MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF A SMALL TOWN‐ BARKUR IN COASTAL KARNATAKA, INDIA 

3 LITERATURE REVIEW:

3.1 Overview of Morphology in history:

The term ‘morphology’ has its roots in biology which deals with form and
structure of organisms(Hanks, Thomas, & Laurence, 1979).This term was later
allied in various fields for the understanding of form as a process with underlying
structure, distinguishing it from the form itself by which the potentials of the matter
(object) is realized. This study was used in symmetry, pro-morphology,
psychology, theory of perception, sociology, literature…… and finally geography
and architecture.

3.1.1 Urban Design Studies:

Urban studies have its beginning in late nineteenth century along with social
sciences. (Berry and Harton, 1970) These were primarily concerned with location,
size and shape of the cities. Initial finding were strongly subjective, descriptive and
dependent more on observations such as the works of Hassert (1907) and
Blanchard (1911). Context of site and surroundings involving people and
movement was incorporated by Aurousseau (1924) and Crowe (1938).
Morphological studies based on built up fabric of cities was initiated by Conzone
(1960) and Smails (1955). The methodological framework borrowed from
Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

economic theories of Cooley (1894), Weber (1899), Hurd (1903) and incorporated
economics of location, analysis of land values and rents, and concepts of modality
and accessibility. Later in 1960-70 factorial ecology (1955, Shevkry and Bell),
behavioral aspects, cognition and perception (Lynch, 1960, Dowson and Stea,
1973, Gould and White, 1974) were introduced in this study. Analysis of activities
of man; the physical form of structures developed for these activities and their
association and arrangements with one another and with the land. This is expected

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to provide theoretical notions regarding the morphology of the towns viewed as the
expression of their origin, growth and function (Dickinson, 1984) (Yadav, 1987)

American planning in the dawn of 20th century was developed on the belief of
grand order in town representing healthy society. (Broadbent, 1990) They had an
anti-urbanist attitude which looked at urban social order as anonymous,
mechanical, where people could get lost and wanted to capture community sense
and values from the rural life and the new towns revolving around family
neighborhood and community definitions. Some of the names which contributed
were psychologist William James, educator philosopher John Dewey, sociologist
Robert Park, social worker Jane Adams who emphasized on local communities,
neighborhoods and sense of place, so that families and individuals retain identity in
the huge populous of urban agglomeration. In response to these planners like
Clarence Perry came up with neighborhood unit, Ebenezer Howard came up with
garden city concept, Daniel Burnham extended the city beautiful movement to
modern American towns, Frederick law Olmsted, considered father of American
landscape design emphasized on public garden network in the city. In 1950’s- 60’s
there was a criticism on this kind of physical plan oriented design, as it did not
necessarily relate to social form of the environments. Urban design then had
become an exercise of beautification, creating an aesthetic order, as a response to
location market demand of urban space involving local politics which led to districts
being leveled and reconfigured with least regard to social life and roots of identity
of place, disrupting people’s life experiences. Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

3.2 Morphology of town:

In such a study behavior patterns of individuals, institutions and forms which

occur in the spatial patterns largely determine the physical structure of a city
(Chapin, 1957). The urban areas are complex systems which have created
myriads of problems and the need for adjustment and modification in the physical
form of the urban environment. This physical form is called morphology of the

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towns. This means we need to seek an understanding which is interdisciplinary

concerned with effect of social life on spatial organization – how spatial
organization is sometimes a product of social structure. This has long been the
concern of geographers, but recently anthropologists (Levi-Strauss, 1963,
Bourdieu, 1973, 1977), theoretical sociologists (Giddens, 1981) and archeologists
(Ucko et. Al., 1972; Renfrew, 1977; Hodder, 1978) have become aware of spatial
dimensions of their subjects and its importance to questions of social morphology
and structure.(Hillier Bill, 1984)

3.2.1 Cognition

It is involved in everyday behavior where one tries to find routes, places and
organize the spatial knowledge of everyday experience for further problem solving
purposes. Learning and assimilation go on simultaneously with using past set of
unobservable structure in day to day use of space. Lynch(1960) notes that when
he interviewed people in three cities and classified their observations into paths,
nodes, landmarks, district and edge, the errors were in terms of distance and rarely
topological.
Appleyard (1970) analysis of sketch maps notes highly structured information of
areas loosely connected in-between.

