Early Indian Architecture: Palaces

Ananda Coomaraswamy’s Early Indian Architecture-Palaces is, like all his writings, a masterpiece. In this study, he has discussed about prasada or the palace on the basis of the evidence from literary sources and early Indian sculptural examples. He has examined the various parts and components of the palace such as the storeys, the streets leading to and inside the palace, walls, gateways, different quarters and apartments, pillars, windows, etc., besides the material employed in the construction of the multi-storeyed prasadas, the development of gavaksha or the arched window, which was a characteristic feature of early Indian architecture. The specialist would find particularly illuminating the exposition of the technical terms relating to prasada and its various components and the correlation of the literary and the sculptural evidence. The eighty-four illustrations in the form of photographs and text-figures have been supplemented by detailed notes.