This is the science underlying technological principles and processes in the domain of traditional art and architecture of Vaastu Shāstras. This ancient science of India is designated by the author of this article (Sthapati) as Mayonic science and technology, not only to make it distinct from the contemporary material sciences, but to restore and revalidate the unique spiritual science of a great scientist and technologist called Mayan, who lived in the land, south of the present Kanyakumari, known today as Kumari Continent. This land mass was called நாவலந்தீவு Jambudweepam, during Sangam days. (10,000 BC and beyond).”
The grids with which we design based on Vaastu principles range from 1×1 module to 32×32 modules. An atom can have so many bonds. Of these, we attach greater importance to the “Manduka Pada Vaastu Purusha Mandala” 8×8 modular lattice and the “Paramasaayika Pada Vaastu Purusha Mandala” 9×9 modular lattice, which are commonly used in temples or residences. These base grids can also be selected for a variety of other designs to be used in accordance with the design requirements, a system that is permitted in Vaastu Science to achieve a functionally sound design. Such modifications are not random: following a rhythmic contraction or expansion, they develop in an orderly manner.
At the residence, three types of grids can be used mainly: 7×7, 9×9, 11×11. The shapes are: Form “I” (DANDAKA), Form “L” (LAANGALA – two of Form “I”), Form “U” (MOULIKA – three of Form “I”) and Form “O”, or a square with a blank center (CHATURMUKHA – from four “I” forms). Also seven forms of “I” (SARVATOBHADRA) or ten forms of “I” (VARDHAMANA) …
The DANDAKA “I” form is also very common and well-known here: the front room, the back room and the kitchen in the middle “in which the fire – the heart of the spirit of the building – never goes out”.
Vaastu Purusha Mandala includes a DANDAKA HOUSE in 3 out of 9, which is why BRAHMASTAN is not (only) in the house but in front of it. That is why (for the sake of cleanliness) the restroom behind the house used to be – outside the Mandala.
This DANDAKA-shaped HOUSE thus consists of 3 cubes of the same size, with separate functions placed next to each other, while the cellar below the middle cube (kitchen) and the attic above it physically form a CROSS (of 5 cubes). If we add this cross to a complete cube, i.e. add 4 corners, we get 9 parts.
The process of creation in 2 dimensions is a cross that is given by the Brahma and Soma Sutras – the Divine Threads or Stems.
(The first letter of Runic writing, as far as I know, is “S”, its form is “I”.)
Source: Rediscovering the Hindu Temple: The Sacred Architecture and Urbanism of India
Source: Vastu-Vaastu
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Key Sources of Research
“Application of Vastupurasamandala in the Indian Temple Architecture: An Analysis of the Nagara Temple Plans of Himachal Pradesh.” (1990).
Thakur, Laxman S..
“Use of Vastu Purush Mandala in Architectural Education.”
Naik, Aniruddha.
INTERANTIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT (2022): n. pag.
“Basic Concepts of Mandala.” (2000).
Shakya, Mila.
“Indian Architectural Theory and Practice: Contemporary Uses of Vastu Vidya.” (1999).
This paper is an attempt to reconsider our current understanding of the role accorded to the mandala within traditional Indian architecture. It is generally held that the mandala-in particular the Vāstupuruṣamaṇḍala, the mandala associated with vāstu (inhabited or built site)-has played a determining role in the genesis of architectural form in India. Within more popular, and less circumspect, writings, this influence is held to be directly formal; the Vāstupuruṣamaṇḍala is traditionally drawn within a square grid, and any sign of an orthogonal planning or a grid-like layout is taken to be a sign that the form in question was based upon the mandala. In investigating the foundations of such a belief, this paper reviews two bodies of literature. The first is modern art-historical scholarship, an examination of which shows that the idea of a morphogenetic mandala emerged only recently, and that it was not so much culled from the traditional writing as constructed afresh by art historians such as Kramrisch. The other body of literature examined is that of the traditional writings on architecture, many of which are cited as key sources of evidence for this idea. Here it is argued that there is almost no direct evidence for the use of mandalas in laying out complexes or designing buildings, and that such ideas of the use of mandalas rest on several assumptions that must themselves be questioned.
Revisiting the Vāstupuruṣamaṇḍala in Hindu Temples, and Its Meanings
Kim, Young Jae (Architectural History and Theory University of Pennsylvania)
Received : 2014.01.13
Accepted : 2014.06.10
Published : 2014.06.30
Architectural research
Volume 16 Issue 2 / Pages.45-56 / 2014 / 1229-6163(pISSN) / 2383-5575(eISSN) Architectural Institute of Korea (대한건축학회)
“Evolution, Transformation, and Representation in Buddhist Architecture : The Square Shrines of Buddhist Monasteries in Central Asia after the Fourth Century.”
Kim, Young Jae and Dong-soo Han.
Architectural research 13 (2011): 31-43.
“Tradition and Transformation: Continuity and Ingenuity in the Temples of Karnataka.”
Hardy, Adam.
Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 60 (2001): 180-199.
“PARAMETRIZING INDIAN KARNATA-DRAVIDA TEMPLE USING GEOMETRY.” (2017).
Goud, Srushti.
Evolution, Transformation, and Representation in Buddhist Architecture : The Square Shrines of Buddhist Monasteries in Central Asia after the Fourth Century
Young Jae Kim
Dong-soo Han
Tradition and Transformation: Continuity and Ingenuity in the Temples of Karnataka
Adam Hardy
On the Idea of the Mandala as a Governing Device in Indian Architectural Tradition
Evolution, Transformation, and Representation in Buddhist Architecture : The Square Shrines of Buddhist Monasteries in Central Asia after the Fourth Century
Young Jae Kim Dong-soo Han
Maṇḍala and Practice in Nāgara Architecture in North India
M. Meister G. Bhatt Yashaswini Sharma
Measurement and Proportion in Hindu Temple Architecture
M. Meister
On the Development of a Morphology for a Symbolic Architecture: India
M. Meister
Free Vibrations of Thin Shells with Isogeometric Approach
S. J. Lee
Prasada as Palace: Kutina Origins of the Nagara Temple
M. Meister
Geometry and Measure in Indian Temple Plans: Rectangular Temples
M. Meister
Analysis of Temple Plans: Indor
M. Meister
“The Beginning of Dravidian Temple Architecture in Stone.”
Tartakov, Gary Michael.
Artibus Asiae 42 (1980): 39.
“History and Theory of Design in Traditional Temple Architecture of India.”
Kaur, Jasmeet, Naveena Verma and Tamma Bhanu Chandra Reddy.
International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research (2024): n. pag.
“Essay on the Architecture of the Hindús.”
Ráz, Rám.
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1 (1834): 145 – 146.
Author Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Editor Michael W. Meister Contributor Michael W. Meister Edition illustrated Publisher Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1995 Original from the University of Michigan Digitized Nov 14, 2007 ISBN 0195638050, 9780195638059
The Silpa Prakasa is an important edition to the existing literature on Indian Silpa texts.” (V.S. Agrawala). This early text on Orrisan Temple architecture (Possibly from the 10th cent. A.D.) describes various temple types of Orissa, but especially a tantric temple termed Vimanamalini with its sub-types Padmagarbha and Kamagarbha. The latter could be identified with the 10th cent. Varahi temple at Caurasi near Konarak. The text goes into great detail of the architecture, the iconography and the symbolism of all the parts of the temple. Its unique contribution lies in the description of yantras or symbolic diagrams underlying the architecture as well as sculpture.
The original author was not only a practicing tantrika, but also an expert architect speaking from experience.
The text was first discovered, edited and translated by Alice Boner with the help of Pandit Sadasiva Ratha Sarma of Puri, and published by Brill (Leiden) in 1966. The present edition is a completely revised version and text translation, with new illustrations, on the basis of palmleaf manuscript, with added Indices.
The edition will be extremely valuable for understanding not only the temple construction but the entire symbolism underlying the unique temples of Orissa.
About the Author:
Alice Boner (1889-1981) who first discovered and translated the Silpa Prakasa, was a Swiss artist and an outstanding scholar on Indian art, especially Orissan temple architecture and sculpture. Her important publications include principles of composition of Hindu Sculpture: Cave Temple Period (Leiden 1962) and New Light on the Sun Temple of Konarka (Varanasi 1972).
Sadasiva Ratha Sarma was a traditional priest of Jagannatha temple, Puri, who was well conversant with the art traditions of Orissa and who could decipher the meaning on the text.
Bettina Baumer is a scholar of Sanskrit, Agama/Tantra, Indian aesthetics and temple architecture of Orissa. She has been professor of Religious Studies in Vienna University and at present she is a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Her publications include Vastusutra Upanisad (with Alice Boner and S. R. Sarma), Silparatnakosa (with R.P.Das), editing of Kalatattvakosa, A Lexicon of Fundamental Concepts of Indian Arts (Vols. I, II, III), translations from Sanskrit into German and three books on Kashmir Saivism in German.
Rajendra Prasad Das is a noted historian of Orissa who has been serving in the Archaeological Survey of India, then Professor of History and Principal in various colleges of Orissa. He has co-authored Alice Boner’s book New Light on the Sun Temple of Konarka.
Sadananda Das is a scholar of Sanskrit with a Ph.D. from the University of Pune. He has been teaching Sanskrit in various European Universities (Berne, Lausanne, Heidelberg) and is at present Research Officer at the Alice Boner Institute, Varanasi.
Preface to the Second Edition
Alice Boner’s pioneering translation of the Silpa Prakasa a unique text in the field of Silpasastras has remained almost unknown in India since it was published in Leiden and was not easily accessible to scholars in India. Besides the book has been out of print since almost 20 years. Therefore a revised edition became a necessity especially in the light of an increasing interest in the ancient texts on architecture and sculpture Vastu and Silpasastra.
A complete revision of the text and translation could be undertaken on the basis of only one illustrated manuscript which was in the possession of the Alice Boner institute Varanasi and which was therefore made the basis for the new edition. Since the other two MMS which Alice Boner used were no longer available the variants given from MS 2 in the printed text are noted as variant readings. The printed text had been heavily edited by Pandits who were more concerned with correct Sanskrit than with the technicalities of architecture and therefore it could not be used. The editorial principal followed now was not to change the peculiar style of a Silpasastra by making it conform to Paninian grammar. Only the most necessary corrections were done in the text.
At is has been stated by editors again and again the language of these texts is grammatically defective but by this the meaning is not affected the Silpa Prakasa invariably uses the form etani bhedani among other faulty. As the text itself and alicen Boner in her introduction makes sufficiently clear the author Ramcandra Mahaptra Kalula Bhattaraka was not a Sanskrit Pandit but was himself an architect. This is reflected in the character of the text. Along with a revision of the Sanskrit text coming closer to the original as given in the MS the translation was also completely revised. In spite of many mistakes in the earlier edition Alice Boner’s intuition regarding the correct meaning supported by Pandit Sadasiva Rath Sarma’s traditional knowledge is surprising. In many cases her doubts could be clarified on a careful new reading of the MS.
Thus in spite of a revised version of text and translation the basic understanding of the meaning remains especially with regard to identifying the temple types described with extant temples of Orissa the most outstanding example being the Varahi temple at Caurasi belonging to the Kamagarbha type called Vimanamalini.
The last forty years have seen much new research and publications on the temple architecture and sculpture of Orissa (see Bibliography). In this light the dating of both the tect and the Varahi temple at Caurasi could be established with greater precision. Both on historical as well as stylistic grounds this has resulted in an earlier dating of text and temple. The temple is now dated around the early part of the 10th century.
The question remains whether the author of the Silpa Prakasa was also involved in the building of this temple which he describes in great detail and with evident love. His attachment to this temple (and other of its kind which are not extant now) is also related to the fact of his religious affiliation to the Kaula Sampradaya and to the Tantric forms of the Goddess, Bhattarika as his name itself expresses.
Whatever may be the answer to this question the Silpa Prakasa constitutes an important testimony to the Tantric tradition of Orissa and their architectural and sculptural expressions. Alice Boner in her introduction goes into the importance of Yantras described in the text both in the architectural sense of ground plan and in the sense as symbolic ritual and compositional components of Tantra besides Mantra and Mudra they assume here their proper role as the abstract visual form of the Divine. In the much later text of Orissa Silparatnakosa it has been clearly shown that the Rajarani temple of Bhubanesvar (which is dated about a century later at 1025 A.D) is not only based on a ground plan of the Sriyantra. This text shows that at later as the 17th century this Tantric tradition was alive in Orissa not so much in the construction of temple but in their interpretation and ritual use.
This only confirms the earlier insights of the Silpa Prakasa. But the authority on which the text bases its tradition is the Saudhikagama an encyclopaedic text on both secular and religious architecture which therefore must predate the 10th century. This text has been edited and is in the process of translation and publication. This will show the continuity of the Tantric tradition form at least the 9th to the 17th century in Orissa.
Preface to the First Edition
This Silpa Prakasa is an important addition to the existing literature on Indian Silpa text. Four copies on palm leaf of this work are known two discovered in Orissa and two in Andharadesa as detailed in the introduction. Three were exhibited at the 26th international congress of Orientalists in New Delhi in January 1964. There they were examined by scholars and experts and found to be genuine and there cannot be any doubt about the authenticity of this unique text. This work has a character different from other Sanskrit works on Temple architecture. In that it concentrates on one particular temple type and gives a detailed description of its architecture illustrated is one of copies MS.2 with drawings of the component parts. This illustrated manuscript is particularly valuable because it is unparalleled in the whole range of Sanskrit Silpa Sastra literature found until now. It is the work of a master Architect who shows his professional skill in the detailed description contained in the text.
Miss Alice Boner and Pandita Sadasiva Rath Sarma the discover of three of these texts have fulfilled their obligation of making a critical edition and of preparing an English translation of the text with a detailed introduction and historical notes. A very useful illustrated glossary of technical terms is attached at the end. The two authors are to be felicitated on the labor of lover which they bestowed on this self imposed task.