Beck and Wood (1976) provided students with formal mapping language and
analyzed the features, errors and distortions in it as they surveyed London.
Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

Golledge (1976) studied sketch maps with distortions metrically.

McCleary and Westbrook (1974) studied travel pattern in visitors with different
kind of printed maps to a historical village.

Linde and Labov (1975) said that the structure of the tour route could be
predicted after they studied the verbal apartment descriptions.

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Piaget and Inhelder (1967) studied the cognition of space in children and gave
important classification of space into topological, projective and Euclideau.

Hart and Moore (1973) later studied the same body of work and proposed a
modified version.

Seigel and white(1975) concentrate their review on large space cognition and
state that both children and adults use the ‘Now Print’ mechanism where the
assimilation of spatial knowledge is through series of snapshots of nervous system
at critical moments.

One of the problems of cognitive maps that they look different from different
approach as in the case of the Blind men .and the elephant, in addition they are
different for different people hence we need to understand for different aspects of a
cognitive maps as well as individual variations.
One aspect of cognition is that it is set of knowledge loosely connected which is
chosen as per the need of project to be designed there is no single map as in real
world which is referred for the spatial questions.
Second aspect is that the cognition is a network of intersections and routes
where shape and length are not important and the errors are due to distortions in
the space preserving the network structure.
Third aspect is that there are independent parts which have permutations and
combinations to make a whole for a particular case. Hence the parts need not add
to one whole or that change in approach in any part may lead to confusion.
Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

3.2.1.1 The environmental psychology

The environmental psychologist suggests than man environment is a dynamic

feature. Man lives in its environment which is a total milieu in terms of its physical,
biotic and cultural attributes. There is a give and take between the man and the
environment where environment is adapted for man’s needs and the man also
adapts to the environment.

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The key variables in the man environment interaction are perception and
cognition- the internal mental processes by which individual’s sense, perceive,
interpret and make decision about their environment (John Gold, 1980). These
processes have created a unified paradigm for man environment relationships.

Cognition is a broad term which includes sensing, perceiving, remembering,

imagining, judging, deciding and adopting or any other mental process. It is
intimately related to knowledge, experience and behavior of human beings,
whereas perception is a more specific term. It is the physiological function that
enables the individual to convert sensory stimulation into organized and coherent
experience. Thus perception itself is a cognitive process. (Gold, 1980)

3.2.1.2 Geographic Space Perception

Downs in his attempt (1970) postulates three distinct approaches to analyze

geographic space perception. First he advocates the structural approach which is
concerned with a way in which the array of information about a place (city) is
perceived. As a matter of fact, one cannot remember all elements perceived by an
individual about an environment so, an individual follow a process of selection and
ordering or he gives a structure to his sense perception. Thus it is evident that a
mental map of the city is constructed in which useless detail is discarded and
predominant data set is detained. The second approach is known as evaluation
approach, in which the individual after obtaining knowledge and experience of the Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

environment evaluates its distinct character so that he can make decisions and
take action, according to the image held about a particular environment. The third
approach preference approach, is a way in which preferences are developed
among a set of objects distributed in space (Carter)

3.2.1.3 Classification of urban perception

Appleyard (1973) had postulated a threefold – rational classification

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Operational perception: when people move in a city they gather familiarity

about many elements in the city because they use them as reference points in their
everyday life. They notice them, remember and evaluate their importance and thus
create a working mental structure of the city. They derive it through their repetitive
activities.

Responsive perception-as a matter of fact people become more familiar with

those places which are unique or unusual features which make an immediate
impact on man’s sensory image and generate response.

Inferential perception- the people evaluates the new data of the city with past
experience from parallel situation.

