evolutionofmaduraistreets 150803070305 lva1 app6891

8/19/2019 Evolutionofmaduraistreets 150803070305 Lva1 App6891

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EVOLUTION OF STREETS : MADURAI

A P R O J E C T R E P O R T

In partial fulfillment for the award of the degree

of

BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE

SVS SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, COIMBATORE

A N N A U N I V E R S I T Y : C H E N N A I 6 0 0 0 2 5 A P R I L 2 0 1 5

Submitted by

srinivasan.A

722111251021


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DECLARATION

I, SRINIVASAN.A (722111251021) Do hereby declare that this

Dissertation entitled “ EVOLUTION OF STREETS: MADURAI” is

a bonafied record of the study done by me independently during

the 8th semester B.Arch. Degree programme in the SVS School

of Architecture, Coimbatore

Date : April 2015

Place : Coimbatore

SRINIVASAN.A

722111251021

APPENDIX 2

( i i i )


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Table of Contents

1. Development of Town planning .................................................................................. 1

1.1 Pattern of Settlements ............................................................................................ 2

1.2 Fortified Settlements .............................................................................................. 2

1.3 Early Settlements ................................................................................................... 4

2. Vastu Mandala ............................................................................................................. 5

2.1 Manasara silpa-sastra ............................................................................................ 6

2.2 Zoning in Vastu ...................................................................................................... 7

3. Mandala and the Town layout ................................................................................... 10

3.1 Mandala – Brahma Divisions ................................................................................ 11

4. Temple city - Madurai ................................................................................................ 15

4.1 History of the city .................................................................................................. 16

4.2 Town planning ...................................................................................................... 17

4.3 Vastu in Town planning ........................................................................................ 21

4.4 Later Madurai ....................................................................................................... 23

5. History of Roads ........................................................................................................ 28

5.1 Earlier Roads ........................................................................................................ 29

5.2 Indian Road history ............................................................................................... 31

5.2.1 Pre-historic Roads ..................................................................................... 31

5.2.2 Roads under Early Indian Rulers ............................................................... 31

5.2.2.1 Aryan Period .................................................................................... 31

5.2.2.2 Mauryan Period ................................................................................ 31

5.2.2.3 Roads during the Mughal Period ...................................................... 32

5.2.2.4 Roads during the British rule ............................................................ 33

5.2.3 Roads under the post-independence period............................................... 35

6. Madurai Streets (In the past)..................................................................................... 37

6.1 Heritage structures ............................................................................................... 39

6.2 User Index ............................................................................................................ 43


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7. Madurai Streets (Present) ......................................................................................... 48

7.1 Heritage structures ............................................................................................... 487.2 Main Streets ......................................................................................................... 52

7.3 Land use map ....................................................................................................... 53

7.4 Past and Present .................................................................................................. 54

8. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 55

Biblography ............................................................................................................... 57


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Figure Contents

1. Development of Town planning .................................................................................. 1

1 Iron Age settlements .............................................................................................. 1

1.1 Urban scenarios: Mesopotamia, Harappa and ziggurat ......................................... 3

2. Vastu Mandala ............................................................................................................. 5

2 Vastu Structure ...................................................................................................... 6

2.1 Vastu pattern for construction ............................................................................... 7

2.2 Manasara silpa-satra ............................................................................................. 8

2.3 Silpa-satra organisation ......................................................................................... 9

3. Mandala and the Town layout ................................................................................... 10

3 Mandala – Town Layout .................................................................................................. 10

3.1 Brahma Divisions .............................................................................................................11

4. Temple city - Madurai ................................................................................................ 15

4 Landmarks in Madurai city. .............................................................................................15

4.1 Madurai Zoning .................................................................................................... 18

4.2 Plan of Madurai in 1757 ....................................................................................... 19

4.3 Schematic sketch of Madurai ............................................................................... 20

4.4 Connection between Temple and Tank ................................................................ 21

4.5 Plan of Madurai in 1914 ...................................................................................... 22

4.6 Perumal Koil Street ............................................................................................. 24

4.7 Neighbourhood Centre ....................................................................................... 25

4.8 Street corner ........................................................................................................ 26

5. History of Roads ........................................................................................................ 28

5. Roads in North Britain .....................................................................................................29

5.1 Western Road Laying Methods ............................................................................ 30

5.2 Ancient Streets .................................................................................................... 32

5.3 British streets in India ......................................................................................... 33


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6. Madurai Streets (In the past)..................................................................................... 37

6. Plan of Madurai in 1950’s ................................................................................................38

6.1 Streets in Madurai in 1920’s ................................................................................ 39

6.2 Nagara Mandapam .............................................................................................. 40

6.3 Pudhu Mandapam ............................................................................................... 41

6.4 Raya Gopuram .................................................................................................... 41

6.5 Elukadal Street .................................................................................................... 42

6.6 Tirumalai Nayak Palace ....................................................................................... 43

6.7 Madurai map During Pandiyan rule ...................................................................... 43

6.8 Madurai map during Vijayanagar rule .................................................................. 43

6.9 Madurai map during colonial rule ......................................................................... 43

6.10 Madurai present map ........................................................................................... 43

7. Madurai Streets (Present) ......................................................................................... 48

7. Chithirai street ..................................................................................................................49

7.1 Pudhu Mandapam ............................................................................................... 49

7.2 Shops in Chithirai streets ..................................................................................... 50

7.3 Old structures in Chithirai streets ......................................................................... 50

7.4 Madurai map showing Public spaces ................................................................... 51

7.5 Main streets ......................................................................................................... 52

7.6 Land use map ...................................................................................................... 53

7.7 Detail Land use map ............................................................................................ 54

7.8 Past and present streets ...................................................................................... 55


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Abstract

Evolution of streets: Temple city of Madurai.

Srini Arivalagan

Submitted to the Department of Architecture on April 16, 2015, in the partial fulfillmentof the requirements for the 8th semester in B.Arch.

The ancient South Indian city of Madurai is undergoing a gradual shift away from arelatively cohesive, medieval ordering towards a new and unpredictable flux of socialand physical forces. This study is an attempt to explore the nature and impact of thatearlier ordering of the streets.

The point of reference is the city as a spatial environment, a built landscape. Within thecomplexities of the dense three-dimensional fabric exists a significant, imageablepattern - most importantly, an expanding series of concentric streets about a centraltemple complex. Nowhere visible as a whole, the organization is experienced onlygradually over time. What is striking is the use of a fairly simple underlying geometry toexpress important attitudes toward collective dwelling.

In its generic sense, such a pattern is a ‘vastu-mandala’, a diagram (mandala) ofordered existence (vastu). The relationship between the vastu-mandala and the buildingprocess is exolored in the Šilpa-šastras, traditional Indian treatises on architecture and

town planning. Their prescriptive rituals suggest that the sacred geometry of themandala is essential to establishing a secure claim within an active landscape. Theprocess is more a relaxation than an intensification of religious energy. a cautioussecularization, in fact, of the sacred environment.

In terms of town layout, the careful geometry of the imbedded mandala does notnecessarily translate into a literal ground plan. As a diagram, it explains rather thanrepresents. Madurai is not a city of straight lines and right angles; a basic pattern is heredistorted and enlivened by local events and sources of energy. But topologically asignificant interrelationship of parts remains intact. The fluid quality is best expressed in

the festival processions, which delineate the mandala over the course ofthe year. As the important mode of celebrating corporate identity, they reconfirm theunderlying form and its use as a principle reference for the community’s sense of itselfin space and time.

Dissertation Supervisor: Ar.Thushara.