The author of this text who gives his name a Ramacandra Kaula Bhattaraka was an Orissa architect living in a Tantric village on the banks of the Musali river and enjoying the patronage of one Raja Viravarman of Airavata Mandala. As a follower of the Kaulacara doctrine he worshipped Jagannatha under the name of Daksina Kalika. He frequently mentions the Saudhikagama as the source of his knowledge and his authority. This seems to refer to a Tantric school of temple architecture of which not much is known to day and on which this text gives valuable information.
The Saudhikagama was apparently based on Tantric doctrines and the Silpa Prakasa is entirely imbued with this doctrine. The word Saudha Seems here to be taken in the sense of temple or shrine and the title Saudhika seems to correspond to the title Salata in Saurastra which means a stone worker.
The text begins with an invocation to Visvakarman and Yantrakalika as the presiding deities of all temple building and throughout the text the practice is followed of depositing and consecrating yantras in the foundations and below various parts of the temple as well as under the images of deities. This is a disctinctive characteristic of Tantric traditions. In other Silpa Sastra texts as for Instance in Thakura Pheru’s Vastusastra which in the general plan of topics is very similar to the Silpa Prakasa there is no mention of any Yantra consecrated below the temple. These is mention only of the Sesanaga cakra, which however occurs also in the Silpa Prakasa under the name of Nagabandha. For the construction of temples the author also uses the term Pradadmandana which is the title of Rajasthani Silpa text by Sutradhara Mandana a very appropriate expression still current all over northern Indian to denote the complete operation of planning and building a house or a temple.
A distinctive feature however of the Silpa Prakasa is the method followed in the outlay of the ground plan of temple and Mukhasata starting from the centre of the garbhagrha and growing outwards in geometrical proportions based on units of measurement underlying the garbhagrha. Under the garbhagrha a Yogini Yantra has to be consecrated which also does not occur in other Silpa Sastras.
The Orissa temples have all one characteristic in common in that they are divided into vertical sections running from the base to the top of the Sikhara and are called rathas or pagas. These are separated from one another by deep chases called khandis in Oriya and Visrantishala in Sanskrit which would correspond to what is Rajasthani architecture is called salilantra. In front of the entrance of temple and mukhasala there are invariably round steps called nandavarata which occur also in shrines and stupas of South India and Ceylon and they are called moon stones.
The doorframes of temples have since Gupta and post Gupta times been carved with various bands of decorative friezes. Varaha Mihira in his Brhat Samhita goes into the details of these decorations such as of full vessels of patravalli and of love scenes. He also mentions the figures of pratiharas in the lower quarter of the door jambs all features which actually appear on the doorways of the famous Devagarh and Dahaparbatiya temples. The Silpa Prakasa retains some of the older motifs and adds new ones. At the base of the doorjambs the Pratiharas are now called Dvarapalas and are sometimes conceived as furious or grotesque figures of Pramathas and Ganas the dwarfish sons of Kubera. They are sometimes also represented with tiger or lion faces as those on the temples of Ramacandi and alaka padma in Puri.
In those forms they were called Bhairavas and were supposed to ward off and to frighten away all evil influences from the temple.
In the oldest temples we find also Nagarajas with full water vessels flanking the doorway as auspicious and treasure bringing symbols. Much attention was paid in all brahmanical temples to the decorations of these doorframes, And besides the various vertical bands the horizontal lintel always bore the image of Laksmi as a sign of auspiciousness or of a divinity which had some relationship with the divinity installed in the shrine. The goddess Laksmi which could be a general symbol of auspicious or of a divinity which had some relationship with the divinity installed in the shrine. The goddess Laksmi which could be a general symbol of auspiciousness or the distinctive sign of a visnu temple had its correspondence in the figure of Lalatabimba in Rajasthani temples. In Siva temples there may be Ganesa or the Marriage of Siva and Parvati or Lakulisa on the lintel. The silpa Prakasa mentions two types of Laksmis Gaja Laksmi and Subha Laksmi the former having the cloud elephants above her head and the latter having them as pedestal figures.
The Navagraha stone above the door lintel was not known is Gupta temples such as at Devagarh and Dahaparbatiya but came into use in early medieval temples as testified by the Silpa Prakasa.
Another very important feature of medieval temple architecture especially in Orissa was the Vajramastaka of which the Silpa Prakasa gives a detailed technical. It began to emerge in the later Gupta Period as a round gavaksa window dominated or not by a lion face and was appropriately called grasa or Kirti mukha the latter term being derived from the sun windows or openings of a caitya hall rock excavation. The round window with a lion head on top on the face of cave shrines was gradually conventionalized into a decorative motif applied to the front of temples.
The Silpa Prakasa has given this motif the appropriate name of Vajramastaka. In the Vajra doctrine prevalent then in the Tantric schools, the Vajra denoted diamond-like solidity which could not be fractured even by lightning. This motif was placed on the front of the Sikhara in conspicuous dimensions, but also on the base of-temples and door-jambs in smaller size. This motif variously called vajrãñga or vajramastaka could also be placed on the base or top of pillars.
As many other decorative and symbolic motifs of earliest Indian art have come down to medieval times, putting on a new complexion, the ancient tree-and-woman motif is reappearing here in the gelaba-nari, in which beautiful female figures are entwined with creepers, and the love- couples hanging from the ancient kalpa-vrksas (wish-fulfilling trees) are reappearing here as mithunas and keli-bandhas. The Silpa Prakasa also mentions figures of Rama and Krsna on the door-jambs, which in Gupta art (Deogarh Temple) appear on the temple-base. The rangani flowers mentioned in the Silpa Prakasa correspond to the four-petalled mallika flower on Gupta door-ways and the jalapatra motif of the Silpa Prakasa, where semicircular leaves are superimposed in a vertical band is very similar to the srivrka motif in Gupta art, produced by superimposed palm leaf motifs. While other Silpa Sastras take a bird’s eye view of the architecture of various regions and times, the author of the Silpa Prakasa limits himself strictly to his own time and place, although he fully acknowledges the authority of older scriptures.
The very word kirti, which originally meant a rock-excavation or a caitya-hall, as in the Traikutaka inscription of 493 A.D., is used here in the sense of temple.
The ancient motif of the Salabhanjika carved on the toranas of Buddhist stüpas returns in yet another way on medieval temples. In the Silpa Prakasa the graceful female figures distributed in great profusion on the temple-wall are called Alasa kanyas, in the plural Alasa-bandha or Nari-banadha.
This Alasa kanya motif is a great favourite with the author of the Silpa Prakasa and he recommends its use on numerous places of the vimäna and the mukhasala. He even goes so far as to say, that a temple shorn of this type of decoration will remain without interest and bear no fruit (1.393). He enumerates 16 types of female figures, who bear different names according to their features, poses and emotions.
In other Silpa Sastra texts the lists of such figures are even larger. In the Saurastra tradition, 32 types of what is called there Nataka-stri are given. A few figures only are common in the two lists, although even their names differ. What in the Silpa Prakasa is called Alasi, is Lilavati in Saurastra. What is Darpana in the Silpa Prakasa becomes Vidhicita, and what is Matrmurti becomes Putravallabhi in Saurastra, and Gunthana in the Silpa Prakãa becomes Manohamsa there. In Rãjasthni tradition they are called Preksanikas (derived from Preksana or dramatic show) owing to their often assuming dramatic poses.
After having described the mukhasala of his temple in the first part of this text the author proceeds to describe the vimana in the second part. He first gives a short description of 12 types of temples, which he says are in the tradition of Vivakarman, although their list is evidently confined to the types found in Orissa. Other texts like the recently published text Pancaratra Prasada Prasadhana, compiled by H. Daniel Smith, or the i1pa-Ratnakara compiled by Narmada Sankara Mulajibhai contain far larger lists. One of the temples described in the Silpa Prakasa is particularly noteworthy, because it bears a Buddhist name, and although being a Hindu temple points back to the Buddhist tradition, which prevailed in Orissa down to the 12th Cent. A.D. This temple has a rather peculiar form, since it has secondary spires attached to the central spire, somewhat in the way as they are used in Rajasthan under the name of Srñgas or Urusrngas. The followers of the Saudhikagama call this type of temple the Manjus’ri. Then the Silpa Prakasa proceeds to explain in minute detail all elements of the vitnãna, from the pancakarma to the Jangha, the konaka, the anartha and anuraha and the raha, with all their structural and ornamental elements. In the chapter on the vimana the author also makes a cogent and explicit defence of the amorous sculpture. Its style is pure and attains to philosophical heights while frankly declaring that these motifs are in accordance with Kaulacara rites. These sculpture are said to be based on the Kamakala Yantra which is the secret of the Kaulacaras and is represented as a Siva Lingam surrounded by 16 yonis with the names of 16 Saktis and surrounded by a ring of 8 yogins. This is the most important and most sacred decoration of the vimana’s outer parts. The author makes an interesting distinction between the Keli bandha and the Mithuna bandhas the former ones denoting mere love play while the latter may depict Viracara rites or sexual union.
Another feature upon which the author lays great stress is the lion figure and he says that without lions adorning every place the monument would lose all its significance. Four types of lions are prescribed according to the place where they stand. They Viraja lion standing on his hind legs and turning backwards in what elsewhere is called the simhavalokana attitude is mostly used for the khandis between the pagas. The jagrata or seated lion with a raised paw known elsewhere as ksubhyamna or khumman simha is best on top of the roof. The Udyata or jumping lion called elsewhere Jhampa simha is mostly for the front of the Sikhara and the Gajakranta lion overpowering an elephant called elsewhere Simhakunjara is for the front of the sikhara as well as for the front of portals.
Two types of kalasas are also mentioned the one in the form of a yupa or sacrificial post for Devi temple and the other in the form of a full water vessel for Siva or Visnu temples.
This important treatise on Silpa Sastra ends with glowing tributes to the merit of building temples and says that this is equal to the Rajasuya or to a Sona Sacrifice. It also eulogizes the Silpa Sastras descended from Visvakarman which have kept the torch of the science of Silpa burning through the ages.
Introduction
The Silpa Prakãsa occupies, among Silpa Sastras, a special and unique position. The hitherto known texts on Vastu-vidya, and what parts of the Puranas have been dedicated to this subject, are theoretical treatises, whose authorship is mostly attributed to legendary and mythical personalities of Rsis and gods. They are bigger or smaller compendia of general principles and rules of architecture and all allied arts. They cover a vast number of subjects, a vast number of art-forms spread over the length and breadth of India, and even considerable time-perspectives. On critical analysis they appear to be collective works, built up of successive stratifications, of accretions, elaborations and modifications undergone in the course of many centuries. Since they give elaborate classifications and descriptions of all types of temples, towns, forts, houses, gateways, wells etc., of innumerable types of imagery, with theft ornaments and attributes, they have come down to us as veritable store-houses for the study and preservation of art-forms that have been in use since the most ancient times. They form the broad historical foundation on which it was possible to retrace the development of Indian art and architecture from its very beginnings.
The Silpa Sastra presented in this volume is a different type of work. It does not claim divine authorship, but is avowedly written by a historical person, of whom we learn the name, ancestry, religious profession and residence. Since this person happens to be an architect by profession, speaking about his own work, it gives the book from the very outset a complexion of specialized competence. The author concentrates all his efforts on the elaborate description of one particular type of tãntric temple and on the method of its construction. Whatever descriptions there are of a general character appear only in the margin, as a sort of framework to the central subject of the book. They are set at the beginning only of each one of the two parts, into which the book is divided, and almost give the impression of being mere concessions to the generally accepted procedure of presenting a Silpa Sãstra text. This is especially so in the case of the introductory paragraphs to the second chapter, which have no necessary connection with the avowed subject of the book, and appear more like later accretions, added by some zealous copyist who was eager to improve upon his model. They contain brief accounts of temple-forms, such as the Manjusri, the Mahameru and the Kailasa, which most probably are of a later date than the actual subject of the book. Moreover, these cryptic references to other temple-forms do not show in the least the same degree of competence as the rest of the book and are not everywhere intelligible. The same can be said of the short notes on the various forms of konakas, anarthas, anurahas and rams used on these rekha temples, which therefore remain of rather uncertain identification. Although we have done our best to elicit their meaning, our rendering of these parts, from sloka 3 to 44 and from 106 to 151 of the second Prakasa can in consequence not be considered as anything but tentative.
When in these preliminaries our author, however, touches on tãntric forms of temples, like the Rathayukta, the Vaitala and the Hemakuta represented by tile Parauramevara, the Vaitäl and the Gauri temples of Bhubaneswar, the exposition, although brief, becomes perfectly lucid and clear. Not to speak of the main subject of the book, the two Vadabhi types of temples, the Padmagarbha and the Kamagarbha, which are described very systematically and with minutest care of details.
Apart from these excursions into extraneous subjects, the text is of one single piece, as it would necessarily be, when written by a single person and centering around one single theme. If it is thus more limited in scope than other Silpa texts, it has, on the other hand, the unique distinction of introducing the reader right into the very workshop of an architect, where he will not hear disquisitions f theoreticians, or compilers, but the practical instructions of a professional, of a Master-architect, who is initiating and guiding his disciples and coworkers. He has the privilege of hearing froth the Master’s own lips, how every part of the temple has to be fashioned, its proportions in respect to other parts, and the proportions of all parts with respect to the whole. He is enabled to enter into the very actuality of building operations, being guided systematically from the lay-out of the ground plan and the excavation of the foundations to the elevation of the walls, the Sikhara and the roofing. Over and above all, he has the privilege of receiving, together with the disciples, initiation into a number of secrets, religious and professional, connected with the art of temple-building. The Master, being avowedly a Kaulacara, attaches very great importance to the symbolical yantras that have to be placed and consecrated below every part of the temple. Similarly he insists, that all images of divinities that adorn the temple have to be composed on yantras and have to be visualized by the sculptors according to their dhyanas. Even for merely decorative motifs he gives compositional diagrams.
Thus the Silpa Prakasa has the rare merit of providing practical instruction into the art of temple building on all levels on the religious and ritualistic as well as on the architectural and technical plane. This gives a feeling that with an adequate disposition of mind and heart and the availability of trained workers it would be possible even today to build a temple according to its directions.