3.2.1.4 The image of the city:

In this the classification of urban perception is devised to provide an analytical

system which reasonably represented the way in which city images and perception
themselves, are structured. Lynch in 1960 provided the five elements with which
the physical element of the city was analyzed which were, paths, edges, districts,
nodes and landmarks. However, though his objective was to find the main
elements in the city landscape and their structural relation. It is observed that he
asked questions centered on passive mode of perception examining the people’s
reaction to contrasting environments rather than looking at more active mode
where people imposed meaning upon their urban environment. (Gold 1980)
Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

Several distinguished scholars conducted research on imageability concept

such as Appleyard (1970), Jonge (1962) and Gallick (1963) who conducted the
research in Venezuela, Netherlands and Lebanon respectively. They analyzed the
area level component and concluded on why some landmarks should be included
in the cognitive image of the city based on Lynch’s structure. Other pioneers in this
field are Lee (1965), Carr and Schissler (1969), Downs (1970), Golledge, Briggs
and Demko (1969), Orleans (1973), Golledge and Zannaras (1973) and Ladd
(1970). All of these scholars have further investigated the visible components of

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the city image and postulated that the mental maps may be viewed as an essential
component of human adoption and use of a particular environment. All these
scholars have followed the concepts of legibility, image ability, and methods of
collection of data, and analysis as devised by Lynch.

Later Pocock concludes on drawbacks of Lynch’s method as memory maps

require skill and are not direct representation of cognitive maps, there are non-
visual components in the cognitive map which is not recorded, lack of functional
and symbolic meaning associated with space in the analysis which requires more
active participation by the perceiver and his relation with the environment. Finally
the five element proposed by Lynch has no underlying theoretical justification
hence has been challenged by many. It has been modified by Pocock (1975) as
point feature, linear feature and areas which consist of buildings, paths and areas
respectively.

However the study of image of the city is of practical utility in the field of
planning because circulatory image not only interact with each other but also
condition each other. ‘Controlling the location and timing of Development by the
distribution of marketable development rights (1975), by Lynch were of great
practical value and he implemented his ideas of systems of open space design
giving public access to water front and preserving historic places, making
government and Haymarket area of Boston one of the most successful urban
space of contemporary American City. It is important that the city provides its
residents an easy key to take decisions, where to shop, where to live and where to Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

work and how to locate unknown places. Lynch converted his theories and ideas
to specific problem based solutions in his works, ‘Study of San Diego’(with Donald
Appleyard, early1970’s), Analysis of visual form of Brooklyn, Massachtes’(1965),
Sensuous criteria for highway design’ (with Donald Appleyard 1966), the urban
landscape of San Salvador: environmental quality in an urbanizing Region(1968),
looking at the vineyard(with Sasaki, Dawson and Demay, 1973) and ‘Design and
managing the strip’ (with Michael Southworth, 1974).

3.2.1.5 Classification of User Groups

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• classification as per age and sex- below 10, 10-18, 18-25, 25-35, 35-55,
55-70, 70 and above. In each category male and female would be
identified.
• Classification as per location in the town. Next to city center, close to the
main streets of the town, next to landmarks, mixed land use areas, pure
residential areas.
• Classification as per income group and occupation, organized sector and
unorganized sector, regular job, own business, irregular job, labor class.
Income group below 20 thousand per year, 20-50 thousand per year, 50-
1.5 lakh per year, 1.5-4 lakh per year, 4-7 lakh per year, 7-15 lakh per year,
15 lakh and above.
• classification as per caste and religion the following caste are distinct in this
region the Brahmin, Konkani, bunts, maugaveers(fishermen),
acharyas(artisans), koosal(labour class), Muslims, Christians. There are
further varieties but these are the dominant ones.
• classification as per typology of building user where the ones living in shop
cum residence type, temple cum residence type, small scale industry cum
residence, ancestral old house and small new bungalow type.

3.3 Analyzing town morphology in terms of space syntax

Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

City can be seen as series of spaces or a network of human activity but are
they two different things to be seen (physical city or social city) or is there a way
they can be seen together. Social city is important to bring life to the physical city
however it thrives within the conditions (constraints) put by the physical city.

‘Space syntax’ is trying to define space both in terms of social and physical
aspects as a singular feature. But the problem comes when the social pattern are
changing with time within the same set of physical features set up in a particular

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social context. However this can be seen other way as the study of old spaces
reflects the old social context and the change in spatial configuration may account
for the change in social context.
In space syntax first spatial configuration is studied for its potential to embody
social ideas then the relation is turned into measures and representations
geometry of spatial structure. It was a scale of measurement from segregation to
integration. This allowed statistical comparison of different spatial patterns of
different cultures. This is based on the belief that space has inbuilt logic of social
content which could be explored in different ways by different social context. This
developed a one city format which qualified space in quantitative terms the social
and cultural content through which it expresses social meanings. This is the core
argument of ‘social logic of space’.