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மர

மயன க மலநத தமர

க பர, ச ஊ ; வன

இதழ அர கத; இதழ

அ க அரயத, அண ய;

- ட


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Chapter 1

Development of Town planningIn India

The characteristic settlement of early Aryanized India was the village. It is within these

autonomous units that there seems to have developed an important social patterns and

ideologies which affected even those cities, which did arise because of large-scale trade

and commerce. Their organization typically involved individual homesteads tightly

clustered about a central open space identified by a large spreading tree. The shaded

area served as a meeting place for the village elders; the spatial significance of the tree

as a central axis attached a sacred dimension to the elder’s dispensation of secular justice. In time, many villages erected a public hall, which again might acquire both

religious and secular functions.

Most villages were open; although so had a surrounding wall, in general security was

provided by separate walls around each family’s compound. These large individualhomesteads consisted of separate huts and sheds around a central courtyard. The

encircling mud wall had an important gateway on the entrance side; richer houses might

have two or even three courtyards. Some homesteads existed independently off in the

countryside.

Fig 1 : Some of the Iron age settlements


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1.1

Pattern of settlements

A significant pattern was a segregation of people belonging to different occupationalgroups into separate villages. There are specific trade distinctions, villages of hunters,

carpenters, weavers, fishers, and so on, and more general caste-groupings, of

brahmanas, sudras, chandilas and others. The villages inhabited by those following

specific crafts, industries or professions seem to have been more cohesive physically

and socially than those that were purely agricultural. In larger villages where different

occupational and professional castes congregated, segregation was maintained. This

accounts for the emergence of different quarters in large settlements, each quarters

consisting of people belonging to the same caste or profession.

In the closing centuries B.C., national and international trade and commerce expanded

greatly. Localisation and specialization of various craft, and industries developed.

Powerful guilds began to appear. All this was reflected in a major growth of towns and

cities, and a new emphasis on the life of the city dweller. Kautilya in his Arthasastra (o,

300B.C.) treats village as primarily production centres of food, subjected to the

economic and political exploitation of the towns. He recommends that they be peopled

primarily by foreigners and the peasant caste. But his plan for an ideal city are based

on the notion of distribution by caste and occupation, thus in effect creating a city by

aggregating village forms. The town-planning tradition in general maintains this

characteristic pattern.

1.2

Fortified settlements

The other source of a prototype for city layout can be seen in the tradition of planning

of forts. As opposed to the village, which might grow slowly as the accretion of individual

homesteads, the notion of a fortified encampment, structured by walls and gates,

implied a more integrally planned unit. This sense is reinforced by the fact that a primeimpetus for the appearance of cities was the establishment of centres of royal power.

These naturally adopted the defensive characteristics of a fort, and at the same time

provided an opportunity for conscious internal layout. Conquering kings often deserted

the existing capital in favour of new construction both for security reason and as a

display of power.

With constant warfare between small principalities, these cities constituted glorified

military camps. They might quickly attract commerce and trade, however, and so would

assume the qualities of any urban centre. In so cases the royal fortress was not


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coextensive with the city, but rather a citadel in the centre. However, there then seems

to be a secondary city wall, often with its own resplendent gates and turrets.

There were cities, of course, which owed their existence to strategic positions in terms

of trade, local industry, or the like, such as Kaveripatinam at the mouth of the KaveriRiver. As these became concentrations of wealth and power, they would erect

fortifications and perhaps attract royalty. The same might be said of some of the

important religious sites. But the military encampment, in its expanded role as

administrative centre, seems to have provided an impetus for the development of a

science of town planning. A portion of Kautilya’s Arthasastra, mentioned above,constitutes one of the first real treatises on planning, and in essence it describes a well-

fortified royal capital, methodically zoned with the palace at the centre. Some have taken

it to be a description of the existing capital, Pataliputra, a magnificent place by all

accounts. But the latter, despite its major fortifications, was more loosely organised, an

aggregation of villages joined together by spacious parks (the sacred groves) and the

Fig 1.1 (A ,B C) : Well plannedurban scenarios: Mesopotamia, Harappa and a view of a ziggurat complex.


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stately avenues. The ideal city is marked by stricter control, a clearer expression of the

king’s power imbedded in the landscape.An interesting but elusive question is the

legacy of the town planning expertise of the Indus Valley civilization. This very earlyurban culture flourished from about the third millennium B.C. to the middle of the

second, when it was destroyed by Aryan invaders. The rest of Indian history is then a

complex intermingling of Aryan (or Sanskrit) and pre Aryan influences. North India

became highly Sanskritized; the South retains a lot more of the pre-Aryan, particularly

Dravidian element. With the script of the Indus Valley still undeciphered and its

achievements seemingly destroyed, it has remained pretty much a marginal chapter of

Indian history and civilization. But there are connections, linguistically and racially,

between the great culture complex embracing both Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley

and the early Dravidian culture of South India. The word pura which occurs in Vedic

literature seems to mean a place of shelter or residence surrounded by strong walls or

ramparts.

1.3

Early settlements

Mohenjadaro and Harappa the two most impressive of the culture’s sites so faruncovered, are walled cities which share a conscious layout not found in Mesopotamian

centres. The street pattern is rectilinear and oriented to the cardinal directions. The

major streets create distinct residential areas; these are further subdivided by side

streets set at right angles and small footpaths separating the individual courtyard

homesteads. A citadel containing not a palace but rather communal facilities and

perhaps a religious centre occupies one of the western sectors.

From about the 6th century onwards, there begin to appear šilpa sastra, technicaltreatises on the arts. In them can be found extensive rules and rituals pertaining to

architecture and town planning. Their complexity, particularly in their comprehensive

schemes of classification, indicates that they are an attempt to rationalize existing

practices as well as simply prescribe a coherent system. One consistent element is theuse of a vastu-mandala, the initial ordering of any building site according to a sacred

geometry. There is a control exercised here which has a parallel in the earlier schemes

of Kautilya and others for royal capitals. But in the silpa sastras, the intimation is of the

primacy of sacred authority. A proper distribution in accord with the established pattern

of deities is essential. This tradition may relate to the apparent role that a deity seems

to assume in some of the South Indian temple towns, of adopting the characteristics of

a supreme ruler. The mandala underscore sacred authority in a secular landscape.

The more interesting question seems to be of development over time. There may be anon-Aryan legacy of city design, which in the šilpa-šåstras is given an Aryan gloss, the


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mandala establishing a field of Vedic deities in non-Aryan landscapes. This process

perhaps does occur primarily in the South; Various of the Aganas, associates primarily

with religious developments in South India, can be considered early Šilpa—šlstratreatises. The Kamikagama, for example, devotes 60 of 75 chapters to town planning,

architecture, and sculpture, in terms very similar to the Manasara silpa-satra. As regardsthe question of ‘political’ authority in relation to town layout, the early focus on a secularruler infused with quasi-divine status seems to shift to an eventual accumulation of

secular roles by a central deity. The texts, with their use of the vastu-mandala, would

help rationalize such a transformation.

Chapter 2

Vastu Mandala

An introduction

The use of a ritual diagram in architectural enterprises can be traced to a religious

understanding of the nature of dwelling. The struggle to live securely, to ‘reside’ in themidst of unpredictable forces and events, is not easy. A village settlement is regularly

contrasted with aranya, the forest. The process of claiming space in the landscape, of

controlling natural/supernatural forces for the purposes of inhabitation, is in fact a kind

of secularization. There is the need for demystification, desacralization of a sort; the

cosmic forces must be recognised and their powers harmonized before a person can

relax into an ordered existence. The connotation of mystic diagrams today is quite theopposite, a sense of concentrating religious energy in an otherwise blank field. But our

starting point is an enveloping secular environment. In the India of the Silpa-sastras, the

given was a sacred landscape, and secularization a cautious necessity. Within a sacred

landscape, secularization is a religious process. The creation of profane space

coincides with the erection of a temple and is not a separate issue.