The text of the Silpa Prakasa exists as far as we know today in four copies only. There of these were consulted for working out the present translation. The existence of the fourth copy name to our knowledge only recently and therefore could not be included in our studies. It is in the custody of Sri Goswami Arisandha Math, Nimapada.
CONTENTS
Preface to the Second Edition by Bettina Baumer
V-VI
Historical Note to the Dating of the Text by Rajendra Prasad Das
VII
Preface to the First Edition by V.S.Agrawala
IX-XIV
Acknowledgements
XV
List of Figures
XIX
Introduction by Alice Boner
1-41
SILPA PRAKASA: TEXT & TRANSLATION
Detailed Contents of the Text
43-47
First Prakasa
48-191
Second Prakasa
192-381
Notes
383-393
Glossary to Technical Terms
395-425
Bibliography
427-429
Sloka Index
431-450
General Index
451-456
List of Plates
467-471
Plates
Vastusutra: Upanishad – The Essence of Form in Sacred Art
by Alice Boner, Sadasiva Rath Sarma, Bettina Baumer
1 North Indian parallels can probably be found for many of the ideas and customs to be discussed below. It just happens that the author is more familiar with the south and so has drawn most of her material from there. Many of the concepts to be outlined, however, are probably familiar throughout.
2 A belief in the possibility of a complete merger of the devotee with the divine is the ‘monist’ position. The extent to which actual merger is possible, however, is not the question here. Getting as close as possible is what is important. Stated this way, the problem is equally salient for Hindus of ‘dualist’ persuasion.
3 The houses of orthodox Brahmin families, furthermore, often have a great open passage stretching through them from east to west intended to maximize this bene ficial influence. In urban areas where this is not always possible, mirrors are some times used to give the substitute visual impression of such a corridor when none, in fact, exists.
4 The great shrine dedicated to Murugan at Palani, for example.
5 An ascetic will sometimes be buried in a seated position. When this is done his body is seated facing the north.
6 Indeed, temples have ‘horoscopes’ too. The nine planets are always represented at a special square shrine inside the whole. Their varying configurations are said to record their alignment at the time of that particular temple’s construction. (See subscript s., Diagram 9.)
7 I have several examples of this extreme response (some fantacized, some attempt ed) from my field notes.
8 All eating, of course, is done directly with the hand.
9 We would call this ‘clockwise’ movement in English, but in India it is described as ‘keeping the object of respect to the right’, a point clarified for me by Dr Veena Das.
10 Surprisingly, the major agricultural caste of the Coimbatore district (the Kavun tar) is an exception. In their wedding ritual the bride must sit on the groom’s right.
11 The squares simply become multiplied for large designs. However, some drawings ‘represent’ specific things such as temple carts or ritual lamps. Under these circum stances it is permissible to break out of the basic format.
12 This basic ritual form is probably not only pan-Hindu but also pan-Indo- European. Thus, the quincunx was once used as a format for planting a grove of sacred trees in Europe. The same structural form also serves as a cardinal principle of church architecture. A more extended discussion of 4-5 and 8-9 as numbers that delimit the sacred in Hindu art and textual tradition can be found in Bosch (1960: 84-89)
13 Some designs are made by connecting the original dots rather than by encircling them.
14 For example, the popular mantra or sacred verse addressed to him is referred to as ‘the five syllables’ chant. It is: na-ma-ci-vā-ya.
15 When Siva’s five-headed form is visually depicted in sculpture, four of his heads actually face outwards from the neck towards the four cardinal points while the fifth sits on top of the others and looks upwards. In early wall reliefs the upward looking face was shown on top of three others. The final head was imagined to face into the wall and was hence not visible. Interestingly, however, after about the third century A.D. the upward looking face was eliminated and said to be invisible. Thus the famous statue of Siva in the Elephanta Caves is three-headed, but is said to depict the five-headed form (Agrawala 1963: 52).
16 He is also known as Skanda, Karttikeya or Subramāniam. Murugan is an extre mely popular god in the south of India, though not particularly well-known in the north.
17 That is, the wedding ritual of the dominant Kavuntar community.
18 A popular description appears in the Visnu Purāna, where Brahmā is said to have made sheep from his breast, goats from his mouth, cows from his stomach and sides, horses from his feet, etc. (O’Flaherty 1975: 45). But this seems to be a late adoption. Earlier myths describe Brahmā in more abstract terms, as a Universal Soul, while the act of creation is attributed to a more concrete being named Prajāpati or Puruşa. In these earlier texts the idea of a great sacrifice and subsequent dismemberment is quite explicit (Rg Veda,10.90 and Satapatha Brahmana, Vol. III, pp. 303-7). In later periods, however, the creator’s role is more that of transformer, maker or insemi nator. Interestingly, the ritual described here bears its strongest affinity to the earlier forms of this Brahmā-Prajāpati-Puruşa complex.
19 This idea is explicitly endorsed by Eggeling, editor of the English translation of the Satapatha Brahmana(Vol. IV, p. xv),
20 All the necessary details for this ‘reconstruction’ are common knowledge to priests, but the explicit reference to a prone body is my own idea. Support can perhaps be found for this interpretation in Volwashen (1969: 45), where he mentions that something similar existed in Aryan sacrificial ritual. There a human being was represented on the altar by the arrangement of sacrificial vessels. The ‘five faces’ of Siva are also represented in this ritual by sacred vessels.
21 This idea fits well with what Levi-Strauss has argued is the basic purpose of all ritual activity, e.g., to reunite what has become differentiated into a new and unparti tioned whole (Levi-Strauss 1971: 596-611). Although I would be hesitant to agree that all rituals are of this type, the above example certainly seems to suggest that some are.
22 Left-overs have a great significance in Hindu ritual more generally. They are usually food offerings of which god is said to have ‘eaten’ the substance but left-overs are considered sacred and are later eaten by devotees.
23 In English these are usually referred to as ‘lunar mansions’.
24 In theory the god’s own body is divided into parts for this and each part is then personified in a fashion that enables it to render homage to the whole. The simile used is that of a wick being held to an already existing flame so that the flame itself is duplicated (Somasambhupaddhati).
25 More elaborate representations, however, are possible in which there are several rows or ‘layers’ of seats. Interestingly, in architectural, as opposed to strictly ritual tradition, the twenty-seven star groups become augmented to thirty-two. Presumably thirty-two makes a much neater subdivision of the sides of a square (nine on each edge) than does the former number. Volwashen (1969: 45), Kramrisch (1946: 31-32), and the editors of the Silpa Prakāsa (p. xxxiii) all mention the idea that the thirty-two segments of the circumference represent lunar mansions. To understand how twenty- seven can so easily become thirty-two see Diagram 5. Note also that the square con taining Vastu’s folded body, shown earlier, has its border subdivided into thirty-two units.
26 The diagram comes from Somasambhupaddhati, Vol. 2, p. 334, and chart 1. A very similar version is given in the Mrgendrāgama, pp. 126-27, and I also collected a diagram showing the same layout from a local priest.
27 Some Indian sea turtl es indeed do have 27 segments marked along the outer rim of their shells and one variety, the caretta caretta gigas, also has an inner ring marked by twelve subdivisions. The two rings overlap by one segment, that nearest the turtle’s head. Together, these two make a lovely model of the basic astronomical system which of course has 27 lunar mansions and 12 solar houses. Since this parti cular turtle is the biggest variety found in the Indian ocean and is noted for its savage biting (it is called the nai amai or ‘dog turtle’ in Tamil) it may indeed be the original ‘natural model’ on which both the astronomical scheme and the myth were able to build. For a further description of this turtle see Deraniyagala (1939: 164-66),
28 This can be found in many astrological handbooks, for example Anantapati ni Cutta Tirukkanita Pancānkam, 1972, p. 96. I have added the directions of space through discussion with Indian astrologers personally. However, the same informa tion is given in Diehl (1956:61), who cites a Tamil astrological handbook as his source. The figure in the centre is my own. In south Indian tradition the zodiac signs are laid out clockwise. In north Indian and European culture, however, the general tradition seems to be to make them go counterclockwise. Either would be observa tionally correct in the sense that the zodiac belt itself appears to rotate slowly clock wise, or (equivalently) the planets, particularly the sun and moon, appear to displace themselves along this belt gradually, anticlockwise. The European list of body parts comes from MacNeice (1964: 126 and 276). The Indian ones are taken from Tecikar (n.d.: 33).
29 These guardians are mentioned in some of the most important popular religious texts of Tamil Nadu. Commonly they are seen as threatened by demonic forces (acuras) so that the social life of the community becomes endangered (La Legende de Skanda, p. 62, and La Legende des Jeux de Civa, story 28). Sometimes these guardians become associated with Siva’s eight lingams (La Legende des Jeux, story 56). The full list of names is found in the Manaiyāti Cāstiram. A convenient reference in English is Gopinatha Rao (1916, Vol. I, pt. 2: 515). The glosses in brackets are my own, but are common knowledge, except perhaps for Indra’s associations as a solar deity (extensive evidence is provided by Bhattacharji 1970) and for Niruti as earth. I derive the latter idea from Niruti’s association with a hole or low spot on the earth and also with the processes of decay in general.
30 This reversal of the European perspective finds collaboration in another opposi tion common to both, namely the male/female pair. In Indian tradition, as in the European, female qualities are most often associated with the element earth, and male qualities with the wind or ether. But the European view considers the male to be the more ‘active’ of the two, while a Hindu associates the female with the dynamic principle (Sakti), and the male with the idea of unchanging essence (purusa ).
31 The accompanying diagram is taken from Kambar (1969), but the interpretation is my own. Since Kambar does not include the compass directions in his description I have taken the latter from a description of the traditional stage and audience in Boner (1972: 213-14).
32 A good example would be the old sections of the city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu. Here a great and almost square temple is to be found surrounded by square streets pierced by arteries oriented in the four directions. In addition, these main streets forming squares around the Madurai Minaksi temple are named after three impor tant festival months, Cittirai (April-May), Āvani (September-October) and Māci (February-March) during which the great chariots of the sacred shrine are pulled along these routes. Here the city space becomes identified not only with the sacred- ness of the square itself, but also with time and with the festival cycle. A similar description can be found in Volwashen (1969: 46 and 56-57).
33 This is reminiscent of the ‘light in darkness’ theme associated with some festival rituals that bear a link to pregnancy.
34 Examples of the ‘burial alive’ of ascetics can be found in Banninga (1913: 1281) and Srinivas (1952: 87-88).
35 This ceremony, called Kumbavicekam, is too complex to be described here in any detail.
36 The ritual is very common and can be used to bring any image ‘to life’.
37 This particular diagram is copied with minor modifications) from Vamikanathan (1971: 17 and 20). Kramrisch (1946, Vol 1: 266 and 359) and Curtis (1973: 49) describe a similar symbolism,
38 Indeed. in the kumpavicekam ceremony of ‘renewing’ the powers of a divine image (described in the text) one of the final steps is showing the god a reflection of itself in a mirror.
39 A similar theme has been reported from the island of Malaita in the British Solomons (Maranda 1970).
References
Agrawala, Vasudeva S. 1963. The matsya purana, a study. Varanasi : All India Kashiraj Trust.
Malamoud, Charles. 1975. Cuire le mond. Purusārtha: recherches de sciences sociales sur L’Asie du Sud. Paris: Centre de L’Inde et de L’Asie du Sud, pp. 91-136.
Maranda, Pierre and Elli Kongas Maranda . 1970. Le Crane et L’Uterus: Deux Theoremes Nord-Malaitains. J. Pouillon and P. Maranda, eds. Echanges et Communications The Hague: Mouton .
The Mayamata is a Vastusastra, i.e. a treatise on dwelling and as such it deals with all the facets of gods and mens dwellings, from the choice of the site to the iconography of the temple walls. It contains numerous and precise descriptions of villages and towns as well as of the temples, houses, mansions and palaces. It gives indications for the selection of a proper orientation, right dimensions, and of appropriate materials. It intends to be a manual for the architect and a guidebook for the layman. Well-thought of by traditional architects (sthapatis) of South India, the treatise is of great interest at a time when technical traditions, in all fields, are being scrutinized for their possible modern application.
The present bilingual edition prepared by Dr. Bruno Dagens, contains critically edited Sanskrit text, which is an improvement over the earlier edition by the same scholar and published as No.40 of Publications de I’Institute Francais d’Indologie, Pondicherry. The English translation, also published earlier, has now been revised with copious notes. The usefulness of the edition has been further enhanced by adding an analytical table of contents and a comprehensive glossary.
About the Author
Dr. Bruno Dagens (b. 1953) is an eminent Sanskritist and archaeologist. He is a member of the Ecole Francais d’Estreme-Orient. Dr. Dagens taught Sanskrit at the University of Louvain (Belgium) and did archaeological research in Afghanistan and Cambodia. He also worked, since 1977, at the Institute Francais d’Indologie, Pondicherry for quite a few years.
Besides articles and research papers on the Archaeology and Iconography of monuments in Afghanistan and Cambodia, two earlier editions of the Mayamata and one edition of the Saivagamaparibhasamanjari (a compendium of Saiva doctrines and rituals), Dr. Dagens has authored Architecture in the Ajitagama and the Rauravagama (Sitaram Bharatia Institute of Scientific Research, New Delhi, 1984).
Introduction
The body of Sanskrit literature dealing with architecture and iconography is voluminous, even if scattered and insufficiently surveyed and it is matched by a vernacular literature, more scattered and less known. It comprises, first of all, independent works which can be classified under the general heading of “technical treatises” (silpaSastra) or under the more precise one of “treatises on dwelling” (vastuSastra) or “treatises on dwellings” (vastuSastra) The scope of these works, and that of the domain they cover, varies considerably and that goes for the comprehensive treatises as much as for those which confine themselves to limited subjects, such as iconography or astrological points bearing upon the founding and the construction of a house. There are few specialized works of importance in this category even so, architecture and iconography being more often dealt with in various works, whether more or less ambitious encyclopaedias or treatises which concentrate upon areas where architecture and iconography are involved. Some of the main purana or upapurana are to be found in this category (e.g. Matsyapurana, Agnipurana, Visnudbarmottarapurana … ) along with encyclopaedias of royal inspiration (e.g. Manasollasa of Somesvara, Samaranganasutradbara of Bhoja … ) and the Saivite and Vaisnavite agama of various persuasions, as well as the Grbyasutra. the Arthasastra and the Brhatsamhita. These types of works are just those in which the material is most abundant but most scattered; it should be added that a number of small independent treatises are nothing more than extracts from much larger works and, as well, that it is hard to be sure whether the Purvakamikagama has borrowed from the Mayamata the very great number of passages common to both texts or whether the reverse is the case (see below).