Space syntax through as set of theories developed different model for each of
socio-spatial phenomenon for example an urban model, urban movement model,
crime model, land-use model, even social segregation model. Here urban model is
a general model which discusses the integration and segregation dimensions in
terms of spatial organization patterns. Since the syntax models are self-
explanatory of the phenomenon they are addressing to give the social origins and
consequences of spatial patterns they have proved so applicable in design.

3.3.1 Foundations:
Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

There are two formal ideas on which space syntax is built.

• First aspect is that space is intrinsic part of human activity where his
movement is linear his activity and interaction is in a convex space and his
view from a point is in the form of variable shape, often spiky, visual fields
called isovist (Benedikt 1979)
• Second is that space configuration is the interaction between many spaces
where parts make up the whole. Configuration allows us to include different

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ways in which it can be experienced and hence closer to social meanings

and consequences.

In space syntax analysis we could choose lines, convex spaces, isovist or

points as elements for analysis depending on the aspect of human spatiality that is
being investigated.

The basic urban relation

Understanding the social city on either side of physical city means to

understand how social pattern were included in the layout of the city. Since streets
are of great significance for connectivity, coming together and hence movement
there is a theory of natural movement (Hillier et all, 1993) which helps us to
understand cities as a socially meaningful pattern of integration and segregation.

This when applied to different cities showed some typical characteristics. First,
as the radius of application of integration of movement changed, the characteristics
of the diagram changed. As the examples studied showed that the local cultural
differences in spatial configuration was seen in smaller radius analysis of choice
and integration while in large radius of whole cities the result depicted universal
patterns in the global cities of the deformed wheels. This is explained as the logic
of key location of admin and commercial facilities are through convenience and
economic considerations located with universal pattern of being in most easily
accessible and most well connected parts of the city. However in the local sectors Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:
in the residential areas the factors of social and cultural aspects of privacy and
segregation will play a part in the physical configuration of the streets.

The measure of accessibility for to-movement of a space is our integration

measure. The measure of through-movement potential assesses the degree to
which each space lies on simplest or shortest paths between all pairs of spaces in
the system. In syntax this is called the choice measure.

These measures to make valid conclusions for analysis the following notions
are accepted as important. The linear quality of access and paths is important,

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where the map is divided into longest possible straight lines and intersections as
junctions or links. (Hillier and Hanson 1984)

Then the above measures could be implemented for various radii to conclude
the pattern at each scale of urban pattern. However since axial line analysis
assumes the number times one has to turn as a measure it does not include
distance and the geometry of the turn. Hence other parameters like a. shortest
path (metric distance of travel), b. least angle change (geometric)geometry of turn,
c. fewest turns (topological) number of axial line intersections, were included in the
parameter to give logic to movement pattern of the people in the city.

It was seen that the geometry explained closest the real pattern of movement
and next came number of turns and the least applicable was the distance. This
result is also supported by cognitive psychologist as to the map or model of the city
as understood by the mind is not accurate in terms of distance but rather in terms
of geometry and number of turns. (Hillier and Iida 2005).

This throws light into modeling of city structure where the method of zones and
linkages irrespective of microstructure makes the analysis irrelevant to compare
with reality or understanding of the morphology.

3.4 Evolution of Indian towns- studies from ancient texts and

other towns
The Indian settlement evolved from the economic stability achieved with
Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

agriculture to have permanence in the collective dwelling in a particular place.

Often occupied by same caste and profession these clusters did not necessarily
demarcate the different social strata rather they incorporated the central open
space to which each dwelling looked into. This open space was for collective
activities of gathering and celebrating festivals, ceremonies, discussions etc. In
addition there were communal granaries, pasture grounds, public meeting areas,
sheds for domesticated animals and the houses distinguished into family houses
and single bachelors’ quarters. In the Vedic times there are similar description of

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settlements along with the description of hermitage in the forest areas for the
sages and the hermits. In the Jataka tales and other Buddhist literature the village
pattern included a definite boundary, road network, pasturage, communal hall,
place of worship, village gate etc. with a capacity of 100 to 5000 families at a time.
(B.B.dutt, 1925, p. 32). There was no distinction between village and town other
than more population and elaborate facilities in some and due to economic
prosperity more elaborate structures (Amita Ray, villages, towns and secular
buildings in ancient India, Gram Sannivesa, and pg 27)

