Orientation and Township Layout
The plan for the village or the township commences with placing the temple right at the center and expanding the layout in layers and layers of streets, and entrances. The entire township is laid out in the form of a square. If a square shape is not possible then the city could be laid out in a rectangular shape. The following are a few of the generally recommended features of a city.
1. The city should appear as a big square or a rectangle comprising of so many small squares, separated by the roads that run north-south and east-west.
2. Fortifying walls should be built around the city.
3. The city would be divided into four parts by two broad royal roads (Raja marga) that run north-south and east-west. Their width would be about 10 to 12 meters.
4. To go round the city, on the interior side of the fortifying wall, a broad road would be built.
5. The dwelling places of the people of various castes and professions are identified.
6. The markets would be in the North East and prisons would be in the South West.
7. Places like the royal palaces should be in the East.
8. And in the case of temple cities, say as, in the case of Srirangam and Madurai, the principle temple would be at the centre of the city, in the Brahma Sthana. And, there would be fortifying walls built around it; and in which the temples of other deities are accommodated. And the place beyond that fortified wall would belong to the humans and other beings.
The above script is from vimanarchana kalpa which says that the doorway of the sanctum facing east is best (uttamottama-most auspicious); west is next best (uttama); even south is permissible (madhyama); and, to the north it is inferior (adhamam), not desirable.
Where it is impossible, for some reason, for the temple to face the town, this is remedied by painting an exact likeness of the sacred image in the Garbha-griha upon the wall of the temple facing the desired way towards the village.
Temple Architecture (Part II) Link: https://www.merakitale.com/post/temple-architecture-part-ii
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