08 buddhist town planning in india
TRANSCRIPT
Buddhist Town Planning
-Sagar Ikade
EVOLUTION OF AESTHETICS, CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
College of Engineering, PuneAn autonomous Institute of Government of Maharashtra
Contents• Basic development elements of Settlement/Town
• Evolution of Settlements
• Architecture in India
• Buddhism
• Concept of religion
• Devotion to a deity
• Evolution of Buddhism & teachings of Buddha
• Desire and Nirvana
• 4 Noble Truths
• Noble 8 Fold Path
• Mental Disciplines: Enlightenment
• Dalai Lama in Tibet
• Rock-cut Architecture
• Ajanta
• Ellora
• Learnings
Contributing Forces for the origin of Settlement
State any Contributing forces for the origin of Settlement?
Contributing Forces for the origin of Settlement1. Topographical features:-
a) Conditions favourable for industrial units
b) Hilly areas to achieve the object of defence
c) Plain areas useful for business activities
d) River banks
e) Sea or ocean fronts
2. Functional aspects:-
1. Education
2. Health resorts
3. Political
4. Religious
Ref. Rangwala S., (1995) Town Planning, charotar Publishing house, India, p.8.
Guiding Principles of Town Planning
Green Belt
Housing
Public buildings
Recreation centres
Road systems
Transport facilities
Zoning
Ref. Rangwala S., (1995) Town Planning, charotar Publishing house, India, p.6.
Evolution of Settlements
• Most of the early civilization have sprung on the banks of some navigable rivers or at any natural port which not only provide security to the town but also acted as a communicating link from one civilization to another.
• Physical Safety and communication links are the prime factors which lead to the development of towns.
• The earliest civilizations were seen on the banks of rivers like Nile, Ganga, Sindhu, etc.
• Urban historians classify towns of India as:
• Ancient (Indus valley, Vedic and Buddhist towns)
• Vedic
• Medieval
• Modern
Ref. NIOS, Indian Culture and Heritage Secondary Course, MODULE – V, Painting, Performing Arts and Architecture.
INDIAN ARCHITECTURE
CAVE ARCHITECTURE
ROCK- CUT ARCHITECTURE
TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
MUGHAL ARCHITECTURE
COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE
ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE
Indian Architecture• Civilization has spanned at least 4,500 years and impacted on nearly everything in
our lives and society• Architecture had began as soon as the early cave man began to build his own
shelter to live in.
Ref. NIOS, Indian Culture and Heritage Secondary Course, MODULE – V, Painting, Performing Arts and Architecture.
Rock-cut Architecture
• Most of rock cut architecture are related to various religious communities.
• Numerous caves were excavated by the Buddhist monks for prayer and residence purposes..
Ref. http://www.culturalindia.net/indian-architecture/ancient-architecture/rock-cut.html
Buddhism
• During the period of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, Kautilya and Chanakya was the chief minister who wrote the famous ‘Arthashastra’, a treatise of Town Planning. Features stated in it were;
• Regulation of Zoning depending on communitites
• Highway (Rajmarga) to be parallel to the main cardinal direction
• Road were aligned in grid-iron form
• Rajmarga to be not less than 30 ft. or nearly 3 lanes of traffic
• The excavation carried out at patliputra, capital of Magadha (mow in Bihar), shows evidence of advance knowledge of planning.
• Taksha-sila and nalanda, the renowned place for learning were found in the period.
• Nalanda consist of three main essentials- stupas, temples & hotels for the monks. It had 300 halls for accommodating 10,000 pupils and libraries were nine-storeyed high.
Basics of Buddhist Town Planning• Chaityas and Viharas are those rock-
cut structures that were hewn out for Buddhist and Jain monks.
• Chaityas= places of worship
• Viharas= residence of monks.
• Most of the Chaityas and Viharaswere constructed in western India. Eg. Karle, Nashik, Bhaja and Kanheri.
• Stupas= A dome-shaped monument, used to house Buddhists' relics
• Pagodas= Religious multi-storey Buddhist towers, erected as a memorial or shrine.
Chaitya
Vihara
Ajanta • Ajanta consists of 29 Buddhist caves (some unfinished), the
grandest achievement of the first wave of rock-cutarchitecture in India.
• The cave have intricate carvings , sculptures and wall paintingsthat depicts the Jataka Tales- narration of stories of previouslives of Buddha.
Ajanta: Caves Overview
• Further details will be explained on-
http://www.ajantacaves.org/portfolio/ajanta-caves-street-view/
Ellora
• Ellora Caves, carved out of the vertical face of the Charanadri hills.
• Bestowed with rich styles, of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist architectures.
• One of the worlds UNESCO heritage site.
• Kailasha temple is remarkable example of Dravidian architecture.
JAIN CAVES
HINDU CAVES
BUDDHIST CAVES
Ellora: Caves Overview
• Further details will be explained on-
http://elloracaves.org/caves.php?cmd=search&words=&image_ID=&cave_ID=10017&plan_floor=1
Learnings
• The Town planning based in Buddhist period was fully based on religious beliefs.
• Mostly the Settlements are planned nearby the water source
• Majorly the Buddhist planning was focused on two aspects:
• Functional value
• Aesthetics Value
• Allocation of open spaces, green belts, circulation spaces, social gathering spaces, etc. techniques which we are using today are evolved from the planning of ancient period.
• Simply,
Living in now and Planning for Later.