The cultural evolution of the settlement definitely affected the settlement pattern
along with climate, technology, local material and functional requirements. The
central open space has evolved into courtyard in havelies or structures with some
housing multiple families with interaction between the houses and visual link
across various households. The cultural references for India if looked from
traditions, language, music, food, customs and architecture relate to various sub
culture and they are several millennia old. The records prove that 326 B.C. there
was a definite influence of Greek culture through Alexander’s invasion, he left his
general Seleukos as his representative, who later was defeated by Chandragupta
Maurya and won the hand of Greek princess, after this came the influence of
Bactrian Greeks(close to Afghanistan) who were converted to Buddhism, followed
by Sakas. This was more in Northern India than the south. The Sakas were taken
over by Parthias (close to Iran) and later by Kushanas (nomadic tribe in the
neighborhood of China). This influence was upto central and north - western India. Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

Throughout these times there was a constant amalgamation of various beliefs and
a harmonious order of society was built giving individual identity as well and social
integrity. This was reflected in rituals, architecture and town planning systems
where variety and diversity was given identity with different blocks or quarters with
varying characteristics yet the whole was held together with some unifying principle
of center and hierarchy. The Islamic influence in 11th century was different from
others as it clashed in their fundamental beliefs and unlike the previous invasions
the ruled and the rulers did not accept or adapt to each other’s belief. This was
brought as close as possible in 16th century Barber which he called as Islam in

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Hindustani way. This was further developed in architecture and town planning of
the Mughal times known as Indo-Islamic style. (Mohamed, 2007, pp. 13-24). The
culture which distinguished the Indian settlement from the western counterpart was
that the residence did not reflect a symbolic status in the society and also the
symbolism was rendered by the rituals and customs of religion. Though not visibly
distinct there were micro clusters of social groups with different social status and
independence for diverse spatial interpretations. Writh in his studies pointed out
that the presence of multiple social groups in a small area led to complex form of
urban structure different from that of a village evolving a definition of urban space,
city imagery, religious beliefs, world view and residents idea of place. (Basant,
2009, p. 76) Built space is governed by the ideology of the times as well as
complex interactions of different social groups and ethnic societies. The most
well-known cities of Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi have been
conceptualized by the colonial settlers hence not truly indigenous in terms of
morphology or social context. The two indigenous forms from pre-colonial period
could be classified as Hindu style like Varanasi, Patan, and Ujjain etc. and Islamic
style post Mughal era like the Shahjanabad, Agra, etc. and there have been
instances of confluence of the two like in the case of Bhopal, Ahmedabad etc.
(Mukherjee, Monsoon 2012, pp. 5-10)

The Hindu patterns originated from the road and street geometry and
cosmological concepts. They had distinct temple districts, with market nodes and
fort precinct evolving a wall within a wall (concentric or layered) zoning of areas. Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

The other subdivision may have included social strata of caste or occupation as
the basis. Weinstein, 1974 postulated three dimensions for the Hindu cities; one is
socio-economic dimension represented by the bazaar, the political dimension
represented by the fort precinct and finally the religious dimension represented by
the temple complex, sometimes overlapping with each other or sometimes
distinctly separated. (Vinod K Tewari, 1986). This explanation however has not
explained the forms and typologies of the settlements evolved in pre Islamic eras
and feel over simplified in terms of settlement logic.

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The Harappan civilization’s depiction and understanding is comparatively new

and less established. However the remains of the cities represent a definite
understanding of construction and layout at large scale of urban kind of settlement
with the grid iron street system along with extraordinary drainage and sewage
system. There was a definite classification of the citadel and lower city close to that
of Greek settlement as seen in Mohenjo- Daro and Harappa cities. Though there
were no distinct palaces or temple structures there seem to have been number of
structures for ceremonial purposes and community rituals such as the bath, small
cult worship areas, education areas etc. and other structures were the
administrative block, market areas, granaries, factories and processing areas for
glazing beads, grains, brick and pottery. The construction and layout showed great
understanding of sanitation technology as well as good construction technology
with bricks as the building material. The residential areas similarly well-built also
showed planning sensitivities such as the grid pattern where individual houses
opened into minor street right angled to the major access roads with drainage
lines. The minor routes represented pedestrian scale with buildings shading the
roads and the major routes served for ceremonial procession as well transport
thoroughfare with animal driven carts with wheels. The citadel was enclosed with
40’wide embankments of bricks and as in the case of Lothal shipping dock yards
and revetments for trade purposes. (Morris, 1994, pp. 32-34)

