Describe some of the distinctive features of Mohenjodaro.

The distinctive features of Mohenjo Daro can be summarised as

• Planned City

• Lower town

• Drainage system

• The Citadel

1. Planned City - Though Harappa was also planned urban centre, but the distinctive feature of Mohenjodaro was also planned city having two parts. One part was small which was built on a higher place and was designed as Citadel whereas another was comparatively large which was built on a lower place as a lower town. The Citadel was built on mud and break platforms having walls on all the sides which were separated from the lower town

2. Lower town - It was also called walled town because most of the buildings were built on platforms which were considered as Foundation stones. It required huge quantity of labour and at first, the plans were made and then implemented. The proof of planning can be found by observing the quality of bricks. Sometimes Sun-dried bricks were used and sometimes baked bricks. These breaks word of the standard ratio where the Length and width were four times and twice the height of the bricks respectively. This type of bricks was also used in Harappan civilization.

3. Drainage system - It had a well-planned drainage system where all roads and streets would lead out on a grid pattern and then they intersected each other at right angles. It seems that streets featuring drains were laid out before building the houses so that the domestic water from every house good at least have one wall along the street.

4. The Citadel- It consisted of various buildings which were used for special public purposes like warehouses, great bath, etc