BHARATHIYA – NON-TRANSLATABLE WORDS: PART 13

Bharathiya Shilpa includes many technical aspects like Architecture, Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, Arts & Crafts like Blacksmithy, Goldsmithy, Metallurgy, Metal Casting, Sculpting, Carpentry, Masonry etc.

96. Shilpa: Bharathiya Shilpa Shastra is a term which is usually misunderstood as a single book or a magnum opus by a single author. Contrary to this; it consists of various text books and treatises by various authors. It includes a lot of disciplines like Civil Engineering, Architecture, Structural Engineering (all these put together comprise Vastu Shastra), Blacksmithy, Goldsmithy, Metallurgy, Metal Casting, Sculpture, Wood craft, Vessel Making, Pottery and Terracotta, Bamboo Craft, Weaving, Dye making, Printing, Boat and Ship Building and many more such ‘Arts and Crafts’ which were practiced by the Artisans and Craftsmen of Bharat.

Vasthu Shastra included Vasthu for living, Vasthu of temples, Vasthu for Forts, Vasthu for Palaces, Village planning, Town Planning, Port Cities and Ports Planning, Roads and Travel Infrastructure, watershed projects like Wells, Canals, Step wells, Lakes etc., grazing fields, forests, observatories and much more.

There are some 200 Shastras which have been preserved as Palm Leaf Manuscripts in various parts of the Country. And they deal with either one or many of the above topics. Some of them like Manasara or Manasollasa are a few thousand years old. Some of them have chapters on metallurgy, alloy making and metal casting also. One of them covers boat and ship building in detail. These 200 Shastras are written in Sanskrit, while there are hundreds of manuscripts written in the local languages. If they are also taken into consideration, the total number of scriptures may cross 1000.

97. Aalaya: Aalaya is a dignified word for a simple term like House. Aalaya can also be considered as Home. It is also sometimes used to denote Refuge.

98. Griha: Griha can be translated as House as it is from the dhaatu “Grih” which actually is a sound that denotes house. 

99. Devalaya: The word Devalaya is usually translated as “Hindu Prayer Hall” or Hindu Place of Worship”. The Devalayas are not only places of worship, they are used for various purposes. Devalayas are used for Social gatherings, Samskaras and other functions, Preparing Medicine and for Medical purposes, as library of manuscripts of scriptures, Gurukulas, places for Arts & Culture, Kothara (Granary), Dharmashalas (Dormitory for travelers), Viprasattras (Hospice with Kitchen), Prasuthishalas (Maternity Homes) and in some cases Mutt (Monasteries) for Parivrajakas (travelling Monks). So one can see how they actually differed from the idea of a Prayer Hall.

100. Rajagriha: Rajagriha is easily translated as Palace, but a palace is a large and impressive building forming the official residence of a ruler, pope, archbishop, etc. The Rajagriha was for Chakravarthy, Maharaja, Raja, Pattedars, Mandalesh, Pattabhaj, Praharaka and Ashtaganin. But they varied in sizes and facilities provided. In Bharath, there is no Pope or Archbishop, but the Shrouthis, Purohiths and Pandiths who were supposed to live in austerity.

101. Grama: Grama also originates from “Grih” dhaatu hence it is like house to a big community. It implies a village, but it is interesting to note some of the terms and words used to denote village from other Bharathiya languages. “Uuru”in Kannada and Telegu is from the Sanskrit “Uuru” which means the thighs and this is equated to the business class of people “uuru tadassya yad vaishya” (it is a place where people come together with Business interest). “Pind” in Punjabi is the word for Village which means “Womb”. “Dehaath” is the Hindi word for village this is indicative of the Dehh Body and Haath Hands again indicating professional work.

102. Nagara: Usually a big town which may or may not have a fort around it; but in some cases it will have a fort outside the town for hiding in emergency and storing grains and ammunition. The Nagara can be called as a tier 3 city.

103. Pura: Pura is a city which has orchids and gardens, has a large population of Vaishyas (Traders and Sellers), it is agitated by the noise of trading folks, also it is graced by seven temples (Sapta Aayathana), showing the cosmopolitan nature of this city. These are tier 2 kind of cities.

104. Rajadhani: This is the capital city. This is also called so, as the Samrat, Maharaja, Raja or Prashnika (Palegar/Savant/Samant) used to have their palaces built here. This city had a fort surrounding it. All facilities for the residents are made available. Usually there would be a very good source of water like a stream, river, big lake/s. These cities usually don’t have trading and commerce with neighboring kingdoms but only internal trading happens. They used to have Raja Griha – King’s palace, Mantri Griha – Minister’s house, Raja Mandapa – courtrooms for ministerial meetings, Aasthana Mantapa – citizens’ redressal court, stables for Horses and Elephants, cowsheds and a substantially big garrison for defense.

105. Pattana: Pattana usually is a city in proximity of waterways, inside a fort with ramparts, with all 56 Jaatis and mainly Vaishyas. This is usually a trade and commerce centre, the commodities are imported and exported, it has an army of minimum 10,000 Sainiks and Raja would have a temporary palace in the Pattna.106. Durga: Durga is a fort. Bharat is a land of forts. The 356 Samantas, 108 Rajas, 56 Maharajas and the 6-8 Chakravarthys have built forts which have withstood the rigours of nature for hundreds years. The Arthashastra – the Indian treatise on economy, monarchy and military strategy describes seven major types of forts differentiated by their major mode of defense


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