Vastu-Shastra was the document referred to many of the ancient cities

surviving today where the term ‘vastu’ means site that is designed ( including Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

ornaments, furniture, architectural details, buildings, built landscape elements like

gateways, drains, water tanks and gardens and settlements and streets system of
all sizes and forms. The science of this was called ‘sastra’ and the study of it is
called ‘vidya’. The ‘silpasatra’ which means the art of building and construction
were written around 500-700CE in different parts of India varying as per cultural
and climatic context like Manasara was written in 500-700CE, Tantrasamuccaya
was compiled in 15th cent. The origin of the texts however cannot be traced
affirmatively as they were verbally passed from generation to generation and origin
was dedicated to divine being which cannot be placed in history. Since the concept

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of the mandala was modular the nomenclature and concepts across various scales
from details to buildings to settlement pattern were the same. The ‘sthapati’
designs the built forms as well as the settlement structure where the basic unit of
square was congruent with the human body in harmony with the cosmos
(represented in circle) and represented in space (depicted in square). (Sinha,
2011, pp. 129-131) Designing involved selection of site, marking of boundaries,
design of fortification and gates, marking street system and categorizing various
blocks. This then extended to designing key buildings and street fronts and built
forms in the landscape. According to Samaranga sutradhara there are sixty four
square mandalas which can be used for all types of settlements. (Stella, 1946) The
construction of mandala leads to harnessing the untapped wild potential of the site
to create an order in harmony with cosmos and create a habitable system blessed
with the divine powers of the Gods and nature Gods. In temple towns the temples
and pilgrim sites guide the location of centres and the pilgrim is guided through
subsidiary temples and tanks recreating the mandala through ritual movement like
in the case of Tirunannamalai, Madurai, Srirangm, Kanchipuram, Khumbhakonam,
Tanjavur etc. the whole settlement gets included in the system of temples and
ceremonial path and becomes blessed by the deity. The capital town included that
the royal palace are should occupy one ninth of the city area and be located in the
north or east of the temples in the city’s center as in the case of Jaipur. The
sectors definitely represent the nine squares of the mandala and with definite
modular proportions followed in the planning of town, street system and block
divisions. Till date all these cities have displayed strong imagery and distinct
Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

identity and aesthetics appreciated till date hence it can be safely said that the
validity of these systems for the present times cannot be obsolete.

The evolution of the present cities can be definitely traces to 5th cent. B.C. like
towns of Kasi (Varanasi), Sravasti, Campa, Rajagraha, Saketa, Kausambi etc.
(Finn Barnow, 1977, p. 13). The development of the towns in India could be due to
village growing in size and complexity, pilgrimage center flourishing to a temple
town, political strong hold of fortress growing to a town, trade center or market
flourishing into a town, political security of key geographical areas like a port,

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mountain range, travel routes etc. making it ideal place for a capital town. The
svatah pravrtta (inherent quality) of towns were Puskara- towns on river bank or
sea shore, Durga –fortified towns, Mandira Temple towns, Pattanam- trade towns,
Sadan, Sadma, Nivasa, Samparayika etc. while para pravrtta (external factors) for
evolution of towns were Sthaniyam, Katakum or Pattam type where it was a seat of
political and administrative powers like Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Patliputra etc.

In Manasara the village consist of four gates on four cardinal directions,

surrounded by wall, beyond which is a moat filled with water. Two main streets
usually running N-S and E-W connect the four main gates and cross at the centre
where there is a main temple or a meeting hall. The four main blocks hence formed
are further divided into many blocks by street network generally having houses at
both sides. Drains follow the slope of the ground, tanks and ponds are dug at the
inhabited areas, temples of worship, public gardens/ grounds are similarly located.
People of the same caste or occupation are generally located in the same block.
The cremation area is usually placed outside the wall usually at the N-W side.
There are eight classes as per Manasara due to street geometry

Dandaka-It is with grid iron street network resembling a phalanx or staff, the
middle street being broader and four gates at the center of each side.