That the dispersion is also historical and geographical only complicates the problem still further: the architecture and iconography, as they appear in a given work, are but the reflection of what was in existence during the time of its drafting in the region where that was done; significant in relation to the described forms, this factor is also apparent in the technical vocabulary which is always more or less marked by regional usage, as well as by borrowings from the vernacular. Then, there is the sectarian bias, whether stressed or not and very apparent in the iconography and also, even if to a lesser degree, in complex architectural forms, if not in their elements envisaged separately.” The pretension to universality of many of these texts does nothing to conceal this phenomenon, and whether the regional and sectorian features are more or less emphasized, they are still, usually, obvious. It must also be added that the Indian or, more precisely, the Hindu koine, is so much the fruit of such a mixture of regional and unitarian trends that each author, or school, may legitimately imagine that its day-to-day reality is nothing but an accurate reflection of the whole Indian world.
In that very extensive and widely disseminated range of works, the Mayamata occupies a fairly well defined place. It is a general treatise, a vastusastra, written in Sanskrit but originating from Dravidian India, most probably from the Tamil area; it is part of the Saivite agamic literature without the connection being underlined by any pronounced sectarianism and its drafting must have been done during the Cola period, at the time when the architecture it describes had reached the peak of its maturity. Comprising about 3300 verses and divided into 36 chapters, it is identified as a vastusastra, that is, as a treatise on dwelling, for it defines the vastu as “anywhere where immortals or mortals live” (2.1)’ This definition is followed by specifications which show that the concept of housing is very wide and is divided into four categories: the Earth (considered as original dwelling), buildings, vehicles and seats (which last three are nothing but “vastu” deriving from the first “vastu”,the Earth). Once iconography has been added to this list we have a panorama, brief but inclusive, of the content of the work. Leaving aside here the details of this content which we will analyse further on, we note that the Mayamata is arranged in three large sections: the first (Chapters 1-10) deals with dwelling sites, the first vastu, the second section with buildings (Chapters 11- 30) and the third (Chapters 31-36), with the last two vastu, vehicles and seats, and with iconography (Linga images and their pedestals). In these different sections are found entire chapters or significant passages consecrated to particular topics in the sphere of technique or that of the ritual which sets the pace for the construction: system of measurements and quality of the architects (Chapter 5), orientation and laying-out (Chapters 6-7), offerings to the gods of the site (Chapter 8), foundation deposit (Chapter 12), joinery (Chapter 17), rites for the end of the construction of a temple and for the first entry into a house (Chapters 18 and 28) and renovation work and associated rites (Chapter 35).
The work as a whole is coherent in spite of various interpolations which are sometimes, but not always, indicated by changes in the metres.” These appear quite frequently in chapters describing temples where they often give information on details of decorative motifs which were evidently mentioned, though not described, in the original text; in the same way the description of a pavilion of the siddha type (25.39 sq.) is interrupted by fourteen verses given over to ritual firepits (kunda); this interpolation would seem to have been entailed by the mention of the fact that the siddha pavilion may serve “for all rituals”; sometimes definitions of terms have been added, such as in Chapter 26 where we are given, but quite untimely, precise meanings for vimana, barmya and malika (26.100). These interpolations do not seem to give rise to any great internal discrepancy; it is only to be noted that the mention, in a general chapter on temples, of thirteen, fourteen and sixteen storeyed temple ( 11.19) seems to be the result of an updating of the text which never otherwise describes temples with more than twelve storeys (22.66 sq., see below ).
That the Mayamata belongs to Saivasiddhanta literature is demonstrated by the leading place given to Siva temples, by the chapter given over to the Linga and especially by the speculations on the nature of the Linga which it contains and, lastly, by the pantheon described in Chapter 36 which is essentially that found in saivagamas. This being said, the Mayamata nevertheless does not appear to be a sectarian work; the list of Siva’s Attendants is followed by a list of those of Visnu (Chapter 23) and Chapter 36 includes descriptions of images of Buddha and Jina which are not usual in agamic literature, no more than are mentions of the temples of these two deities such as are found here in the chapters dealing with villages and foundation deposits (9.70 sq. and 12.59 sq.). Ram Raz, who has noted the tolerance shown in the Mayamata (and the Mana- sara ) towards Buddhists and jains, says however that the locations attributed to the cult places of these two sects were close to those suitable for inferior deities or for malignant spirits.This absence of sectarianism is marked in a much more general way by constant references to a very classical society such as is presented in the Dbarmasastras. The society for which arc intended the construction prescribed by the Mayamata is that of the four uarnas and the “others”, who are installed at a distance and who are responsible for polluting tasks such as refuse collection (e.g. 9.95-98). If the society of the Mayamata is that of the Dharmasastras, its political organization is that of the Arthasastra; there too the references to classical India are very evident, as well where they concern the hierarchies of towns and villages, as when they give the method of organizing the defence of a kingdom with forts, and the way in which the royal council chamber is to be arranged (cf. Chapters 9 and 10 and 29.191 sq.).
It may be said, quite definitively, that the aim of the Mayamata is to organize the integration of the external manifestations of siddhanta Saivism in a context which could be qualified as “non-sectarian Hindu”, so as to avoid the term “secular” which is not very appropriate when speaking of traditional India.
Preface
This is our third MAYAMATA and it owes a lot to the former Institute of Indology (now French Institute of Pondicherry) we have retained without any substantial change the Sanskrit text and, after revision and emendation, the material for many of the footnotes, which have been added to the translation. That last, as well as the Introduction, has been borrowed after revision from our second work published in 1985 by the Sitaram Bhartia Institute of Scientific Research; we have tried to clarify it on several points, without however being able to make more than little progress in the interpretation of the ones. From the first published in 1970-1976 by the French passages dealing with timber work (chapters 18 and 25). The drawings of that second edition too have been kept with slight corrections; it should be reminded that they are meant to be no more than tentative sketches. Lastly an Index-glossary and an Analytical table of contents have been prepared.
The helps received since 1964 when the late Professor Jean Filliozat introduced us for the first time to the MAYAMATA, have been too numerous to be acknowledged one by one; exception is to be made however for that brought by Pandit N.R. Bhatt, founder and former Head of the Sanskrit Department at the French Institute of Pondicherry; I owe him more than can be expressed.
Lastly we thank Mrs. Kapila Vatsyayana for having asked us some years ago to prepare that book for the I.G.N.C.A. series, and for having friendly stood for out endless delays.
Foreword
In the series of Kalamulasastra early texts on music, namely, Matralaksanam, Dattilam and Brhaddesi, have been published. The medieval texts on music, specially, the Sri hastamuktavali (No.3 in the series) and the Nartananirnaya (No.17 in the series), bring us upto the 15th and 16th century. In the case of architecture, despite the IGNCA’s endeavour to publish portions of the Brhatsamhita, the Agnipurana and the Visnudharmottara-purana, first this has not been possible. Instead, our scholars wrere able to complete work first on a late but important text, namely, silparatnakosa. We hope that the sections on architecture in the Brhatsamhita, the Agnipurana and the Visnudharmottara-purana which predate the medieval texts, will be published soon, alongwith revised and re-edited texts of Manasollasa and Aparajitaprccha.
The Mayamatam is the fourteenth and fifteenth volumes in the Kalamulasastra series of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).
Urban development and city planning was, undoubtedly, known to the Mohenjodaro, but its most outstanding survivals of the historical period are in South India. The layout of Tanjore and later, Madurai has been widely commented upon. Understandably, technical texts, which devote attention to village, city planning, house building and temple construction, should be expected. An outstanding example of a comprehensive text, comprising thirty-six chapters, is the Mayamatam, written sometime between 11th and 12th century. The text is, obviously, a deduction from existing practices and actual structures rather than an abstract theoretical treatise on architecture. Its contents are more systematic than those found in other comprehensive texts, such as, the Manasollasa or the Samaranganasutradhara. The latter two are encyclopaedic in nature but are not tightly structured. In contrast, Mayamatam is more definitive and coherent as it situates itself within the larger saiva tradition and even more particularly, the Saivagama tradition and takes into account actual town and village layouts and temple construction. While it would be debatable whether the text precedes or succeeds the construction of the Brhadisvara with architectural plans, techniques of construction and the modular approach in regard to the number of storeys. The text assumes importance not only for its detailed descriptions of temples, but also for its detailed descriptions of houses for different categories of inhabitants in a village and a city, entrances, exists, ventilations and much else. Equally revealing is the concern with examination of the site, the analysis of the soil, the preparation of the foundations, the materials to be used and the methods of construction. A comparative study of the valuable date in this text, with techniques, which survive with the traditional sthaptis and others, would be the next rewarding journey.
As we have observed elsewhere Vastu and the Agama traditions are complementary and often they overlap. This was evident in the Svayambhuvasutrasamgraha and this interdependence has been highlighted by Prof. Pierre Filliozat in his Introduction. The Mayamatam, likewise, complements material in the Kamikagama specially the section on the Purvakamikagama and the two should be seen together, because while the text on architecture details the techniques of construction, the Agama texts lay down the process by which the material is transubstantiated to a non-material plane.
The text of the Mayamatam also interlinks the IGNCA programmes of studying the area of Tanjore and the Brhadisvara Temple. In a related programme, precise measurements have been taken of the city, new layout plans have been made, the Tmple has been measured precisely and a new set of drawings of ground plans, elevation and sections, is ready. Alongside, a volume on sculpture of the Temple, not understood in isolation but in its aspect of a programmed orchestration of the outer and the inner, the lower and the higher is ready for publication. Inscriptions have been re-assessed from the point of view of their placement and the contents of these inscriptions, specially those that have been deciphered recently, throw a fund of information on the organization of temple architecture activity. Alongside, the temple rituals are being documented. Studies are being carried out in regard to adherence or departures in contemporary practice of these rituals from the Agamas- whether the Kamikagama or the Makutagama. A comparison of the material of Mayamatam and the studies in the Brhadisvara project will, undoubtedly, throw up a new set of issues for further study.
With the publication of a group of monographs relating to the Brhadisvara Temple, including the Isanasivagurudevapaddhati and the Makutagama, the architectural, sculptural, painting and epigraphical volumes, and the volume based on the socio-political and cultural aspects and the history of the period and region, and the Mayamatam the Institute will have, hopefully, provided a new or, certainly, an alternate medel for the study of cultural areas and regions. Here theory and practice-the textual and the oral, the historical and contemporary, the monument, the texts and the living traditions are being investigated as interpenetrative categories.
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts is grateful to Dr. Bruno Dagens, Editor and Translator of this edition of the text. A French edition was published by the French Institute of Indology, Pondicherry, in 1970-76 and an English translation of the text from Sitaram Bharatia Institute of Scientific Research was published in 1985. The present edition is a revision of Dr. Bruno Dagen’s critical text published as also a revision of the English translation. He has provided an insightful introduction and an exhaustive glossary of technical terms, which will be an invaluable source of understanding for future scholars. Dr. Bruno Dagens brings to this edition the sensitive understanding of an excavator and an archaeologist. Thus, many complex passages have been edited by him with a view not only of grammatical correctness but also from the point of view of comprehension as statements of architectural construction. The question of homogeneity of this text – whether it was all composed during Cola or the post Cola period is somewhat debatable. Dr. Bruno Dagens concedes that there may be some interpolations. However, the question of interpolations in the Indian textual tradition is itself a complex matter. The text was never considered to be a frozen text. Since at all times the text reflected actual practices, as and when actual practices went through modifications, these changes were reflected in the subsequent texts or incorporated into an already prevalent text. Elsewhere, we have taken up the question “What constitutes the authenticity of a text in the Indian tradition, other than the Vedic text under the category of Sruti?”. The Mayamatam, like many other texts in different disciplines but particularly the arts, is also not a frozen text of a particular fixed date and time, but belongs much more to the stream of evolution and development of distinctive schools of architectural style.
I would like to take this occasion to thank Dr. Bruno Dagens for preparing the present text and thank my colleagues, especially Dr. N.D. Sharma who has assisted in proof-reading of the Sanskrit documents and publications, and Prof. Satkari Mukhopadhyaya, for supervision.
CONTENTS
Vol. I
Foreword
vii
Preface
xi
Table of figures
xv
Analytical table of contents of Mayamata
xvii
Introduction
xxxix
Text and translation of Mayamata (Chapter 1 to 23)
Chapter1:
Summary
3
Maya, auditor of the Lord of the Universe and author of the treatise(1-2). Summary of the treatise (3-11). Envoi: divine origin of the treatise which deals with divine and human dwellings (14).
Chapter2:
Dwelling sites
7
Definitions: -Varieties of dwelling sites(1-3); principal and secondary sites (4-6a); various kinds of dwelling sites (6b-8); the Earth as main site (9). Characteristic of sites intended for Brahmins, kings, vaisys and sudra (10-15). Envoi: the perfect site (20).
Chapter3:
Examination of the site
11
Auspicious characteristics (1-10a). Inauspicious characteristics (10b-19). Envoi: the perfect site (20).
Chapter4:
Taking possession of the site
11
How to take possession of the site: -Dismissing of spirits and others (1-3); ploughing, seeding and grazing (4-8a); offering (8b-10a). New examination is necessary before taking possession of the site (19).
Chapter5:
System of measurements
23
System of measurements: -Definition of the various units(1-6a); when to use them (6-11a); unit for rituals etc. (11b-12). The four technicians: -Names (13-14a); the architect (14b-18a); the sutragrabin (18b-19); the taksaka (20); the vardhaki (21-22a); qualities of technicians (22b-24). -Envoi: such technicians are indispensable (25).