Vastu-vidya is the general term for architecture. The art or science of building. ‘Vastu’,built form comes from the verb vas, to dwell. It is often translated simply ‘abode’, the

place where men and gods reside.

The most important dimension of vastu is its ordering of the ground. The notion of

building, of architecture more generally, is implicit once the primary step of a structured

site is achieved. The four dimensions of vastu are dhari, ground form; harmya, building;

yana, conveyance; and paryanka, couch. Of these:

The ground is the chief object for all purposes. The mansion and other buildings are

truly called dwellings because of their connection with the chief object (the ground).


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With equipment in hand, the next step is the selection and preparation of a site. A gentle

slope to the north or east is prescribed. Contour, colour, smell, sound, taste and touch

are considered. Observations of existing flora and fauna are to be carefully interpreted.

A significant initial ceremony includes constant repetition of the mantra, Let all

creatures, demons and gods as well, leave this place; let them go elsewhere and maketheir abode there. Then seeds are sprouted in water and planted. When the crops have

matured, and the flowers are in bloom, cows are brought to graze, and left for one or

two nights. The ground is purified by their presence. On an auspicious day the land is

ploughed with carefully selected oxen and a specially made plough.

Th. cardinal directions are then ascertained by means of a gnomon, a small tapering

column which is fixed in place and has its shadows recorded. Great accuracy is sought,

and minute adjustments made for the declination of the sun according to the time of

year. The importance of proper orientation is referred to.

2.2

Zoning in Vastu

With the preparations completed. The vastu mandala itself is drawn, accompanied by

the recitation of mantras. Cords are laid out to define the perimeter. Carefully-made

pegs are fixed at the four directions and the four corners. The assumption is of a square;

although derived initially through a circle, the square recognizes the cardinal axes which

fix it in place. The mandala is completed by dividing the site into plots, or padas, andestablishing the pattern of deities.

The plots are defined by a grid, set up by establishing an equal number of divisions

along each side (from 1 to 32). Thus the simplest diagram, sakala is a single plot; the

next, pechaka, is 2 x 2; Pitha is 3x3 and so on.

Fig 2.1 : Vastu pattern for construction.


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The eighth and ninth plans, the manduka (or Chandita) and the Paramasayika, are the

most fully elaborated in the Manasara šilpa sastra. Their geometrical form, and thearrangement of deities, is described in the following figure.

Fig 2.2 : Manasara silpa-sastra, arrangement of deities

These are further defined by the figure of västu-.purusa, spirit of the site, who lies spreadeagled beneath the diagram. Emphasis on this anthropomorphic image leads to the

image vastu purusa-manda1a, The Matsya-purana describes the mythological origin of

vastu-purusa. Controlling the purusa-demon allows ordered existence to emerge.

Drawing the mandala recreates this event. The actual arrangement of deities has

several notable features. There is a strong concentric ordering, beginning with Brahma

in the centre; around this nucleus or Brahmasthna, are 12 Adityas, and then 32 Pada—devatas on the perimeter. This circular form is then locked in place by a strong cardinal,

orientation.

The deities controlling the various directions establish the territorial claim of the

mandala. Because of the mutual interdependence of the parts, emphasized by their

relationship to the underlying purusa body, the integrity of the whole is important. The

chapter in the Manasara silpa-sastra on the drawing of the diagram concludes with a

warning:

This primary object should be carefully kept in view in connection with buildings of gods

and men. Root as it is of good and evil, none of its parts should be rendered defective.


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Further interpretation of the mandala is developed elsewhere. In a later chapter in the

manasara silpa-sastra, the vastu mandala divisions are organized into four zones: in

the centre, Brahma, as before (covering the same number of plots); around Brahma,

the Daivaka round, or realm of the gods; beyond this, the Manusha round or realm of

beings, and at the perimeter the Paisacha round, or realm of demons and goblins. Thissurprisingly inclusive population of the mandala reflects more directly, in a way, the

Matsya—purana story above which has Daivas, Asuras, and Humans collectivelypinning down the demons. The organisation is spelled out for the seventh, eighth, and

ninth plans:

Fig 2.3: Silpa-sastra organisation.

One last perception, particularly interesting, because it involves movement and recalls

the original drawing of a circle, is the image of the snake who underlies the mandala

and defines its outer limit. An elaboration of the concept can be found in the Bhubana-pradipa treatise.

Once the vastu-mandala has been drawn, sacrificial offerings are made to Brahma and

ail the other deities. “The architect should fast overnight end with pure body and cheerfulmind, and putting on his best clothes, should collect the requisites for the offerings. For

temple purposes (i.e. on the occasion of building a temple) the ordinary offerings, and

for village purposes the special offerings should be made. To each deity is presented

a different set of foods, flowers, woods, perfumes and so on. “In this way the deities

should be worshipped for the safety of the village. Such a passage makes clear thestrong association of these rituals with the task of ordering and inhabiting the world.


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Chapter 3

Mandala and the Town layout

The vastu-mandala of the texts is a generic diagram for any building enterprise.Sometimes overlapping mandalas share a common centre, as in the case of successive

mandalas defining the extent of each concentric court in a large temple or palace. But

more often, mandalas in their multiple use radiate from different centres, each one

celebrating a particular event in the landscape.

The mandala has an integrity in each

application, and at any scale. ‘A pilgrimagethrough the sacred landscape of India has

a counterpart in circumambulation around

a holy city, or through the corridors of a

temple; so also in the ritual turning-on-the-

spot in front of a deity. Each of these

movements suggests the sort of spatial

definition made explicit in the mandala

The mandala itself has a careful geometry,

but like the process of circumambulation

itself the relationships it establishes are

more topological than geometric. It is a

diagram, and thus “a graphic design thatexplains rather than represents”. Only in the Garbha-griha of the temple, perhaps, is itgiven vertical dimension, arid even here the process is indirect. The lines of the

mandala, and particularly the points of intersection must not be obscured by the lines of

the actual built wall.

In the villages and towns of the texts the translation into three dimensions is anything

but literal. Some of the town plans can be super imposed on the mandalas of 84 or 91

plots, so that the streets follow the sutras or lines of demarcation of the plots. But this isnot an explicit rule, and seems to be a fortuitous overlapping where there are two

gridded systems operating. A more direct interaction is the assignment of plots within

the town according to the pattern of presiding deities set up by the mandala. Thus:

The houses of the priests should be situated in Sugri-va and Pushpa-danta parts. In the

Dauvarika and Sugri-va parts should be the houses of the police. In the Gandharva, the

Roga or the sosha part should be the house of the drummers and others; therein should

also be the halls fit for the dancing of courtesans. In the Vayu or the Naga part should

be the houses of the architects.

Fig 3: Mandala Town layout.


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But even here, the identification is not so much with a geometrical plot as with a certain

direction and a distance from the centre. Sometimes the allocation simply shifts to “inthe southwest”, “in the north”, and so on.

3.1

Mandala : Brahma divisions

The division of the mandala into the Brahma, Daivaka, Manusha and Palisacha rounds

is mentioned in the manasara šilpa-sastra only in relation to town layout. It suggestsdirectly a concentric hierarchy which is played out particularly in the second and third of

the eight schemes described. These are the Sarvatobhadra and Nandyivarta schemes.

Fig 3.1 : Brahma divisions in the mandala layout.

Presumably the deity association has nothing to do with the allocation of trade groups

and so on. But this relationship is not spelled out in the text, and the patterns seem to

vary a good deal from treatise to treatise (the pattern of trade distribution, that is; the

pattern of deities is more firmly fixed, according to their connection with the variousdirections). In general, the hierarchy from the centre outward is maintained. The

Sarvatobhadra scheme clearly calls for a temple in the central Brahmasthana. The

Nandyavarta is vague about the central plot, but establishes a correlation of status with

the annular zoning.