Sarvatobhadra- It is linear or long in shape also has grid iron street network
with inner streets having single line of houses and outer streets have double line of
houses and center having temples dedicated to Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva.
Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

Nandyavarta- This too is square and oblong with other features of

Sarvatobhadra except with the grid iron modified to form a concentric street
pattern.

Padmaka- influence by the flower this radial shape of street system is having a
strong center with equal height and breadth of the village and enclosed with
circular, hexagonal or octagonal wall. Mayamata has five varieties of this village.

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Swastika- the streets of this village relate to swastika geometry where the
center and gate positions area same as Nandyavarta whereas internally it is more
private and secure.

Karmuka: the plan of this village resembles a bow as the name suggests
resembles a bow/ semicircular, genrally used for settlement next to sea-shore and
port towns.

Prastara: this is similar to a counch where there are three roads east west and
3-7 roads in n-s direction. Hence the shape could be square or oblong in
proportion.

Sampatkara: this has 8 principle streets in E-W direction and 28-32 in N-S
direction and is considered the abode of Shri Laxmi.

The predominant division system used is padavinyas/ squares varying from 8 to

81 subdivisions as per the size and requirements of the settlement. In all types the
centre is emphasized by the intersection of cross streets with the brahma-sthana
or a temple. The common feature other than the above mentioned is that the plan
form is articulated by gates at the extreme ends of the main streets and the
number of N-S streets are more than the E-W so that the easterly were longer for
better air circulation. The classification of roads as per function was raj-marg-
48feet approx., Jyestha- 36feet, Madhya- 30feet and Kanishtha-24feet. The other
vehicular roads (yana marga/ vithis) were 18, 15 or 12 feet wide and the pedestrian Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:
path (padyas) were 6 to 3 feet wide. The Jathivarnadhivasa according to
Samaranga sutradhara was goldsmith, army and other artisans in the south-east,
Vaisyas, Potters, Cartwheelers, Dancers, dramatists, Dice players in the south,
Fishermen, Sheperds, Hunters, Hugeers in the south west, sudras in the west,
labourers, distillers, wine sellers, offices in the north west, Brahmins, priests,
astronomers, assembly hall, watershed in the north, commodity sellers in the
north-east, royal dignitaries, priests, prime minister, army chief in the east. (Shukla,
1961, reprint 2008, pp. 226-269). Since the Old maps of Barkur were not available
and there could have been number of changes in terms inner road layouts, types

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and categories of people settled and the distribution of facilities over the centuries
finding authentic structure of the original town and its type is next to impossible.
Yet the main principles of main cross roads in the cardinal direction, strong center
marked by Kalchapra, fort complex towards the east do indicate an influence of the
above said principles. Since the study is more to understanding the structure as it
is in the present the comparison with the sastras and the authentication in terms of
origin of palnning is beyond the scope of this research work.

3.4.1 Earlier studies in the area of Barkur and south Canara district:

The earliest works on Barkur were done as a brief description of history with
specific goals of project or research goals and some were an overview with very
little details of Barkur in specific. Ramesh K.V. A history of South Canara Dharwar,
1970, was one of the first to describe the role of Barkur in the history of South
Canara, research reports like ‘Annual report on the south Indian epigraphy’,
Ephigraphia Carnatics, Ephigraphia Indica, Indian Antiquary, and journals like,
‘Journal of the Bombay branch Asiatic society’, Quarterly journal of Mythic society
Bangalore,’ Madras district manuals, south Canara, editors wrote in brief about
Barkur. And more in a fragmented form specific to the studies. Many inscriptions
were copied and reported in 1901 in Government Epigraphist report. In the year
1920-21 Longhurat, Superintendent of Archeological survey visited the place and
examined some of the monuments. Brief account of historical importance and Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:
monuments were published in the annual report of the Archeological Department,
Southern Circle Madras.