Chapter6:
Orientation
29
Preliminaries: – Choice of date (1-2a); preparation of the ground (2b-3a); making the gnomon (3b-7a). Fixing the cardinal points: -Drawing east-west and north-south lines (7b-13a); values of apacchaya (11b-13). Laying out the building: –Making rope and stakes (14-18); the lines to be drawn: definitions (19-21a); order to be followed in drawing them (21b-24a); drawing the lines for four main building houses (24b-26). The apacchaya (cont.) -Various (27); when to make adjustments (28).
Chapter7:
Diagrams
37
List fo the thirty-two diagrams (1-21). Descriptions: Sakala diagram (22); pecaka diagram (23); pitha diagram(24); mahapitha diagram (25-27); upapitha and other diagrams (28-29). Two two main diagrams (manduka and paramasayin): -Common characteristics (30-33a); names of the gods and their respective places (33b-42); manduka diagram (43-48); the Spirit of the site (49-56); manduka diagram (cont.) (57); Paramasayin diagram (58).
Chapter8:
Offerings
51
Individual offerings (1-15); common offerings (16-20); placing the gods (21-23).
Chapter9:
Villages planning
57
Dimensions of settlements: -System of measurements (cont.): liner (1b-2a) and square (2b-4a) units; dimensions of village settlements (4b-8a); dimensions of towns (8b-10); dimensions of village, kheta, kharvata, forts and cities (10-16a); proportions of villages, kheta, kharvata, forts and cities (10-16a); proportions (16b-18a); the ayadi system (18b-24). Number of Brahmins to be installed in a settlement (25-31). General points: -Choosing a diagram(32-33a); list of village types(33b-34); various kinds of streets (35-39); definition of various kinds of settlements (40). Description of village type: -Dandaka type (41-42); svastika type (43-45); prastara type (46); prakarnaka type (47); nandyavarta type (18-50a); paraga type (50b-51a); padma type (51b-52); sripratisthita and srivatsa types (53-54a). Village planning: -General rules (54b-56); doors and sewage outlets (57-60a); defences (50b-60a); concentric zoning (61b-63); shrines (64-75); layout of centre of village (75b-78); harmony between settlement of shrines (84-85); the body of the Spirit of the Site is not to be harmed (86); arrangement of amenities and dwelling quarters (87-91a); houses: dimensions and types (91b-94); constructions around the village (95-98); errors to be avoided in plainning (99-100). The foundation deposit for villages: -Components (101-122a); location (122b-128). Envoi: Gifts to architect and others and their fruits (129-130).
Chapter10:
Towns
89
Dimensions of towns (1-12) General points: -The surrounding wall: layout and dimensions (13-16a); choice of a diagram and places to be avoided (16b-17a); streets (17b-18). Descriptions of towns and other settlements: -Rajadhanin or the king’s capital (19-26a); khata (26b); kharvata and janasthanakubja (27); pattana or harbour (28b-29a); sibira (29b-30a); senamukha (30b-31a); sthaniya (31b-32a); dronamukha (32b-33a); vidamba and kotmakolaka (33b-34a); nigama (34b-35a); skandhavara and cerika (35b-36a). Fort: -Types (36b-38); qualities to be sought (39-40a); gateways (40b-42a); walls (42b-46a); stores (46b-48a); qualities to be sought (cont. 48b-49a). gods of the fort (49b-51a). Town plans: -General rule regarding the number of streets (51b-54a); dandaka, kartaridandaka, bahudandaka, kalakabandhadandaka, vedibhadra and svastika types of plan (54-61a); bhadraka, bhadramukha, bhadrakalyana, mahabhadra, vastubhadra and subhadra types (62-67a); jayanga, vijaya and sarvatobhadra types (67b-76). Town planning: -Habitation quarters and bazaars (77-87); shrines (88-89a); outside constructions (89-90); specificity o pattana (91b-c); list of various kinds of settlement(92). Envoi: Gifts architect and others and their fruits (93-94).
Chapter11:
The number of storeys and the dimensions
113
Differences regarding the plan of buildings and the number of their storeys(1-3a). Dimensions of buildings according to number of storeys (3b-22a). Destination of buildings according to number of storeys (22b-25). Maximum size to be given to a building (?)(26). Envoi: contents of the chapter (27).
Chapter12:
The foundation deposit
121
General points: -Why a foundation deposit is necessary (1-3a); the foundation pit (3b-8); the casker (9-15a); preliminary rites (15b-22); content of the casket (23-32). Temples foundation deposit: -Deposit for Siva temple (33-46a); deposits for Visnu (46b-48a), for Brahma (48b-51) and for Sanmukha (52-53); deposits for dikpalas and similar Attendants (54-58); for Buddha (59-60), for Jina (61-63), for Durga (64-65a) and for Ksetrapala (65b); deposits for Laksmi, Sarasvati, Kali, the Mothers, Rohini, Parvati, Mohini, etc .(67-70). Deposits for human dwellings: -Deposits for each of the four varna (71-83); deposits for the principal main buildings of catussala (84-87); deposits for various buildings (88-95); general points: deposit is not to be placed when he house mistress is pregnant(95); orientation of deposit (97); formula for foundation (98); deposits for wells etc. (99_100). The first bricks: -Number, nature and dimensions (101-108a); placing the first bricks (108b-111). General points: -Order of operations (112); placing a pillar or a door jamb above the deposit(114).
Chapter13:
The socle
151
Definition and proportions (1-5). Descriptions: -Vedibhadra types (6-8); pratibhadra types (9-14); subhadra types (15-19a). General rules: -Decoration (19b-20); proportions (21-22).
Chapter14:
Tha base
157
Foundation works: -Dry and moist grounds (1-4a); preparing the ground (4b-8). General points: -Regulating course, base and socle (9-11a); definition of base (11b); height of the base (12-16); projection(17-18). Descriptions: -Padabandha base (19-20); uragabandhu base (21-22); pratikrama base (23-24); padmakesara base (25-26); puspapuskala base (27-28); sri bandha base (29-30); mancabandha base (31)srikanta base (32); srenibandha base (33); padmabandha base (34); vaprabandha base(35); kapotabandha base(36a); pratibandha base (36b); kalasa base(37); General points: -Decoration and proportion (38-39); synonyms for ‘base'(40); projection and recess (41-44); rule for interruption of base and stereo bate (45-47).
Chapter15:
Dimensions of pillars and choice of materials
179
Pillars: -General points: -Synonyms for ‘pillar’ (2); dimensions (3-8); various kinds of pillars:pratistambha, nikhatastambha, jhasalastambha (9-11a); rule for pillar diameter (11b-12). -Descrioptions: -Brahmakanta, vinsukanta, indrakanta, saumya, purvasra, rudrakanta and rudracchanda pillars (13-17a); proportion of lotiform base (17b); bhadraka pillar (18-19); sundupada and pindipada pillars (20-22a); ictrakhanda, srikhnda and srivajra pillars (22b-26a); ksepanastambha(26b-27a). General points (cont.): -Pillar assembly, general use of bracket capital, definition of module (27b-29a). -Capitals: -Types of bell-capital (29b-30); pillar upper part arrangement (31); bell capital (32-34a); abacus and other elements (34b-39a); bracket capital: dimensions (39b-42); description (43-47), various types (48-50). -Pilasters projection (51); intercolumniation (52-54); wooden and stone pillars (55-56); placing the reference line (57-58a); how to calculate the height of a building (58b-59a); placing the reference line (cont.)(59b-61a).
Choice of building materials: -Materials to be used (61b) -Characteristics of correct materials: -Trees (62-63); list of trees suitable for pillars (64-67a); stone is not to be used for vais, a and sudra buildings (78-79a); pure, ‘mixed’ and ‘mingled’ building (79b-80). -Search for timber: -Preliminary rites (81-83); ‘male’, ‘female’ and ‘neuter’ trees (84-86); cutting the tree(87-92); omens (93-98); squaring, transporting and storing timber (99-102); storing the nails, etc. (103-104a); making a muhurtastambha (104b-108); list of trees not to be used for human dwellings (109-114). -The making of bricks: -Choice of earth (115-116a); mixing earth with water and various saps (116b-118a); dimensions of bricks (118b-119a); drying and baking (119b); testing the bricks (120). -Envoi: why good materials are to be chosen (121).
Chapter16:
Entablature
213
The architrave and its upper fascia: -Three kinds of architrave (1-3); four kinds of arrangement for entablature (4); the upper fascia (5-7a). Various features: -Braces (7b-9a); consoles (9b-10a); lierne and cornice (10b-15); struts (16-18a); decoration of cornice (18b-20a); upper fascia (cont.) (20b-23a); cornice (cont.) (23b-27); frieze: description (28-32a), various kinds (32b-35). The ceiling: -Arrangement of architrave and pillars (41b-42a); orientation of architrave, beams, etc. (42b-44a); arrangement of beams, valika, joists and small joists (44b-45); decoration of entablature and making of ceiling (46-47); height of entablature (48); preparation of coating (49); even and odd measurements (50a); position of the door (50b); rule for arrangement of stereobate (51-53). Latticed windows: -Position and dimensions (54-55a); arrangement of upright and transoms (55b-56a); various types of latticed window (56b-60a); jambs and shutters (60b-61); circular windows(62). Walls: -Three sorts of walls (63); description of latticed and plank walls. Envoi: contents of the chapter and emphasis on rules regarding stereo bate (67).
Chapter17:
Joinery
235
General points: -Definition (1); basic principle (2); varieties of assembly: names(3); how to make an assembly (4-8a); position of pieces to be joined (8b-10a); varieties of assembly (cont.); definitions (10b-15a). Descriptions: -Sarvatobhadra assembly (15b-18); nandyavarta assembly (19-22a); svastibandha assembly (22b-23); vardhamana assembly (24-26a). General rules for successful assemblies (26b-28). Assemblies for pillars and for pillars (29) and horizontal elements (30); assembling the pillars: types of assembly (31-34); general rules (35-37); assembling the horizontal elements: types of assembly (38-34); general rules (35-37); assembling the horizontal elements: types of assembly (38-41); general rules (42-43). tenons and pegs (44-45a). Errors regarding tenons and pillars (45b-46); position on diagrams (47-49); middle regarding tenons and pillars (45b-46); position on diagrams (47-49); middle of pieces (50-51a) and confusion of elements (51b-53a); evil result of an error (53b-54); errors regarding use of old pieces (55-56); assembly of pillars and architrave (57-58a) and assembly above the place of Brahma at the centre of the building (58b-59); error regarding male, female and neuter woods (60); happy fruit of a correct assembly (61). Description of a special assembly(/) (62).
Chapter18:
Making of the roof and completion of the building work
251
Upper levels of elevation: -The attic: -Height (2); projections and recess (3-5a); decorative elements (5b-7a). -The roof: -Different types of roof and their proportions (7b-12a); proportions and names of corresponding types of rafter work (12b-14); roof shapes (15-17). Height of the finial (18-19). -Roof timber work: -Number of rafters (20); puskara(?) (21-22); dimensions of rafters (23-29); the five categories of rafters (30-31); rafter work of a wagon roof (?) (32-35); timber-work of a pyramid roof (?) (36-37); dimensions of various roof elements (38-45); roofing (46-47a); lierne and other elements (?) (47b-64); roofing (cont.) (65-66a); axis of the finial: dimensions (66b-67) and setting up (68-77); decoration of the porch gable (78-81). -The finial: -Position of final axis (82); height (83-87a) and width (87b-89a) of finial parts; finial support (?) (89b-90); the finial is suitable only for the first three varna (91). Coatings and mortars: -Different kinds (92-98a); preparation of kalka and cikkana (98b-101a); preparing of bandhodaka (101b-103); making a roofing (?) and a gutter (104-108); paintings (109-112a); recipe to make a rock-like mortar (112b-115). -The crowning bricks (116-121a). -Axis of the finial (cont.): materials, shape and dimensions (121b-127a). Consecration ceremony: -Laying in place of the crowning bricks: -Preparatory rites: arrangement of pavilion (127b-133a); placing the bricks and the finial axis in that pavilion (133b-134a); offerings (134b-136a); settling of the architect for the night (136b-138a). Morning rites: dressing of the architect (138b-141a); meditation (141b-142); washing the bricks and the finial axis (143).
-Setting the bricks: climbing up the roof of the building and placing the bricks (144-147a); placing a sacred deposit under the axis of finial (147b-151); hanging a banner and clothing the building (152-154); honoraria for the architect and others (155-156); where to place the deposit in various kinds of building (157-158). -General rules for the completion of the building work (159-169). -Summary of what has been already told in this chapter (163) -Axis of the finial (cont.): suitable woods (164). -Consecration rites: -Choice of a correct time (165); preparatory rites: arrangement of a consecration pavilion (166-170a); placing twenty-five vases and invoking the gods (170b-172); setting of the architect for the night (173-174); arrangement fo a sacrificial pavilion (175-178a); placing the murtikumbha in that pavilion and dressing the temple (178b-181); offerings to the divinities of the site (182-184). -The opening of the eyes (185-188); climbing up again the temple roof and handing banners (189-193a); making the vase of the finial and setting it in place (193b-195); consecration formula (196-198); end of the architect and others (202-206). -General rules for the consecration: -Necessity for the consecration ritual (207-210); the architect officiates in the consecration (211-212); the time for consecration (213-214); placing the vases (215). Envoi: the rules to be followed for success.
Chapter19:
One storeyed temples
307
General features of single storeyed temples: -Dimensions and proportions (1-3a); shapes (3b-4a). General points regarding temples: -The pavilion in front of the shrine (4b-9); synonyms designating buildings (10-12); dimensions of the sanctum (13-15a); proportions of the finial (15b-17); false-dormer windows set in the roof (18-19a); the attic stereo bate (19b); the door (20-22); the gargoyle: position (23-24); description (25-28); alternative position (29). General appearance of single storeyed temples (30-34). General points regarding temples (cont.): Nagara, dravida and vesara categories (35-38); images to be set on temple facades: ground floor (40-43); second floor (44-45a); third floor (45b-46); attic (47-48a). Envoi: decorative elements which may used. (48b-49).
