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(Lxxxix)
in importance in ancient days. The hero of the Gaüḍavaho is mentioned as a scion of the Lunar race and very probably even the Poet Vākpatirāja was a Kṣatriya prince. Ascetics or Munis mentioned in the Gauḍavaho might have been men belonging to the upper classes, who, disgusted with their worldly life, retired to the forests with their families and often found their residence in mountainous caves. Classes of artisans and craftsmen such as potters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, jewellers, tailors, masons, carpenters, florists, brick-layers, weavers etc. had also grown up to cater to the multifarious requirements of the society. Gathā 1173 mentions a kind of a ginning machine ( Lodhaa) for the purpose of clearing cotton of its seeds.
On the whole, the people lived a happy life of abundance and prosperity, though there might be cases of penury and shortage of basic needs. The rich chose to live in cities, while those with limited means and subsisting on lands distributed themselves in villages. Magnificent mansions in rows overlooking the city-streets, with their balconies, domes and terraces from which ladies could watch the processions down below, the halls (sāla) inside, beautified with wall-paintings (1083) and wellventilated windows, adorned the big cities, encircled by a rampart with gates and towers (gopura) in every direction. They were built in stone (kuruvinda) or in bricks (itta), cemented with chunam (cunna), with arches (torana) at the entrance, stone-pillars, often studded with precious stones, and wells (avaḍa) on the premises from which water was drawn with the help of water-wheels (arahaṭṭa). The threshold was in stone fixed with iron plates, the floor in polished stone or marble and the ceiling was in wooden cross-pieces (kilîñca), resting on a supporting wooden beam (pinḍībandha). In
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