In 1923 the district education council suggested that history be taught in

elementary schools as story. For this Mr. M. Babu wrote a small booklet of 42
pages entitled Barakurina Gata Vaibhava in Kannada. He collected information
from Markendaya Purana, Sturrock’s manual, Buchanan’s travels, and Sthala
Puranas of the temples, Aliyasanthana Kattukathegale and foreign sources. He
however neglected the inscriptions of Barkur.

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No authentic study of the place is made though it is briefly mentioned in the

historic studies done by Ganapathy Rao Aigal in 1928 called Dakshina Kannada
Jillhaya Prachina Ithihasa. Shenappa Hegde’s Dakshina Kannada Jilheye Charitra
and Bhutalla Pandya Rayana Aliyakattu have many defects in terms of historical
facts.

In 1936 Seletore’s book Ancient Karnataka vol. I, history of ‘Tuluva’ was

published. However Barkur was not done in detail and many statements regarding
the history have been proved false in recent studies.

In 1965 K.V. Ramesh wrote is Ph.D. thesis on the history of south Canara but
he stops with the fall of the Vijaynagara dynasty and the topic being vast Barkur
was not dealt in detail.

In 1963 Gururaj Bhat’s book, ‘Tulunadu’, was published in Kannada which

covers the general history of the culture of Tulunadu region and does not deal with
Barkur specifically. His PhD thesis dealing with Political and cultural history of
Tulunadu (A.D. 7th century to 1600) almost all aspects of history of the region was
dealt but detail discussion of activities in Barkur was not done.

Gururaj Bhat, P. Studies in Tuluva history and culture, Kalianpura, 1975 is

extension of the same study. His post-doctoral work gives an introduction of
historical importance of South Canara and Antiquities of South Canara. He wrote a
couple of articles about Barkur of which some are Sculptures from Barkur, Barkur Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:
Panchalingeshwara Devalaya, Antiquities of Jainism in Tulunadu,
Barkur(Barakanuru, Barakanyapure) - the historic city of Tulunadu and Alupa
Kalada Chinnada Nanya Pandya Gayana. He also wrote a booklet named ‘Barkur’
for children.

K.G. Vasantha Madhava’s Religions in Canara a post-doctoral work touches in

bits and pieces the religious conditions in Barkur especially in the later period.

The doctoral thesis of B. Vasantha Shetty ‘Barakuru (metropolitan city of

antiquity) - It’s History and Culture’ covers history and culture of Barkur in detail

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including the findings from epigraphy, foreign writings, ballads, traditions,

numismatics and archeological monuments. It is a detailed study of History and
culture of the capital city Barkur of the Alupa kingdom (12th century A.D) and later
the provincial capital of Vijaynagara dynasty and closes when it ceases to be a
capital city (17th century A.D.). He has used numerous lithic and copper plate
inscriptions from Barkur, other parts of Dakshina Kannada and up-ghat areas of
Karnataka. Totally 150 inscriptions have been studied of which some are published
in South Indian inscriptions Vol. VIII. These inscriptions are mainly from temples
and a few Epigraphs found near the house of certain individuals and those which
stand by the road side. (Shetty, 1984)

The literature review represents the evolution of urban studies for morphology
of town. The methods of modern town planning have in most cases originated in
the west. However the design principles of old Indian towns cannot be understood
in its essence with the methods involving physical analysis based on western
philosophy of land use, traffic pattern etc. In the case of Barkur, it is not possible to
prove whether the theoretical principles of town planning from any of the ancient
Indian text are applied and whether the street and form of the present has its origin
from 8th century A.D. Hence it is necessary to define the morphology of the town in
irrespective of land use, density and movement analysis and at the same time
analyze it for its contemporary use and function. Hence perceptual analysis
derived from people seemed the most appropriate to derive the morphology of
Barkur town. Hence the understanding is rooted with the present context as well as Chapter: LITERATURE REVIEW:

the bias of modern concepts of town planning do not feature in the analysis.
Similarly space syntax codifies configuration irrespective of land use and density
hence can be successfully used to define physical structure of town and identify
patterns of relationship. The perceptual analysis is based on Appleyard’s
classification of operative, responsive and inferential model. The five elements of
Kevin Lynch are helpful in comparing the perceptual model with space syntax
analysis. Hence multiple methods of arriving at town structure with people as well
as inherent configuration of town ensure an understanding from site situation and
context without any theoretical bias of town planning concepts or diagrams.

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