Chpater20:
Two storeyed temples
325
Dimensions and proportions of two storeyed temples (1-5) Descriptions of two storeyed temples: -Svastika type (6-7); vipulasundara type (9b-10a) General points regarding temples: -Aediculae (10b-12a). Description of two storeyed temples (cont.): -Kailasa (12b-13a); parvata (13b-16a); svastibandha (16b-18a); kalyana (18b-19); pancala (20); visnukanta (21); sumangala (22-23); gandhara (24); hastiprstha (25-26); manohara (27a); isvarakanta (27b-28a); urttaharmya (28b-29a) and kuberakanta (29b-30a). Envoi: there are fifteen types of two storeyed temple (30b-31a). General points regading temples (cont.): -Male,female and neuter building (31b-34a).engaged structures (35); arcatures: proportions (36-37) and positions (?) (38-39).
Chapter21:
Three storeyed temples
337
Dimension and proportions of three storeyed temples (1-2a). Description of three storeyed temples: -Svastika type (2b-10); vimalakrti type (11-14); hastiprstha type (15-18a) General points points regarding temples: -The pavilion in front of the shrine: proportions (18b); decorative features (19-20); position of the reference line(21-23a). Descriptions of three storyed temples (cont.): -Hastiprstha type (cont.)(23b-29a). General points regarding temples (cont.): -Arcatures: tambhatorana (29b-33). Descriptions of three storeyed temples (cont.) -Hastiprstha type (cont.) (34-40a); bhadrakostha type (40b-48a); vrttakuta type (48b-49); sumangala type (50-51); gandhara type (52-59); sribhoga type (60). General points regarding temples (cont.): -Aediculae (61-64a); new classification: buildings with and without aisle (64b-65); the sanctum (66); stereobate (67); arcatures (cont); patratorana, makaratorana and citratorana (68b-80a); other decorative elements; kumbhalata (80b-81), stambhakumbhalata (82-83) and vrttasphutita (84-86a); stairs: four types of stairs (86b-90), rule for step (91-92), proportions and location of stairs(93-97). Envoi: arcatures and stairways have been described in this chapter (98); nagara, dravida and vesara temples (99).
Chapter22:
Temples with four or more storeys
363
Four storeyed temples: -Dimensions and proportions (1-2); Descriptions: subhadraka type (3-12); srivisala type (13-14); bhadrakostha type (15-24a); jayavaha type (24b-34a); bhadrakuta type (34b-36). General points regarding temples:-The kapotapanjara (37-42). Descriptions of four storeyed temples (cont.): -Bhadrakuta type (cont.) (43-46a); manohara type (46b-47a); avantika type (47b-48); sukhavaha type (49-54). Five storeyed temples (55-57). Temples with six to eleven storeys (58-66a). Twelve storeyed temples (66b-71a). General points regarding temples (cont.): -Odd and even measurements: proportion of aediculae (71b-73); engaged structures for temples with four storeys or more (74-75); aediculae:proportions (76-78a), arrangement (78b-79a), projection (79b-81), roof shapes (82-85), other kinds of arrangement (86-92a); dimensions are to be in whole numbers of units (92b-93a). Envoi: thus have been described temples (93b-94).
Chapter23:
Enclosures and Attendants’ shrines
387
Enclosure: -Aim of temple enclosure (1); dimensions of the five enclosures: according to even and odd diagrams (2-5) or according to main temple size (6-16); position of reference line (17); enclosure walls: dimensions (18-22) and decoration (23-25); cloister-like gallery (26-31); decoration of wall coping (32a); height of enclosures base (32b-34). Attendants shrines: -General features (35-38);lists of eight (39-40a), twelve (40b-42a), sixteen (42b-45a) and thirty-two (45b-52) Siva’s Attendants; arrangement of Attendants shrines: ccording to odd and even diagrams (53a); according to number of enclosures (53b-54a); according to orientation of main temple (54b-57a); appearance of Attendants shrines. Storeyed galleries: -General features (58b-61a); proportions (61b-69); temple storeyed gallery and dwelling house annexes (70-71a); storeyed galleries and Attendant’s shrines or other features (71b-73). Enclosures arrangement: -Altars (74-81); flag mast (82-83a); various buildings within the enclosures (83b-88a); flag mast 9cont.) (88b-91);other buildings (92-97). Attendants of Visnu: -Lists and arrangement of eight (89-100a); twelve (100b-102), sixteen (103-105a) and thiry-two (105b-106) Visnu’s Attendants. Characteristics of the image of Vrsa: -General proportions (107-110a); detailed proportions (110b-127a); general features (127b-131).
Vol.II
Text and translation of Mayamata (chapter 24 to Appendix)
Chapter24:
Gateway
421
The five gateways: -Dimensions in relation to that of the main temple (1-10); names (11); dimensions and proportions (12-22); dimensions of doors (23-25), based (27-28) and pillars (29-30); position of foundation deposit (31a). General rules: -List of fifteen types (31-34a), number of storeys (34b-35); elevation: proportions for single storeyed (36-38), two storeyed (38b-40), three storeyed (41-43a), four storeyed (43b-46a), five storeyed (46b-49), six storeyed (50-54a) and seven storeyed (54b-59a) gateways; horizontal proportions for single storeyed (59b-60a), two storeyed (60b-63), three storeyed (63-68a), four storeyed (68b-70), five storeyed (71-72a), six storeyed (72b-74a) and seven storeyed (74b-77) gateways; doors and stairways (78-80). The five gateways(cont.): -Shapes (81-84a); dvarsasobha or gateway of first enclosure: srikara type (84b-88), ratikanta type (89-91a) and kantavijaya type (91b-94a);dvarasala or gateway of second enclosure: vijayavisala type (94b-97), visalalaya type (98-100a), and vipratikanta type (100b-103a); dvaraprasada or gateway of third enclosure: srikanta type (103b-106a); srikesa type (106b-110) and kesvisala type (111-113), dvaraharmya or gateway of fourth enclosure: svastika type (114-116), disasvastika type (117-120a) and mardala type (120b-123a); dvaragopura or gateway of fifth enclosure: matrakanda type (123b-126), srivisala type (127-129); caturmukha type (130-134); rule for gutters (135). Envoi: the wide diversity of the five gateways (139-137).
Chapter25:
Pavilions and halls
451
Pavilions: -General rules: -Position (1-3a) and functions (3b-5) of pavilions; names square (6-8a) and rectangular (8b-11a) pavilions; features to be described in this chapter (11b-12); proportions and dimensions: value of intercolumniation (13-16), dimensions of pillars (17-20a), base (20a-21) and socle (22-24); definition of pavilion (25); etymology of the term mandapa (26a); definition of light building (26b-29), canopy (30-34) and malikamandapa (35-36a). Square pavilions: -Meruka type (36b-37a); vijaya type (37b-39a); siddha type (39b-41). The sacrificial pavilion: – Inside arrangement (42); quadrangular (43-44), vulva-form (47), semicircular (48), triangular (49a), circular (49b), hexagonal (50), lotiform (51), octagonal (52), heptagonal (53) and pentagonal (54) firepits; other method to draw firepits (?) (55-56) -Square pavilions (cont.):
Chapter26:
Houses
515
The main buildings: -Number and general features (1-3a); dimensions: width (3b-6a), length (6b-9a) and height (9b-10). Houses with a single main building: General characteristics (11-12a); names (12b-13a); other features (13b-16a); orientation (16b-17). -Orientation (18-20); use and arrangement (21). Houses with a single main building (cont.): -First and second type of dandaka houses (22b-25); arrangement fo doors (26-27); third (28-31a), fourth (31b-32) and fifth (33-35) type of dandaka houses. Proportions of the verandah for houses with one, two or three main buildings (36), Houses with a single main building (cont.): -dandaka houses (cont.) (37); maulika house (38-39a); svastika house (39b-40); caturmukha house (41-43); features common to dandaka and other types (44-46). Houses with two main buildings: -Caturmukha type (47-51a); svastika type (51b-53); dandavaktra type (54-55). Houses with three main buildings. -Merukanta type (56-58); maulibhadra type (59-62); dimensions of houses with three main buildings: -Dimensions (64-66a) and types (66b-67); calculating the length (68-72). Sarvatobhadra houses with four main buildings: -First type (73-85); second type (86-87); third type (88-91); fourth type (92-95a); fifth type (95b-99). Definitions of verandah (?) (101) vardhamana houses with four main buildings: -First type (102-109a); second type (109b-112a); third type (113b-115a); fourth type (115b-118); fifth type (119-133); sixth type (134-137a); seventh type (137b-151). Nandyavarta houses with four main buildings: -Firth type (152-159a); second type (159b-161a); third type (161b-167); fourth type (168-172a); fifth type (172b-177a). Other types of houses with four main buildings. -Svastika houses with four main buildings: Svastika house (177b-185); rucaka house (186-187). General rules for houses with four main buildings (189). Houses with seven and ten main buildings (190-193) General features of houses: -Verandah and porch (194); ‘limitless’ house (195); even and uneven numbers )196a); placing the door (196b); placing the foundation deposit (197-198); auspicious and inauspicious axial door (199). Monasteries (200-202) General features of houses (cont.): -Dimension of houses pillars (203-205); how to build an auspicious house with reference to ayadi (206-211); annexes of houses (212-213); buildings within the house enclosures (214-218); number of enclosures (219-220). (
Chapter27:
Features of houses for the four classes
573
The enclosure: -Dimensions (1-4); plan (5); endclosure wall (6-9); annexes built around the house (10). Rules for laying out: -Houses with main buildings separated or in blocks (11-13), small and large sizes (14-15a); drawing the house diagram (15b-19). The central pavilion: -Dimensions (20-23); the central platform (24-26); characteristics of central pavilion (27-35). Laying out the principal main-building of a catussala: -General rules (36-39a); laying out the sukhalaya for Brahmins (40-41). General proportions for houses (42-44):Laying out the principal main-building of a catussala (cont.): -The sukhalaya (cont.) (45); the annalaya for ksatriya (46-48); the Elements of the upper part of the house (55-57). Proportions for dwelling pavilions (?) (58-59). Foundation deposit: -Position (60-65); the muhurtastambha (66-69). General points: -Doors (70-73a); placing the gods (73b-75a); pillars (75b-80); the verandah (81-83a); the chamber of the master (83b-91). Roofing of the main building (95a) materials (95b-96a); base (96b-99); distribution of appurtenance (100), the heart (101-103); number of finials (?) (104); distributing oappurtenaces (cont.) (105-108) The four types of dwelling: -List (109-110a); disibhadra dwelling (110b-111); garudapaksa dwelling (112a); kayabhara dwelling (112b-120a); tulaniya dwelling (120b-125a). General rules (cont.) -Why to protect the external wall (125b-126); auspicious proportions (127); door proportions (128-129); time for construction (130-131); auspicious door positions (132); placing the master’s apartment and the gynaeceum (133); period for beginning the construction (134).
Chapter28:
First entry into a house
611
When to enter the house (1-2) First rites: -Preparatory ceremony (3-5); putting in place of the vases (5-6); preparing the food for offering (7-9); installing the gods (10-11a); offerings (11b-23); departure of the architect (24-25a); preparing the house (25b-27). The entering in of the master and mistress of the house: They enter (28); the first meal (29-30); the perfect house (31-33); errors to be avoided (34); the entry is to be joyful(35); Offerings in villages, etc.(36)
Chapter29:
Royal palaces
623
Proportions (1-12a). Features of a small palace: -Plan (12b-21); gateways (22-24a); arrangements of buildings (24b-26); the moat (27-29a); arrangement of buildings (cont.)(29b-30a); first enclosure (30b-42); second enclosure (43-55); third enclosure (56-64). The town: -General features (65-69); the town’s wall (70-72a). Palace gateways (72b-78); number of storeys for palaces (79-86). The palace of narendra: -Enclosure walls (87-94), inner arrangement of the palace (95-102); external enclosure (103-107). Saubala palace: -First enclosure (108-111a); second enclosure (111-118a); third enclosure (118b-120); fourth enclosure (121-122a); fifth enclosure (122b-129). Saubala palace: -First enclosure (108-111a); second enclosure (111b-118a); third enclosure (118b-120); fourth enclosure (121-122a); fifth enclosure (122b-129). The adhikaja palace: -Arrangement of buildings (130-157); walls and most (158-161). Different kinds of royal cities (162-167). Miscellaneous palace buildings: -General features (65-69); the town’s wall (70-72a). Palace gateways (72b-78); number of storeys for palaces (79-86). The palace for narendra: -Enclosure walls (87-94); inner arrangement of the palace (95-102); external enclosure (103-107). Saubala palace: -First enclosure (108-111a); second enclosure (111b-118a); third enclosure (118b-120); fourth enclosure (121-122a); fifth enclosure (122b-129). The adhiraja palace: -Arrangement of buildings (130-157); walls and moat (158-161). Different kinds of royal cities (162-167). Miscellaneous palace buildings: -Elephant stable (168-180); the horses stable (181-187); various buildings (188-190); the council chamber, etc. (191-195a); the bath house (195b-200a); the coronation building (200b-205a); ritual weighing place (205b-215); place for gold embryo ceremony (216-225); the guard lodgings (226); underground apartment (227). Envoi: all is to be arranged according to king’s best pleasure (228).
Chapter30:
Doors
681
General features: -Dimensions of doors (2-11a); dimensions of door jambs (11b-12); door leaves (13-32); auspicious and inauspicious characteristics of doors (33-42); positions of doors(43-51). Gateways: -Dimensions of the door(53-55a); single storeyed gateways; srikara, sita and sribhadra types (61b-67); two storeyed gateways: ratikanta, kantavijaya and sumangala types (68-75a); three storeyed gateways: mardala, matrakhanda and sriniketana types (75b-94a); seven storeyed gateways: bhadrakalyana, subhadra and bhadrasundara types (94b-108a): six storeyed gateways (108b-109); five storeyed gateways (110-114); four storeyed gateways (115-116); general rules (117-118); definition of stereobate (119). Envoi: for whom are intended the various kinds of gateways (120-121).