In this village (when inhabited by people of all castes) the houses of the Brahmins should

be situated in the parts ending at the Manusha part (i.e. including the Daiva part); the

royal palace should be situated in the Daiva, the Manusha, and the Paisacha parts; and

the houses of the Vaisyas, the sudras and others are situated in the Paisacha part.


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Both schemes include streets which circumscribe the Brahmasthana, the Nandyvarta

with a more interesting geometry that has a suggestion of movement in it. In practice,

such streets often exist around a temple, with a single name along their full length. They

are associated with religious car-festivals. Whether their appellation in the texts as ratha

(ratha=car) refers specifically to religious processional cars is unclear. The rite ofcircumambulation is the principal feature of the final ceremonies on completion of a

village. The image of the snake underlying the vastu mandala is here brought to mind,

a moving force defining and protecting a piece of land.

The other controlling element, the concentration of forces at a central point, is also

recognized.

At the time of circumambulation of villages (on the occasion of the first entry into it) the

circumambulation should be completely carried out by going round the parts of the Lords

of the eight quarters, proceeding from those of Bhudar (i.e. north), Indra (Stiresvara, i.e.

east) and of others; or in the absence of a (circumambulatory) path by (going round) the

neighbourhood of the plots of the Lords of the eight quarters (of the village).

The offerings to the Lords of the quarters should fully be made at (a temple built in) the

Brahmin (i.e. central) part (of the village); one should go and see the deity and then

should retire.

And with this, the inhabitation of the landscape is accomplished at a communal scale.

The reality of the vastu-mandala is affirmed.

At the time of circumambulation of villages (on the occasion of the first entry into it) the

circumambulation should be completely carried out by going round the parts of the Lords

of the eight quarters, proceeding from those of Bhüdar (i.e. north), Indra (Stirešvara, i.e.east) and of others; or in the absence of a (circumambulatory) path by (going round) the

neighbourhood of the plots of the Lords of the eight quarters (of the village).

The offerings to the Lords of the quarters should fully be made at (a temple built in) the

Brahmin (i.e. central) part (of the village); one should go and see the deity and then

should retire.

And with this, the inhabitation of the landscape is accomplished at a communal scale.

The reality of the vastu-mandala is affirmed.

They most clearly express the topology of the mandala. The texts are cryptic in their

physical descriptions, but the following are visual interpretations.


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Chapter 4

Temple city – Madurai An Intro

The temple cities in south India are formed with the enlargement process of the principle

temple as the center. In and around Tamil Nadu, there are several temple cities of the

shape of a concentric rectangle with a large Hindu temple as its center. They are

regarded as the cities constructed according to the ideal city plan described in

Shilpasastra, the ancient Sanskrit texts. There are few cities representing such a clear

concentric form, which symbolizes the structure of the Cosmos, on a city scale, though

cities and temples reflecting the cosmology are often observed.

Madurai, well known as a pilgrim centre today, is one of the oldest cities in south India.

For the last two thousand years it has been a great centre of south Indian culture and

civilization. It is one of the few cities to have enjoyed a continuous history which can be

traced back to pre-historic times, the origin traced back to the 6th century B.C. Politically

Madurai was the capital of a single dynasty, the Pandyas who ruled continuously as far

as is known from the early years of Christianity down to the 14th century. This fact more

than anything else is enough to gain for Madurai a unique place. Even after the

Pandyas, Madurai has continued as the capital of some dynasty or other for four

centuries more. It has therefore had a continuous history as a political capital for

eighteen centuries. At the present day Madurai is still one of the premier cities in theState next only to Chennai in importance.

Fig 4 (A & B) : Nandhistatue and American college, Landmarks in Madurai city


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4.1

History of the cityIt is narrated in legend that Madurai was originally a forest known as Kadambavanam.

One day, a farmer named Dhananjaya who was passing through the forest, saw Indra

(The king of the gods), worshipping a swayambhu (self-created Lingam) under kadamba

tree. Dhananjaya, the farmer immediately reported this to King Kulasekara Pandya.

Kulasekara Pandya cleared the forest and built a temple around the Lingam. A city was

soon planned with the temple as its centre. On the day the city was to be named, Lord

Shiva is said to have appeared and drops of nectar from his hair fell on the town. So,

the place was named Madurai - mathuram meaning "sweetness" in Tamil.

Madurai has a rich historical background in the sense that Lord Shiva himself performed

sixty-four wonders called "Thiruvilaiyadals".

As early as the 3rd century BC, Megasthenes visited Madurai. Later many people from

Rome and Greece visited Madurai and established trade with the Pandya kings.

Madurai flourished till 10th century AD when it was captured by Cholas the arch rivals

of the Pandyas.

The Cholas ruled Madurai from 920 AD till the beginning of the 13th century. In 1223

AD Pandyas regained their kingdom and once again become prosperous. Pandian

Kings patronised Tamil language in a great way. During their period, many master-

pieces were created. "Silapathikaram", the great epic in Tamil was written based on the

story of Kannagi who burnt Madurai as a result of the injustice caused to her husband

Kovalan. In April 1311, Malik Kafur, the general of Alauddin Khilji who was then the ruler

of Delhi, reached Madurai and raided and robbed the city for precious stones, jewels,

and other rare treasures. This led to the subsequent raids by other Muslim Sultans. In

1323, the Pandya kingdom including Madurai became a province of the Delhi Empire,

under the Tughlaks.

The 1371, the Vijayanagar dynasty of Hampi captured Madurai and Madurai became

part of the Vijayanagar empire. Kings of this dynasty were in habit of leaving thecaptured land to governors called Nayaks. This was done for the efficient management

of their empire. The Nayaks paid fixed amount annually to the Vijayanagar Empire. After

the death of Krishna Deva Raya (King of Vijayanagar Empire) in 1530 AD, the Nayaks

became independent and ruled the territories under their control. Among Nayaks,

Thirumalai Nayak (1623-1659) was very popular, even now he is popular among people,

since, it was he who contributed to the creation of many magnificent structures in and

around Madurai. The Raja Gopuram of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, The Pudu

Mandapam and The Thirumalai Nayakar's Palace are living monuments to his artistic

fervor.


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Madurai started slipping into the hands of the British's East India Company. In 1781,

British appointed their representatives to look after Madurai. George Procter was the

first collector of Madurai.

Rulers of Madurai Pandyas B.C. 400 – A.D.400

Kalabhras A.D 400 – 550

Early Pandyas A.D. 550 – 985

Chozhas A.D. 985 – 1100

Medeival Pandyas A.D.1100 – 1190

Later Pandyas A.D.1190 – 1334

Madurai Sultans A.D.1334 – 1372

Vijayanagar rulers A.D.1368 – 1529

Madurai Nayaks A.D.1529 – 1736

Arcot Nawab and Others A.D.1736 – 1801

British Rule A.D.1801 – 1947

Now after India's independence, Madurai is one of the major districts of Tamilnadu

State. In 1984, the Vast Madurai district was bifurcated into two districts namely Madurai

and

Dindugul Districts. Subsequently in 1997, Madurai district was bifurcated into two

districts namely Madurai and Theni Districts. In Madurai District, there are 10 State

Assembly constituencies and two parliament constituencies.

Madurai is surrounded by several mountains. The Madurai city has 3 hills as its city

boundary. Yanaimalai, Nagamalai, Pasumalai named after Elephant, Snake and Cow

respectively. It is famous for Jasmine Flowers. Jasmine flowers are transported to other

cities of India from Madurai.

