distant sources of raw materials, including lapis lazuli and
other materials for bead-making.
 Early Harappan communities turned to large urban centres by
2600 BCE, from where the mature Harappan phase started
 Vast agricultural lands, rivers,forets surrounded each city.
 A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban
culture is evident in the Indus Valley Civilization .
 The two greatest cities, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa,
emerged in 2600 BCE along the Indus River valley in
Punjab and Sindh
 the knowledge of urban planning and efficient
municipal governments which placed a high priority
on hygiene
 urban planning included the world's first known urban
sanitation systems. Within the city, individual homes
or groups of homes obtained water from wells.
 waste water from bathrooms was directed to covered
drains, which lined the major streets.
 Houses built using burnt bricks opened only to inner
courtyards and smaller lanes.
 All the houses had access to water and drainage
facilities.
 The cities were constructed in a highly uniform and
well-planned grid pattern, suggesting they were
planned by a central authority.
 There was a citadel in the centre, but no large
monumental structures like palaces or temples
were built.
 The twin cities of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa formed
the hub of the civilization.
 Both cities were a mile square with 40,000 population ,
with defensive outer walls.
 An orthogonal street layout was oriented toward the
cardinal directions.
 The street layout shows an understanding of the basic
principles of traffic, with rounded corners to allow the
turning of carts easily.
 These streets divided the city into 12 blocks. Except for
the west-central blocks, the basic unit of city planning
was the individual house.
 Both at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and also at
Kalibangan, the city was divided into two main parts.
 The higher and upper portion of the city was protected by
a construction which looks like a fort.
 The ruling class of the towns perhaps lived in the
protected area.
 The other part of the towns was lower in height than the
former and common men lived in this area.
 The lower area of the towns generally spread over one
square mile.
 COLLEGE
Mohenjodaro was the largest of both with
an area covering 200 hectares and a GREAT BATH
population of 35,000 to 40,000.
The citadel was built on a raised platform
45’ above the plains GRANARY

The streets ran In cardinal directions

meeting at the right angles to each other.
Secondary and teritiary streets ran
between the built up areas were narrow
Distinct zoning areas like Trade and
commerce, Residential areas, cultural
spaces ASSEMBLY HALL

Religious, instituitional and Cultural

spaces around the Monastery and Great
bath in the west
Trade and Administration in south.
Agriculture and Industries in north.
 The granary was the largest structure in Mohenjodaro, and in
Harappa there were about six granaries or storehouses.
These were used for storing grain.
 The great bath was another important structure in
Mohenjodaro. The floor of the bath had five layers. There
were changing rooms around. Tar and gypsum mortar
between the bricks made sure no water leaked out.
 A palace-like building that looked like an assembly hall for
the city government or for people to meet.
 Underground drains were built on either side of the roads.
They were covered with stones which could be removed in
order to clean them.
 The Great Bath was a brick structure,
which measured 12 m x 7 m and is
nearly 3 m deep from the surrounding
pavement.
Surrounding the bath, there were
porticos and sets of rooms, while a
stairway led to an upper storey.

•The so-called "granary“ is a brick structure

that was built on a massive brick foundation
over 45 meters north south and 45 meters
east-west.
•Two rows of six rooms that appear to be
foundations are arranged along a central
passageway that is about 7 meters wide
 The lower city was in a grid-iron pattern with main streets 45’
wide.
 Sun dried Bricks were used to construct the buildings.
 The Buildings varied from 2 rooms to many room mansions.
 The houses were made of burnt bricks. Most of the houses
had a central courtyard, a well, a bathing area and a kitchen.
 There were no openings toward the main street, thus
ensuring privacy for the residents.
 Drains started from the bathrooms of the houses and joined
the main sewer in the street, which was covered by brick
slabs or corbelled brick arches, depending on its width.
•Area of 150 hectares for a
population of 23000
•Centre of tread with towns
raised over mud brick platforms
• citadel mound & lower town
surrounded by massive wall
• large open areas inside gateway
used as market or checkpoint for
goods
•No division of society is reflected
in plan of the city.
•Public bldgs, markets, houses &
craft workshops are found in the
same city.
 As in Mohenjodaro houses had rooms opening to a
central courtyard
 Standard size of bricks for houses was 7x12x34 cm and
for city walls was 10x20x40 (1:2:4)
 Mud brick & burnt bricks are used for construction
 Roofs had wooden beams covered with reeds & clay
 All houses had private wells & bathrooms connected to
a city drainage system
 Terracotta pipes were used to carry waste water from
bathrooms to covered drains under streets.
 Indus valley culture collapsed due to various reasons such as
drying up of rivers, floods or Aryan invasion around 2000 BC
 New agricultural settlements came up in the Gangetic plain
during Vedic age
 These settlements slowly evolved as towns or ‘Nagara’
 references in Vedic hymns about architecture & planning of
towns.
 Traditional vedic towns had temple as focal point- where the
sacred & secular mingle
•Layout of towns in Vedic age was ideally based on social
hierarchy of caste system.

•Can be seen in traditional temple towns like Madura, Sree Rangam etc
 Several treatises were developed during vedic period for
planning of towns such as:
 Sthapatya vedas as part of Atharva veda-layout of a city
 smriti sasthra- street layouts
 Vaastu sasthra- on Architecture,planning,construction
and design of bldgs, site selection, water sources,
planting trees
 Arthasathra- governanace & environmental
management
 Manasara silpa sasthra- Grama vidhana & Nagara
vidhana
 Mayamata
 Viswakarma
 A city should be centrally located for
trade & commerce.
 The site should be near a perennial
water body.
 Shape can be circular, square or
rectangular according to
topography
 Wall around town -6 dandas high &
12 dandas wide followed by moats
of 14’,12’,and 10’ wide
 Three roads in E-W and three roads
in N-S shall divide the town.
 The main roads should be 8 dandas
wide and other roads 4 dandas wide
 1 well for 10 houses.
 Classification of towns in manasara silpasasthra
DANDAKA
SARVATOBHADRA
NANDYAVARTA
PADMAAKA
SWASTIKA
PRASTARA
KARMUKHA
CHATURMUKHA