Beds(1-6) and divans(7-10a). Seats -General rules (10b-13a); lion throne (13b-19); stand for worship(20-23). Rules regarding ayadi series (24).
Chapter33:
The Linga
739
General points: -Different kinds of divine representation (1-3); characteristics of stones(4-7); male, female and neuter stones and when to use them(8-12); young, mature and aged stones (12b-16a) pregnant stones (16b-17a); position of the ‘face’ of a stone (17b-19a); searching for stones: time and place (19b-21), preliminary rites (22-28a); quarrying a stone (28b-31a) and taking it to workshop (31b-33); how to proceed when a suitable stone is not found(34-36). Dimensions of Linga: Linga and temple dimensions (37a); place of Linga in the sanctum (37b-40a); dimensions of nagara Linga (40b-43a); dimensions of dravida Linga (43b-45a); dimensions of vesara Linga (45b-48a); dimensions expressed in cubits (48b-53); dimensions of vesara Linga (45b-48a);dimensions expressed in cubits (48b-53); dimensions calculated from those of door and other elements of the temple (54-57); rule regarding ayadi series (58-64). Fashioning the Linga: -Shapes to be given to the block at the start (65-66); the three parts of the Linga(67) and the way to draw them (68-71). Proportions: -Sarvatobhadra, svastika, sivadhika types of Linga (72-79); surarcita, dharalinga, sahasralinga and trairasika type (80-84). Linga installed by Rsi (85-86). Self-generated Linga (87-92a). The cutting of a rounded shape at the top of the Linga (92b-100)? Bringing out the characteristic signs: -Preparing the Linga (101-102); preliminary rites (103-105); drawing the lines (106-109a); bringing out the characteristics of nagara Linga (109b-114a); of dravida Linga (114b-117a); and of vesara Linga (117b-119a); width and depth of lines (119b-127a); general rules (127b-135); shapes of the frenum (136-143). Other types of Linga: -Crystal Linga (144-152); Linga of various material such as earth (153-158a); banalinga (158b-159). Envoi: -Installation of Linga (161); fruits of installing a Linga (162).
Chapter34:
Pedestals
783
General rules: -Materials (2-3); dimensions (4-10); shapes (10-13a); names (13b-15). Descriptions: -Bhadra pedestal (16-17); padma pedestal (18); vajrapadma pedestal (19-20); mahabja pedestal (21-22); srikara pedestal (23-24); pithapadma pedestal (25); mahavajra and saumya pedestals (26-28a); srikamya pedestal (28b-29). Common features (30-43)? Placing the pedestal: -The liners: Brahma stone (44-49) and nandyavarta stones (50). Pedestals for statues (51-56a). Temple, pedestal and image(?): -Dimensions of temples as calculated from those of pedestals (56b-60); dimensions of temples as calculated from those of the images (61-64a). Making of the eight (ingredients)mortar (64b-66). The gods in the shrine: -Number of gods (67); the biggest shrine is that housing the Linga (68); diagram of the sanctum and place of the gods (69-71). Envoi: all attention is to be given in placing divine representation in the sanctum (72); formless and man-made Linga (73); contents of the chapter (74).
Chapter35:
Renovation work
803
-Temple renovation (2b-14); renovation of Linga (15-33a); renovation of pedestal (33b-36); renovation of images (37-40a); general rules (40b-44); renovation of villages, etc.(45-47). Provisional installation: -Why a provisional installation (48); provisional shrine (49-50); provisional Linga (51-53); provisional image (54-55); provisional pedestal (56); materials?(57); how long may last a provisional feature(580. Envoi: rules for renovation have to be followed (59).
Chapter36:
Iconography
821
Brahma(2-7). Visnu’s images: -Visnu (8-12a); Varaha (12b-14a); Trivikrama (14b-15a); Narasimha (15a-24); Anantasayin (25-35a). Mahesvara (35b-43a). The sixteen manifestations of Siva: -The sixteen manifestation of Siva: -List (43b-46a); common features (46b-48); Sukhasanamurti (49-51a); Vaivahamurti (51b-58); Umaskandamurti (59-62a); Vrsarudhamurti (62b-64a); Tripurantakamurti (65-67a); Dancing forms (67b-89a); Candrasekharamurti (80b-81a); Ardhanarisvaramurti (81b-89a); Hariharamurti (90-91); Candesanugrahamurti (92-93); Kamarimurti (94-95a); Kalanasamurti (95b-97); Daksinamurti (98-101); Bhiksatanamurti (102-103); Kankalamurti (104-107a); Mukhalinga (107b-118). Sanmukha (119-121). Ganadhipa (122-126) Surya (127-136a). Lords of the directions: Indra (136b-138); Agni (139-143); Yama (144-149); Nirrtti (149b-150); Varuna (151-152); Vayu (153-154a); Kubera (154b-156); Candra (157-161a); Isana (161b-162a). Other gods and goddesses: -Kama (162b-167a); the two Asvin (167b-170); the eight Vasu (171-173a); the eight Marut (173b-174); the Rudra and the Vidyesvara (175-177); Ksetrapala (178-185); Candesvara (186-188); the twelve Aditya (189-191); the seven sages (192-194a); the seven Rohini (194b-195a); Garuda (195b-198a); Sasta (198b-210). The Mothers: -List (211-212); Virabhadra (213-214a); Brahmani (216-217); Mahesvari (218-219); Kaumari (220-222a); Vaisnavi (222b-224a); Varahi (224b-227a); Indrani (227b-228); Camundi (229-234a); Vinayaka (234b); installation of the Mothers (235-240a); Camundi (cont.) (240b-242); the Mothers Attendants (234-247a). Goddesses: -Laksmi (247b-255); Yaksini (256-257); Katyayani (258-262); Durga (263-264); Sarasvati(265-268a); Jyestha (268b-273); Bhumi (274-275); Parvati (276-278a);Saptamata (279-280). Buddha (281-283). Jina(284-291). General Points: -Proportions of images (293-303); dimensions of portable images (304-309). Guardians of the doors (310-314). Envoi: What has been told in that chapter(315).
Appendix:
Where and when a well is to be established
899
Choice of the place(?)(1-5);choice of the day (6-7); choice of the asterism (8-13); choice of the place(?)(cont.)(14-15).
Bibliography
905
Editions and Manuscripts of Mayamatajj used for the establishment of the Sanskrit text
911
Index-Glossary
913
The Hindu Temple (2 Vols.)
Author Stella Kramrisch Language, Pages English, 557 Pgs. (HB) Upload Date 2023 / 05 / 08 ISBN 9788120802223, 8120802225
This two-volume work explains in detail the religious and spiritual significance of the temple by means of copious references to Sanskrit texts-both sacred and scientific. It depicts the Hindu Temple as not merely a heap of brick, stone or wood but a visible symbol of aspirations of pious men and women, the throbbings of their hearts in religious fervour and their endeavour for the attainment of salvation.
The first four parts of the work are devoted to the philosophy of temple architecture. Part V deals with the origin and development of the temple from the Vedic fire altars to the latest forms. Part VI discusses the pyramidal and curvilinear superstructures in the main varieties of the Sikhara, the Sikhara enmeshed in Gavaksas and the composite Sikhara. Part VII describes the proportional measurements and the rhythmic disposition of the garbha-grha and the vertical section. It discusses the proportions of the Mandapa and the types of temples described in ancient Sanskrit texts like the Brhatsamhita and the Samarangana-sutradhara.
This most comprehensive and authoritative treatise of ancient Indian Temple Architecture will prove of immense help to the students of ancient Indian culture.
About the Author
Stella Kramrisch, the world-renowned specialist in Ancient Indian Art and Architecture, needs no introduction. Her epoch-making works-The Indian Sculpture, The Indian Sculpture in the Boston Museum and The Hindu Temple – have elicited well-merited praise from the galaxy of art critics all over the world.
Stella Kramrisch passed away in 1993.
Preface
An attempt has here been made to set up the Hindu temple conceptually from its foundation to its final. Its structure is rooted in Vedic tradition and primeval modes of building have contributed their shapes. The principles are given in the sacred books of India and the structural rules in the treatises on architecture. They are carried out in the shrines which still and throughout the country and which were built in many varieties and styles over a millennium and a half from the fifth century A.D.
The purpose of the Hindu temple is shown by its form. It is the concrete symbol of Reintegration and coheres with the rhythm of the thought images in its carvings and laid out in its propositions. Their perfection is a celebration of all the rites enacted during the building of the temple from the ground to its pinnacle. Nothing that is seen on the temple is left unsaid in the verbal tradition nor is any of the detail arbitrary or superfluous. Each has a definite place and is part of the whole.
The Hindu Temple is the sum total of architectural rites performed on the basis of its myth. The myth covers the ground and is the plan on which the structure is raised.
Contents
Volume I
Part I.
The Site
1
Tirtha and temple
3
Site and Builder
7
The Stability of the site
12
Purification Insemination and levelling of the site
14
Part II
The Plan
19
Square and Circle Vedic Origins
22
The Square Mandala of the Earth and of the Ecliptic
29
The symbolism of the Square
40
The Enclosure
40
The Ornament of Visvakarman
40
The Remainder
44
The form of Martanda
44
Vastu the Remainder
45
The two main types of the Vastu Diagram
46
A. The Mandala of 64 Squares
46
B. The Mandala of 81 Squares and the Vastupurusa
49
The Organism of the plan
51
The Series of 32 types of Vastumandala
58
Various closed polygons as shapes of the vastumandala
62
Part III
Plan and Supernal Man
65
Agni Prajapati and vastupurusa
68
The Subtle Body of the Purusa and its Pictures
71
The Descent of the Vastupurusa
73
Nature and Name of the Vastupurusa
79
The Gods as constituents of the body of the Vastupurusa
85
Part IV
The Substances of which the temple is built
99
Brick
101
Stone
108
wood
116
Plaster
121
The Germ of the temple
126
Part V
Names and origins of the temple
129
The Names
131
Vimana
131
Prasada
134
Further names of the Temple
137
The Object of building a temple
139
Architectural Origins
145
1. Citi the Altar
145
2. The Dolmen
150
3. The Shed of Initiation and the Tabernacle
156
The Image of the mountain and the cavern
161
A. The Garbhagrha
161
B. The Superposition of Shapes along the vertical axis
166
C. The Form of the vertical axis
175
Part VI
The Superstructure
177
I. The Pyramidal Superstructure
179
I A. The Pyramidal Superstructure formed of slabs
189
I A1. The stepped truck of the pyramid
189
I A2. The Straight Trunk with round-edged slabs
190
I B. The Pyramidal Superstructure is composed of storeys
193
I B1. The Stepped trunk of the pyramid formed of single storeys
193
I B2. The High Temple
194
I B3. The Enclosure of chapels
197
II
The Curvilinear Superstructure
205
The Main Varieties of the Curvilinear Superstructure
210
II A. The Cluster of Sikharas
210
II B. The Sikhara Enmeshed in Gavaksas
214
II C. The composite Sikhara
218
Function and Form of the Superstructure
220
Part VII
Proportionate Measurement and Varieties of the Temple
225
I. Proportionate Measurement of the temple
227
The Rhythmic disposition of the ground plan and of the vertical section
227
The Norms of Proportionate Measurement
237
From the Sixth Century to C. 900 A.D
237
Proportionate Measurement about 1000 A.D.
244
Proportions of the Mandapa
254
The Proportions of South Indian Temples
261
II.Varieties of the Temple and their genesis
271
A. The Twenty Temples
271
B. The five Vimanas and the 45 temples
277
C. the five Vimanas and the 64 Hall temples Nagara Dravida and Vesara
286
Volume II
Part VIII
The Images of the temple
297
Position and proportion of the images of the gods
299
Symbols of Entry and Exit
313
The Door and its images
313
The Window Gavaksa
318
The face of Glory Kirittimukha
322
Images of Sakti
332
Sardula Lion and lioness
332
The female power
338
Symbols of Reintegration
343
The Images of Immanent Breath
343
Mithuna the state of being a couple
346
Amalaka
348
The Temple as Purusa
357
Explanation of plates
363
Appendix
The Hundred and One temples of the Visnudharmottara
411
Vastupurusavidhana of Narada chapters VIII and X
427
Hayasirsapancaratra Chapter XIII
429
Kamikagama Chapter XLIX
431
Sources
437
Index
443
Plates I-LXXX
467
Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization
Author Heinrich Zimmer, Joseph Campbell Language, Pages English Upload Date 2022 / 08 / 17 ISBN 9788120807518, 8120807510
Gandhāra and the formation of the Vedic and Zoroastrian canons.
Witzel, Michael. 2011.
In Proceedings of the International Symposium. The Book. Romania. Europa. Etudes euro- et afro- asiatiques. 490-532. Bucharest: Biblioteca Bucureştilor.
In this broad historical and critical overview based on a lifetime of scholarship, James Alfred Martin, Jr., examines the development of the concepts of beauty and holiness as employed in theories of aesthetics and of religion. The injunction in the Book of Psalms to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” addressed a tradition that has comprehended holiness primarily in terms of ethical righteousness–a conception that has strongly influenced Western understandings of religion. As the author points out, however, the Greek forbears of Western thought, as well as many Eastern traditions, were and are more broadly concerned with the pursuit of beauty, truth, and goodness as ideals of human excellence, that is, with the “holiness of beauty.” In this work Martin describes a philosophical stance that should prove to be most productive for the dialogue between aesthetics and religion.
Beginning with the treatment of beauty and holiness in Hebrew, Greek, and classical Christian thought, the author traces the emergence of modern theories of aesthetics and religion in the Enlightenment. He then outlines the role of aesthetics in the theories of religion proposed by Otto, Eliade, van der Leeuw, and Tillich, in the cultural anthropology of Geertz, and in the thought of Santayana, Dewey, Whitehead, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein. In a global context Martin explores the relation of aesthetic theory to religious thought in the traditions of India, China, and Japan and concludes with reflections on the viability of modern aesthetic and religious theory in the light of contemporary cultural and methodological pluralism.
Originally published in 1990.