4.2

Town planningMadurai

Madurai, initially “koodal” means confluence of two or more rivers. It was built by apandyan ruler “kulasekara pandyan”. In the North Vaigai river, in the West and souththere will be kiruthimal river, and in the East and west, two vaigai branches passes

around the city, so the city gained its name koodal.

Due to the presence of Vaigai in the north, the buildings and the streets were aligned

non parallel to the North-East (River flow) direction. So, the city perimeter was designed


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14º inclined towards the north direction. It was believed that the inclination favours the

prominent wind movement through the city. Madurai city planning found similar to Greek

and Roman urban techniques, but there were no huge structures, complexes or any

bold structures unlike Roman or Greek planning.

Each and every streets were aligned concentric to the temple complex forming array of

streets. The streets concentric to the temple complex formed the major streets viz.,

Chithirai Streets, Avani Moola Streets and Masi Streets. The next order of streets is

perpendicular to the above streets and lead to the temple entrances.

The developments within and beyond these streets are on an irregular pattern. A definite

hierarchy of street pattern was adopted with the width of the Streets decreasing as they

branched out, ending up in stone paved streets and lanes - the width of some being just

0.60 m. The entire city was enclosed within the fort walls and surrounded by a moat.

The settlement pattern of Madurai is planned according to the ancient system of town

planning which is based on caste and occupational hierarchies. The map shows the

present settelement pattern and its relevance with the ancient town planning system.

Ancient south Indian temple towns are designed by placing the temple complex at the

centre with concentric rectangle pattern of streets around. This can be seen in another

southern temple town srirangam also.

Fig 4.1: Map showing the zoning of the Madurai city.


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Before the extension of the Madurai city on 1168 AD, the total area of the Madurai city

inside the fort walls were found to be 0.4779 sq.kms. The west fort walls of 1.4km length,

north walls of 1.2 kms, east and south walls of distances 1.0 and 1.6 kms respectively.

Soon after the extension the fort walls and the moat was removed. The Fort walls were

present before the veli streets on all four directions before extraction.

Even during the extension the 14º inclination towards the north was maintained for both

buildings and the streets. After the fall of pandya kingdom at 1310 AD, Muslim empire

came to the power, soon then they destroyed many temples and residences. But they

built on the earlier foundation laid by the pandyan rulers, so the street inclination

continues to the next millienium. Near to the temple some buildings like Pudhu

mandapam, heritage buildings and few residences still seen to be inclined at 14º.

Fig 4.2: Plan of Madurai in 1757.


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The width of the streets were found to be the multiples of 14, smaller streets of 28 feet

wide and larger streets of 56 feet wide. The main entrance streets were found to be 86

feet wide.

This time of Nayak rule is one of the more resplendent in the history of the city. There

we a succession of reasonably strong and able rulers, and the period is marked by

relative prosperity. The physical structuring of the city that emerges has survived

surprisingly intact to this day. The first and perhaps most able of the line, Viswanatha

Nayak pulled down the old Pandyan ramparts and erected a considerably larger,

double-walled fortress. He is also credited in local history with having established the

four main streets, which run in expanding concentric squares around the sacred centre:

Adhi, Chitrai, Avani moola and Masi. In establishing the pattern, he is said to have acted

“according to the laws of the Silpa Sastras. Unfortunately there do not seem to be extantrecords of the planning process; Tirumala Nayak, a later successor with a penchant for

grandiose schemes, might have played a part.

Two gopurams, large gateway-towers, are shown here between adhi añd Chitrai streets

By Tirumala’s ttme (early 17th century) these have been incorporated in a new templeboundary wall, with north and south gopurams added. Adhi Street is then inside the

sacred precincts. Tirumala hinted at continued expansion in his Pudumandapam. ‘NewHall’, between Chitrai and Avani Streets, and the beginnings of an enormousRayagopuras just outside Avani Street. But the implications in terms of a whole new

concentric temple court were never realized. He further emphasized the eastern axis in

the excavation of a sacred tank or Teppakulam (the largest of its kind in India), several

miles outside the city. His other major investment was an enormous palace in the

southeast.

Fig 4.3: Schematic sketch of Madurai city.


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Fig 4.4: Connection between Temple and the teppakulam.

4.3

Vastu in Town planning

The claims of the Puranic accounts described earlier and their association with the silpa-sastra are given clear definition in this new city of the Nayaks. The currency of thesestories is evidenced by the appearance during Tirumala’s reign of a new Sanskritversion; the author may even have been a minister in Tirumala’s court. Siva has indeedfound a home. The secular palace, by comparison, is definitely a subordinate elementdiagrammatically. The Telegu-speaking Nayaks, outsiders to the long association

between Madurai and the Pandyans, seem to minimize their role as usurpers of powerby giving schematic dominance to the Pandyan heritage embodied and abstracted inthe deities Meenakshi and Sundareswarar. It is their palace, and their festivalprocessions, which define a vastu-mandala; secular rule operates in this context.

As the Nayaks perhaps suspected, the sacred mandala has indeed proved to be more

basic to the city’s identity than the shifting nature of secular political fortunes. Nayakrule eventually gave way to muslim dominance again, and by the end of the 18th century

the city was in British hands. But the physical form and its significance were little

affected. The accompanying map shows the city in mid-l8th century; the legacy from

Viswanatha is clearly visible.


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As British rule spread across the country and dictated a common allegiance, places

such as Madurai became important tore as political centres than as military outposts.

Around 1860, Collector Blackburn of Madurai had the walls torn down, and the moat

filled in. Small streets and building lots were laid out, and Veli Street, previously just a

lane outside the ramparts, became a broad new avenue. The new openness has to beseen as a major change; part of the traditional definition of dwelling place had been the

idea of an encircling boundary with its gates. Beyond simple military relaxation, one’simpression is of a growing sense of a tame, secularized countryside. There was less

need to delineate habitable space.

The internal organization in Madurai, however, maintained, and still maintains, a

practical integrity, its important energy radiating from the centre. A map done in 1868 of

the whole county still clearly projects the image of the city’ as an ordered square set inthe landscape. And in fact, new edges begin to appear; Veli Street is itself something of

a boundary, the last of the concentric paths. A railway line was built along the ‘westernedge of the city in 1875, and a branch line to the south in 1902. Their location is not

entirely fortuitous, one assumes; the main station is particularly consistent, marking the

termination of a western axis. Only to the east was continuous growth possible. This

had long been a partially developed ex-urban area, in earlier days a favourite retreat for

scholars and holy men. Tirumala’s Teppakulam here provides an axial link to the oldcentre. In general the earlier conscious ordering remains dominant. The attached map

of the situation in 1914 indicates the level of continuity.

Fig 4.5: Plan of Madurai in 1914.


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4.4

Later Madurai

Population growth has been very rapid in the 20th century, and the pressure has led to

inevitable congestion and expansion. A major bridge across the Vaigai opened in 1889;

extensive development was taken place on the northern bank. More recent pressure

has opened up large areas to the ‘west, “across the tracks”. But in both cases, layouthas been diffuse and unstructured, neither reinforcing the old centre nor defining new

ones. In a way this looseness has maintained the significance of the central city, with

its strong imageability. It is this area that deserves a closer look.

This historical overview of the city’s structural development has focused on the largerdiagram, the shape of the city as it appears in maps and aerial views. In fact, this is not

the way one experiences the city; it is a three-dimensional landscape through which onemoves. To return to the framework of analysis suggested in Chapter I, the direct

involvement with a place at human scale is as necessary as a conceptual understanding

of its layout if one is to sense the spirit of a place. Paths, nodes, landmarks, districts

these are all three dimensional and personal events. Only in response to such

information can one create a meaningful diagram of their interrelationships, on paper or

in one‘s mind.

Madurai is a rich intricate environment. A planned city in a sense, it is nonetheless a

surveyor’s nightmare (a good sign of individual liberties and natural forces at work).There are few straight streets of significant length anywhere in the central area; local

events and occurences have their own logic and disturb and distort any larger pattern.

To glass over these idiosyncracies is to miss the significance of how a vastu mandala

functions. Its purpose is to explain, to harmonize, to protect; only indirectly does it

constrain or dictate. In physical terms, this means a primary definition in terms of us

activities and interrelationships — to which the form responds.

A sensitivity to topographical features is suggested in the TiriviIayadal Puranam’sdescription of Madurai’s early fortifications. Presumably in part a justification of thecontemporary Pandyan ramparts they are attributed to the movement of a giant snake.

Venkata ramana ayyar, in his interpretation, goes on to say:

“The walls of the fort were constructed as the natural topography of the land wouldpermit. With the river on one side, mechanical symmetry of the layout for the walls would

have to be purchased at too high a price. This plan thus admitted of several deflections

and zigzag shape. The city of Madurai which was thus encircled by walls which did not

answer to mathematical exactness was henceforth called Tirumu-dangal or the beautiful

city surrounded by zigzag walls”.


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His walls were hardly an exact square either, can be seen in 1757 map. Other distortions

happen internally, Tirumala Nayak’s palace even today is a significant interruption ofthe city fabric. It used to be considerably larger, before Tirumala’s grandson carted a lotof it to trichy; entrance was perhaps near the south east corner of the masi street. The

Huge establishment could exist between the masi Street and the old wall (now velistreet) without interrupting them only because they both deflect from the strict

rectilinearity. The large Perumal Temple creates its own small-scale street network: four

car streets surrounding the temple, and a major road along the east axis from the main

temple entrance.

Fig 4.6: Wide Perumal kovil street.

Much more intricate is the network of pathways within the larger divisions of the city.

These block interiors have many places where the narrow lanes open up and small

neighbourhood centres exist, much quieter than the bustle of the main commercialarteries. Numerous wells define small activity centres. These residential enclaves in fact

retain an almost village like character.

Paul dettman, in a study of ‘cheris’ or subsistence level neighbourhoods in Madurai,says of Indian cities, Village type housing enclaves are to be flourished in open space

between substantial residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Livestock,

everything front ducks to donkeys, are kept by these “urban villagers”, even in thelargest cities. Cows and goats can be seen grazing on whatever sprigs of grass they

can find. As a matter of fact, it is from these cattle that the cities obtain the bulk of theirmilk supply and the “urban villagers” one of the main sources of their income. The “city”


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and the “village” are not separated front each other so as to form two distinct enclaves;they are inextricably mixed together to form the hybrid Indian urban settlement.

Fig 4.7 : A Neighbourhood centre

in the residential area in the temple complex in 1920’s.

One way of seeing these domains scattered through the city is as a remnant of the

process of city building as age aggregation referred to earlier, which becomes imbedded

in the texts as a method of bining disparate groups, each retaining its local identity. InMadurai, these are the areas most likely to retain caste distinctions.

A hybrid ‘rural-urban” style of Indian city life is riot just a matter of appearances. Whenone goes below the surface and probes the underlying attitudes and mores of the

working class residents, he finds those of the villager. In the fundamental areas of family

and social life, village ways, based primarily upon caste practices and traditions,

continue to exercise a predominant influence.

The larger streets, the urban corridors of the city, have their own character. Their gentlemeandering softens the momentum of movement along then. This relaxation occurs

especially at the corners of the large concentric avenue. An example is the north-west

corner of masi Street, where an enormous tree creates a sheltered environment. In the

plan one can see how smaller paths of movement are affected by the shift in direction

at this point. Many of the other corners are places for special events the circle at

southeast Masi, the parks at southwest Avanimoola, and northeast Chitrai, and so on


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Fig 4.8: Street corner having several cart parkings.

The temple complex itself is not confined within a rigid square. Tirumala’s Pudu -mandapam spills out into the city fabric, and amidst the elaborate carvings are to be

found tailors, brass merchants, and booksellers. Even further out the base of the

unfinished Rayagopuram gently suggests the encroachment of sacred space. Secular

use, in turn, invades the enclosed temple compound. Numerous small shops exist

within, and during the hot hours of the day it is a cool, relaxing place to sleep. The

temple environment, like the city, is a wealth of beautiful and often surprising details

within the larger structure. The two central shrines with their surrounding courts, the

adjacent Golden Lily Tank, and the numerous mandapams and gopurams create a

rather overwhelming spatial array; the overall size of the place is not oppressive only

because at the small scale each of the pieces operates within its own logic. The relaxedaccomodation of a double sacred focus is perhaps the ultimate gesture of a general

liveliness.

Only over time does this variegated urban environment begin to reveal its larger

structure. There is no attempt to force the issue; major streets and axes are not

acknowledged with uniform facades or controlled vistas. In fact, the absence of concern

for visual perspective is a key element in one’s response to the place. There is nowherewithin the public realm that one gets an overall view of the city’s layout. Even smal ler

elements are not defined in this way. The bends in the streets hide their extent; thesmall streets radiating out from the gopurams twist and turn, preventing a distant view


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of temple entrances. Francoise Choay has remarked that the use of visual perspective

begins to introduce a new objectivity into urban design and a loss of experiential space;

at this point a transition from place to space occurs. With remarkable consistency,

Madurai unfolds its secrets only through moving rather than stationary encounter. It is

true experiential space in Choay’s terms.

Like mandalas as used in meditation, the city diagram is not itself an object of attention;

it is something to be imbedded in one’s consciousness, a vehicle for understanding.

If one approaches the city from outside, the tail gopurams dominate the landscape and

provide an initial sense of orientation. But the path to the centre is a slow one. The grain

of the city is circular; one has to work across the grain to move inward. The sense of

place is encountered at the outset; this is clearly an inhabited domain. For a permanent

resident, concentric circulation dominates; it moves through the secular zone of the city

while only indirectly acknowledging the sacred centre. Swami Sannidhi Street, a typical

radial axis, gets narrower and narrower as it moves toward the temple, encountering

one major concentric route after another. Each one reduces its momentum. Other routes

to the centre are even more radical juxtapositions, small lanes getting you across from

one broad street to another. The potential subordination of radial streets is a feature

perhaps unique to the planning tradition of India; so also the multiple use of concentric

avenues.

By itself, the simple concentric ordering would leave one with an uneasy sense of a

rotating field. But just as the mandalas of the texts are locked in place by specific deity

allocation, so Madurai exhibits the analogous distribution of trade groups, giving a

cross—grain identity to the pattern. South and east Chitrai Streets house many of thecloth merchants, East Avanimoola Street the paper merchants, South Avani moola

Street the goldsmiths and jewellers, East Masi Street the grain merchants, and so on.

Even the automobile parts dealers congregate, on North Veli street. Each trade group

affects its environment, and this demarcation of territory stabilizes one’s sense oforientation.

At the very centre, the enormous gateways of the temple and the architectural splendour

within confirm the hierarchy suggested in the secular zone. Even here, the layeringcontinues. Adhi Street, the outer court, is away from the fanfare of secular life, but still

an outdoor space through much of its length. Several more concentric courts, suggested

pathways for circumambulation, surround each deity. The intensity increases at each

layer; in the sanctum, sanctorum architectural ebullience gives way to the sights and

sounds of the puja itself.

To test the reality of the diagram, the vastu-mandala imbedded in the landscape of

Madurai, I asked some permanent residents to draw a quick map of the city. They drew

the temple first, with four gateways; then the eastern and western axes; and then theconcentric squares of the streets. The curves and bends of the streets are straightened,


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the cardinal orientation is exact, the projection of two parallel eastern streets from the

shrines of meenakshi and Siva is rationalised in to a single axis. The original impetus of

the planning re-emerges intact.

Chapter 5

History of Roads From stoneways to highways

Thousands of years before urban planning, motor vehicles, or even the wheel, the first

roads appeared on the landscape. Our first roads were spontaneously formed by

humans walking the same paths over and over to get water and find food. As small

groups of people combined into villages, towns and cities, networks of walking paths

became more formal roads. Following the introduction of the wheel about 7,000 years

ago, the larger, heavier loads that could be transported showed the limitations of dirt

paths that turned into muddy bogs when it rained. The earliest stone paved roads have

been traced to about 4,000 B.C. in the Indian subcontinent and Mesopotamia.

To help support the movement of legions throughout their empire, the Romans

developed techniques to build durable roads using multiple layers of materials atop of

deep beds of crushed stone for water drainage. Some of those roads remain in use

more than 2,000 years later, and the fundamental techniques form the basis of today's

roads.

Fig 5: Old roads in North Britain.


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“Without doubt, the champion road builders of them all were the ancient Romans, who,until modern times, built the world's straightest, best engineered, and most complex

network of roads in the world. At their height, the Roman Empire maintained 53,000

miles of roads, which covered all of England to the north, most of Western Europe,

radiated throughout the Iberian Peninsula, and encircled and crisscrossed the entireMediterranean area. Famous for their straightness, Roman roads were composed of a

graded soil foundation topped by four courses: a bedding of sand or mortar; rows of

large, flat stones; a thin layer of gravel mixed with lime; and a thin surface of flint-like

lava. Typically they were 3 to 5 feet thick and varied in width from 8 to 35 feet, although

the average width for the main roads was from 12 to 24 feet. Their design remained the

most sophisticated until the advent of modern road-building technology in the very late

18th and 19th centuries. Many of their original roads are still in use today, although they

have been resurfaced numerous times”.

5.1

Earlier Roads

From the earliest times, one of the strongest indicators of a society's level of

development has been its road system-or lack of one. Increasing populations and the

advent of towns and cities brought with it the need for communication and commerce

between those growing population centers. A road built in Egypt by the Pharaoh Cheops

around 2500 BC is believed to be the earliest paved road on record-a construction road

1,000 yards long and 60 feet wide that led to the site of the Great Pyramid. Since it wasused only for this one job and was never used for travel, Cheops's road was not truly a

road in the same sense that the later trade routes, royal highways, and impressively

paved Roman roads were.

The various trade routes, of course, developed where goods were transported from their

source to a market outlet and were often named after the goods which traveled upon

them. For example, the Amber Route traveled from Afghanistan through Persia and

Arabia to Egypt, and the Silk Route stretched 8,000 miles from China, across Asia, and

then through Spain to the Atlantic Ocean. However, carrying bulky goods with slowanimals over rough, unpaved roads was a time consuming and expensive proposition.

As a general rule, the price of the goods doubled for every 100 miles they had to travel.

Modern road-construction techniques can be traced to a process developed by Scottish

engineer John McAdam in the early 19th century. McAdam topped multi-layer roadbeds

with a soil and crushed stone aggregate that was then packed down with heavy rollers

to lock it all together. Contemporary asphalt roads capable of supporting the vehicles

that emerged in the 20th century built upon McAdams' methods by adding tar as a

binder.


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The actual process of road building has changed dramatically over the past century,

going from large gangs of workers with picks and shovels to enormous specialized

machines. Rebuilding existing roads starts with peeling up existing pavement, grinding

it and dumping it straight into trucks for reuse later as aggregate for new roads. After

grading the surface, pavers come in and lay down fresh, continuous sheets of asphaltfollowed directly by the rollers.

With much of the 20th century punctuated by hot and cold wars, the need to move the

military just as the Romans did led to the development of the modern superhighway,

including the German Autobahn and American interstate system. Military requirements

for long, unobstructed stretches that could be used as emergency runways for aircraft

paid a dividend for civilian drivers who could now cross countries at high speeds in

relative safety. It is believed that the oldest mode of travel was on the footpaths later

on, with the development of bullock carts and other simple animal drawn vehicles, roads

were also developed. These early roads were constructed as kutcha roads, consisting

of ordinary earth. The kutcha roads were soon deteriorated under heavy bullock cart

traffic, thus metalled roads came into existence. The first indication of these roads in

pre-historic period has been revealed by the excavations at Mohenjodaro and harappa

(pakistan). It is believed that these towns were constructed 3500 years B.C. Earth and

paved street pavements have been found in both of these unearthed towns.

The history of India does not reveal much about the different construction material used

during different periods. However, the remains of the road in Rajgir (Patna District),

constructed in 6th century B.C. i.e. during Aryan period and some archeological recordsshow that the materials commonly used at that time for road construction were stones,

mostly in the undressed form. This material was used only for metalling the major roads

whereas all other roads were constructed as ordinary earth roads. In towns, the road

pavements used to be of undressed stone slabs.

Fig 5.1: Western methods of laying roads.


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5.2

Indian road history

Indian civilization, being one of the oldest in the world (4000 to 3000 BC), witnessed the

growth and development of roads along with her own development. Thus, while tracing

out tracing out the history of development of roads in India, one is to study it along with

the development in the political, economic and cultural life of this country.

5.2.1

Pre-historic period

The history of roads is as old as the history of man on earth. The pre-historic men traced

out a narrow way for going out for hunting the food. The narrow way was as footpath orpathway. The pathway is considered as the first road mark laid on the surface of earth.

The utility and necessity of pathway gradually developed with the introduction of

wheeled carts. The pathway was widened into a roadway which was the beginning of

road as a means of communication and transport.

5.2.2

Roads under early Indian rulers

Ancient history of India reveals that long ago; Indians knew the science of roadconstruction. The excavations at Mohenjodaro and Harappa (Pakistan) have

established that even 3500 years BC, there was a well-designed network of roads, and

streets were paved at that time.

5.2.2.1

Aryan period

During the Aryan period, there are references in Rig Veda (Part 1, Para 5) about

'Mahapaths' as a means of communication. About 600 years B.C., a pucca road (6.1 m

to 7.3 m wide) was built in Rajgir (ancient Rajagriha) of Patna district by king Bimbisara.This road was made of stones and is still in existence.

5.2.2.2

Mauryan period

During this period, roads were developed on technical basis specifications were laid

down for width of roads, given to the surface of roads and the convexity of road surface

was compared to the back of a tortoise.


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Artha Shastra, the well- known treatise on administration, gives a good deal of

information regarding roads along with specifications adopted during Mauryan period.

The book of Artha Shastra was written in about 300 years B.C by Kautilya, the first prime

minister of Emperor Chandragopta Maurya.

Chandragopta Maurya(322-298 B.C.) took keen interest in the maintenance and

development of roads. He had a separate department of communications to look after

the public roads. He got constructed the GT Road connecting North-West frontier with

capital Patliputra, the modern Patna. He also got fixed some sign post in the form of

pillars and mile stones along the road side at regular intervals.

Emperor Ashoka took special interest in the improvement of roads and provided

facilities to the travelers. Such facilities were in the form of plantation of trees, digging

walls and constructing rest houses at about 4.8 to 6.4 kms distance along the roads.

The famous Chinese traveler Fahien had spoken very highly of the roads of that time in

the record of his travel.

Fig 5.2: Ancient streets – stone paths in old England, harappan road, mountain stone ways respectively.

5.2.2.3

Roads during the Mughal period

The roads were very greatly improved in India during the Mughal period. ChaharGulshan, which was written in eighteenth century, gives an information regarding 24

important roads which formed the network of roads in India during the Mughal period.


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The road system in those days was considered as one of the best road systems in theworld.

The road from Delhi to Daultabad was constructed by Mohamad Tughlag. Sher Shah

Suri got constructed the longest road i.e. the road from Punjab to Bengal. The present

Grand Trunk Road forms the greater part of the Old Shershahi road, also called

Badshahi sarak. The road from Agra to Allahabad and that from Ujjain to Bijapur were

also got constructed by Muslim Emperor. Many of roads, constructed during Mughal

period exist even today.

5.2.2.4

Roads during the British rule

The economic and political shifts caused much damage in the maintenance of road

transportation. Thus, with the fall Mughal Empire, the condition of roads became

deteriorated.

At the beginning of the British period, a number of old Mughal roads, connecting

important military and business centers were metal led and some new roads were

constructed by Military boards during the time of Lord William Bentinck. But the

administration of roads under military boards was not a satisfactory arrangement. It was

only during the administration of Lord Dalhousie that the central public works

department was established to look after the construction and maintenance of roads.

Later, such departments were created in other provinces also.

Fig 5.3: British streets in India – Chennai, Amritsar and Calcuttarespectively.

Lord Mayo and Lord Rippon contributed a lot in the development of roads because the

affairs of construction and maintenance of roads came. Later, such departments were


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created in other provinces also. Lord Mayo and Lord Rippon contributed a lot in the

development of roads because the affairs of construction and maintenance of roads

came directly under the control of Local bodies. With the development of Railways in

India, the road development received a serious setback. The work of road construction

and maintenance was given a secondary importance and thus the roads gradually lostthe interest of the government.

Major roads, except those of military importance, mainly centered on the feeder roads

to railways. Thus, the outlook on road development was completely changed and they

were considered to be only of local importance. According to Government of India Act

of 1919, the affairs of all the roads, except those of military importance and certain other

roads of national importance were transferred from the central government to the

provincial governments. The provincial governments, in their turn, took over the direct

responsibility of construction and maintenance of roads of provincial importance and

placed the greater part of road mileage in the charge of local bodies.

After World War-1, motor transport came to the fore-front which created revolution in

India's transportation system. Under the continued effect of high speed motor transport,

the existing roads soon get deteriorated. The local bodies, with their limited financial

and meagre technical resources, could not deal with the situation properly and with the

increased motor traffic, the condition of roads went from bad to worse. Then the central

government took the following steps towards the development of roads:

Appointment of Jayakar committee

In 1972, the central government appointed the Jayakar committee under the

chairmanship of DR. M.R. Jayakar to report on the condition of the existing roads and

to suggest ways and means for their future development. In 1928, the Jayakar

committee recommended that since the provincial governments and the local bodies

were unable to look after all the roads and therefore, the central government should

look after all the important roads of national importance.

Creation of central road fund

On recommendation of the Jayakar committee, the central road fund was enforced on

first march, 1929. The petrol tax surcharge at the rate of two annas per gallon (2.64

paise per liters) of the petrol consumed by motor traffic was imposed to build the road

development fund. Out of annual revenue, thus collected, 20% was to be retained by

the central government for meeting expenses on the on the administration purpose,

research and the development of roads under its charge. The balance 80% of the

central road fund was to be distributed among the provinces, according to their petrol

consumption, for maintenance and construction of roads.


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Indian roads congress

In 1934, a semi-official technical body known as Indian Roads Congress (IRC) was

established by the central government as per recommendation of the Jayakar

committee. This body was formed of national importance for controlling standardization,

specifications and recommendations regarding design and construction of roads and

bridges. But the economic depression during that time delayed the road development

programmes.

After World War II, there was a revolution in respect of automobiles using the roads in

our country. The road development at that time could not keep pace with the rapid

increase in road vehicles and therefore, the existing roads started deteriorating fast.

This necessitated proper highway planning by the authorities.

Nagpur plan In 1934, a conference of the chief engineers of central and state government was

convened by the central government at Nagpur. It is a landmark in the history of road

development in India since it was the first attempt to prepare road development

programme in a planned manner. That conference finalized a twenty year road

development plan (1943-1963) popularly known as the Nagpur Plan.

According to that plan, all roads were classified into four broad categories namely

National Highways, State Highways, District Roads and Village Roads. It was also

recommended that the central government should assume complete financial liability

for construction and maintenance of roads classified as National Highways and the

construction of roads of national importance was made the responsibility of the central

government.

5.2.3

Roads during the post-independence period After independence, the government of India started taking much interest towards the

development of roads in the country. The Nagpur plan targets were mostly achieved by

1960 through the first and second five year (1951-56 and 1956-61).

The various steps taken by the Government of India towards the development of roads

in the country after independence are described here:


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Central road research institute

In 1950, Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) was started at New Delhi. This

institute is considered as one of the National laboratories of the Council of Scientific and

Industrial Research in India. This institute is mainly engaged in applied research andoffers technical advice to state governments on various problems concerning to roads.

National highway Act

In 1956, the National Highway Act was passed. According to this act, the responsibility

of development and maintenance of National Highways was given provisionally to the

central government.

Road development plan (1961-81)

In 1958, the next Twenty Years Road Development Plan (1961-81) was finalized at the

meeting of Chief engineers of states. This is popularly known as the Chief Engineer's

Plan. In this plan, due consideration was given to the future developments on various

fields of our country.

According to this Road Development Plan, the total length was almost double to that of

Nagpur Plan target. This plan aimed at bringing any place in a well-developed

agricultural area within 6.44 k from a metalled road 2.41 km from any other category of

road.

We can hope that better organizational arrangements and through intensive future

planning's, India will not only make up the deficiency in roads but she will lead many

other countries in this respect in near future.


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Chapter 6

Madurai Streets In the past

Among the ancient cities of India, Madurai has a unique place with its literary

effloresence, Puranic glories and continuous long history. Known as the 'Athens of the

South', this city has several other names such as Koodal, Naanmadakkudal and Alavai,

Madurai had trade contacts with the cities situated on the banks of river Ganges as well

as Greece and Rome. Foreign traders and spiritualists affiliated to different religions

had associated with Madurai from time immemorial. Even today, Madurai keeps its

glorious past, traditional temple festivals and political importance intact.

The Pandya rulers patronised the Tamil Sangam and helpfully development of the

language and literature. They ruled the country, with its capital at Madurai, since 3rd

century B.C. Subsequent to the Sangam age, this place was ruled by the Kalabhras,

Early Pandyas, Chozhas, Later Pandyas, Madurai Sultans, Vijayanagar emperors,

Madurai Nayaks, Nawabs of Arcot and the British. There are references to Madurai in

the epigraphical records of the 2nd century B.C. Its glorious past is verymuch mentioned

in the accounts of foreigners who visited this place. Its layout and splendours are given

in a picturesque description in literary works such as Madurai Kanchi, Nedunalvadai,

Silappathikaram and Thiruvilayadal Puranam.

The present Madurai was established by the Pandya rulers and expanded during the

Nayak rule. The ancient Madurai of the Pandyas was located within the four Masi

streets. The city area between the Masi streets and Veli (outer) streets was expanded

encircled by a fort with seventy two bastions and four gateways.

There are traces of the reminiscent of the ancient city. For example, there is a

fortification called Melavasal, near Periyar Bus stand. In the centre of the ancient city,

in between the Thirumalai Nayak Palace and the Meenakshi Sundaresvara temple,

there are certain traces of ancient and historically significant buildings and other places.

Madurai streets are as old as the meenakshi temple, and planned according to thetemple’s orientation and the predominant wind direction. As said earlier the width of thestreets are determined in accordance with the temple’s rituals and festivals. The widthswere found to be the multiples of 14. The

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