The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Universe and Inner Self in Early Indian and Early Greek Thought
ICONOGRAPHICAL STUDY ON THIRUKKANNAPURAM SAURIRAJA PERUMAL TEMPLE
Dr. N. Rameshkumar, Assistant Professor of History, Post Graduate & Research Department of History, Government Arts College (Autonomous), Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu
International Journal of Advanced Research in ISSN: 2278-6236 Management and Social Sciences
Scaffolds and dissections: computational reconstruction of Indic Temples and their architectural production
Datta, Sambit, and David J. Beynon.
“Scaffolds and dissections: computational reconstruction of Indic Temples and their architectural production.” Architectural Theory Review 22, no. 3 (2018): 410-432.
In EAAC 2011: South of East Asia: Re-addressing East Asian Architecture and Urbanism, Proceedings of the East Asian Architectural Culture International Conference. Singapore: National University of Singapore, 2011.
Vastu Purusha Mandala is one secret that contains the essence of the sacred science of Vastu in its entirety.
From time immemorial, this cosmic geometrical wonder has been used to design everything from the yagya vedis (fire altars), temples, entire villages, towns and individual houses.
Every minute detail with regards to every single structure is based on these universal principles of the Vastu Purush Mandala architecture.
When we observe the energy fields that develop at different stages of a building – starting from the stage of a vacant plot to the digging of land to the laying of the foundation to the completion of the building and finally to the point when it is inhabited by the people – we unravel the secrets of the Vastu purusha mandala.
The Vastu Mandala is the omnipresent, omnipotent soul of every building. It is based on the principle that man and Universe are analogous in their structure and spirit. Vastu Purush Mandala is thus a Yantra or an image of the Universe.
The Yajurveda reveals –
यथाब्रह्माण्डेतथापिंडे II यथापिंडेतथाब्रह्माण्डे
II Yatha brahmande tatha pinde , Yatha pinde tatha brahmande II
As is the universe, so is the physical body. As is the physical body, so is the universe
Thus, the Vastu Purush Mandala represents the manifest form of the cosmic being. Whatever is in the universe is within us.
The belief that the earth is a living organism, throbbing with life and energy is fundamental to the Vastu Shastra. The Vastu Purush Mandala symbolizes that living energy.. The site for the construction is his field- the Vastu Purush Mandala.
The ‘Purusha’ here refers to the energy, power, soul or the cosmic man. Mandalais the generic name for any plan or chart which symbolically represents the cosmos.
The Vastu Purush Mandala is the core of every structure. You can use it to design a temple, a house, an office and even when you’re planning the Vastu of a factory or a whole city. It constitutes the geometrical and metaphysical basis for every construction.
The Origin of the Vastu Purusha Mandala
The ancient Vastu text of Vishwakarma Prakash reveals an engaging story about the origin of the Vastu Purusha Mandala .The story is about a fierce war between the Gods (devtas ) and the demons (asuras). In this war, Lord Shiva represented the devtas while Andhaka asur was fighting for the asuras.
During the war, some drops of sweat fell on the earth. From those drops emerged a gigantic being that scared both the devtas and the asuras. The devtas and the asuras together took this being to lord Brahma. Lord Brahma called this giant his manas putra (mind-being) and named him Vastu Purush.
The Vastu Purush was then laid down on the earth prostrate with his head towards the North East and feet to the South West. Some of his parts were inhabited by the devtas while some by the asuras.
Lord Brahma then ordered that whoever reveres the Vastu Purush and perform the Vastu Purush pooja while constructing a temple, palace, house, pond, city etc. will be blessed by the devtas. The ones who don’t would be destroyed by the asuras.
Hidden Secrets in Symbols and the Mandala
The above story is of course symbolic because in the Vedas, deep secrets have been woven into stories. To unlock these secrets, the deeper meaning of these symbols and the Mandala has to be understood.
The Vastu Purush Mandala is not necessarily an actual picture of a giant encased in numerous cells or squares. It is a diagrammatic representation through symbols, of the inter-sections and the energy current flows in the subtle body of a human being.
The Purusha, in the Vastu Mandala chart is a term of reference. It serves as a means to locate several parts, within the whole. The body here indicates a sphere of coordinated activities; and each part corresponds to a particular function.
The devtas represent our consciousness and the asuras our ignorance and fear. The war between consciousness and ignorance still goes on each moment within all of us. It is not just a Puranic story, it’s the reality we live in each moment.
The Vastu Purush represents the constant phenomenon inside each building. The Purusha means that which is stable and contains all possibilities of existence within him.
The Vastu Purusha is the soul of the building. As soon as a building comes into existence, all the devtas and asuras occupy their respective positions. As a result, they create the effects and results that the inhabitants experience through their lives while living in that building.
Decoding the Devtas & Asuras of the Vastu Purush Mandala
This above story is depicted diagrammatically in the Vastu Purush Mandala with specific portions allocated hierarchically to each deity based on their attributes and powers.
The division of the built-up space represents different energy fields. We call this process – the Pada Vinyasa (modular grid). In total there are 45 energy fields that constitute the Vastu Purush Mandala. They are as follows :
Lord Brahma occupies the central portion – the Brahmasthan. This portion is the Brahma Vithi. It is the most sacred part of the building. It contains within it, all the possibilities of creation and existence.
First the Shilanyas (foundation stone laying ceremony) is done and the construction of the foundation walls begins by digging the earth. When they reach the plinth level, the divine energy field called Brahma starts to originate right in the center of the plot.
This field of Brahma – the absolute is responsible for the evolution of everything in the universe. This is why the universe is also termed as Brahmaand (the golden egg of Brahma).
Bhudhar (the power of manifestation)
Aryama (the power of connection)
Vivaswaan (the power of revolution or change)
Mitra (the power of inspiration and action)
As the construction of the building progresses and the raising of the walls is done to a height of about 5-8 feet , the energy field of Brahma starts to expand in 4 directions.
Out of the 12 Adityas mentioned in the Bhagavata Puran , the above 4 occupy the 4 sides of Brahma.
We all know that Lord Brahma has 4 heads. Thus these 4 devtas are symbolic of the 4 heads of Brahma. They are responsible for carrying forward the process of creation initiated by Brahma.
After the raising of the walls ( but the casting of the roof is remaining) , the energy fields start to spread in the four diagonal directions viz. North East, South East, South West and North West.
This flow of energies is akin to a tortoise spreading its legs and extending them out of its body.
In each of these directions, two energy fields start to take shape and form. If we draw a line dividing the North East to South West and from North West to South East, one energy fields develops on either side of this dividing line.
The names of these energies are as follows :
NORTH EAST
Apaha ( generates the energies responsible for healing)
Apahavatsa (carriers the healing powers to the occupants)
SOUTH EAST
Savita (energies that help to initiate any process or action)
Savitur (energies that give capibilities to continue those actions and overcome all challenges)
SOUTH WEST
Indra (energies that establish stability and enhance growth)
Indrajaya (the tools and the channels through which one can achieve growth)
NORTH WEST
Rudra (energies responsible for support and ensure flow of activities and life)
Rajyakshma ( energies which uphold the support and stabilise the mind)
A total of 32 energy fields develop in a concentric pattern in the outer periphery of the Vastu Purusha Mandala.
Once the roof is cast in the building, four energy fields start to develop in each of the diagonal directions. Thus, a total of 16 fields develop in the diagonal directions which are as follows:
NORTH EAST
Aditi (the mother of the devtas, this energy field provides security and helps one connect with himself/herself)
Diti (the mother od the asuras, this energy field gives the powers of a wider vision and to see the actual truth of life)
Shikhi (symbolic of a pointed flame. This field gives the power of ideas and the ability to project one’s thoughts to the world )
Parjanya (the giver of rains, this field has the powers to bless the occupants with fertility and fructification of all their wishes)
SOUTH EAST
Brisha (the power of friction needed to initiate any action , thinking or activity)
Akash ( the energy that provides the space for manifestation)
Anila ( the energy of air or vayu, it helps to uplift the fire or push further the actions initiated)
Pusha ( the energy of nourishment, it blocks the path of enemies)
SOUTH WEST
Bhringraj (the energy which extracts nutrients from the food and removes the waste)
Mrigah (the energy that drives curiosity and imparts skills)
Pitra ( the ancestors provide all means of safety and happiness required for existence)
Dauwarik (the safekeeper, represents lord Nandi, the trusted vehicle of lord Shiva. The energy of being genius and highly knowledgeable)
NORTH WEST
Shosha (the power of detoxification from negative emotions)
Papyakshama (the energy which gives addiction, diseases and the feeling of guilt)
Roga ( the energy which provides support in the hour of need)
Naga ( the energy which gives emotional enjoyments and cravings)
Once the super-structure, i.e. the civil work is done but the installation of services like plumbing, electrical connections etc. has not begun , 16 more energy fields start to develop in the four cardinal directions. These are as follows :
EAST
Jayant (the energy which gives the sense of being victorious, it refreshes the mind and body)
Mahendra ( the power of administration and connectivity )
Surya ( the core controller, this energy fields imparts health , fame and farsightedness)
Satya ( the energy which establishes goodwill, status, authenticity and credibility)
SOUTH
Vitatha ( the energy field of falsehood, pretension and the unreal)
Gurhakshat ( the power which binds the mind and defines its limits)
Yama ( the power of expansion, this energy field binds the world in laws)
Gandharva ( the energy of preservation of health and vitality, this is also the energy which governs all kinds of arts and music)
WEST
Sugreev ( the power which grants the ability to receive all knowledge)
Pushpadant ( the power which grants blessings and fulfils all desires )
Varun ( the lord of the seas, this energy field observes and runs the whole world. It is the granter of immortality)
Asur ( the energy field that releases the mind from temptations and gives depth in spirituality )
NORTH
Mukhya ( the chief architect or lord Vishwakarma, this energy field defines the main purpose of the building and also helps in their manifestation)
Bhallat ( the energy field which grants colossal abundance, it magnifies the efforts and their results )
Soma (the energy field of lord Kuber, the lord of all wealth and money. It ensures a smooth flow of money and opportunities)
Bhujag ( the lord of hidden treasures, this energy field is the preserver of medicines. It safeguards the health of the occupants )
Conclusion
This is how the 45 energy fields develop and progress as per the Vastu Purush Mandala. These Vastu Mandala devtas and asuras manifest and move life and contribute to everything that happens in the lives of the occupants.
“The Vastu Purusha Mandala represents the manifest form of the Cosmic Being; upon which the temple is built and in whom the temple rests. The temple is situated in Him, comes from Him, and is a manifestation of Him. The Vastu Purusha Mandala is both the body of the Cosmic Being and a bodily device by which those who have the requisite knowledge attain the best results in temple building.” – Stella Kramrisch ; The Hindu Temple, Vol. I
We can replace the word temple above with any built up structure like a house, factory, office etc. Every constructed structure is really the manifest form of the cosmic being.
The universal equation of the Vastu Purush Mandala has been in existence for thousands of years and will continue till eternity. It is the fundamental principle which will continue to create and run the whole universe both at the macro and the micro level.
Thus, it is advisable to keep the eternal rules of the Vastu Purush Mandala in mind while designing any structure. This will certainly ensure peace, health and prosperity. For More Vastu Guides visit our website.
A LIVING STRUCTURE: FUNDAMENTALS OF HINDU TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
Naveen Nishant1, Bijay Kumar Das2 1, 2 Department of Architecture and Planning, National Institute of Technology, Patna, India {naveen.ar17@nitp.ac.in, bijay@nitp.ac.in}
JOURNAL OF NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Volume 25 Issue 04, 2022 ISSN: 1005-3026 https://dbdxxb.cn/
The central area in all mandala is the Brahmasthana. Mandala “circle-circumference” or “completion”, is a concentric diagram having spiritual and ritual significance in both Buddhism and Hinduism. The space occupied by it varies in different mandala – in Pitha (9) and Upapitha (25) it occupies one square module, in Mahaapitha (16), Ugrapitha (36) and Manduka (64), four square modules and in Sthandila (49) and Paramasaayika (81), nine square modules. The Pitha is an amplified Prithvimandala in which, according to some texts, the central space is occupied by earth. The Sthandila mandala is used in a concentric manner. The most important mandala are the Paramasaayika Mandala of 81 squares and especially the Manduka/ Chandita Mandala of 64 squares. The normal position of the Vastu Purusha (head in the northeast, legs in the southwest) is as depicted in the Paramasaayika Mandala. However, in the Manduka Mandala the Vastu Purusha is depicted with the head facing east and the feet facing west.
An important aspect of the mandala is that when divided into an odd number of squares, or ayugma, its center is constituted by one module or pada and when divided into an even number of squares or yugma, its center is constituted by a point formed by the intersection of the two perpendicular central lines. In spatial terms, the former is sakala or manifest/ morphic and the latter is nishkala or unmanifest/ amorphous. Mandala in siting
The mandala is put to use in site planning and architecture through a process called the Pada Vinyasa. This is a method whereby any site can be divided into grids/ modules or pada. Depending on the position of the gods occupying the various modules, the zoning of the site and disposition of functions in a building are arrived at. Mandala have certain points known as marma which are vital energy spots on which nothing should be built. They are determined by certain proportional relationships of the squares and the diagonals.
A site of any shape can be divided using the Pada Vinyasa. Sites are known by the number of divisions on each side. the types of mandalas with the corresponding names of sites is given below.
Sakala(1 square)corresponds to Eka-pada (single divided site) Pechaka(4 squares) corresponds to Dwi-pada (two divided site) Pitha(9 squares) corresponds to Tri-pada (three divided site) Mahaapitha(16 squares) corresponds to Chatush-pada (four divided site) Upapitha(25 squares) corresponds to Pancha-pada (five divided site) Ugrapitha(36 squares) corresponds to Shashtha-pada (six divided site) Sthandila(49 squares) corresponds to sapta-pada (seven divided site) Manduka/ Chandita(64 square) corresponds to Ashta-pada (eight divided site) Paramasaayika(81 squares) corresponds to Nava-pada (nine divided site) Aasana(100 squares) corresponds to Dasa-pada (ten divided site) Mandala in construction The concept of sakala and nishkala are applied in buildings appropriately.
In temples, the concepts of sakala and nishkala are related to the two aspects of the Hindu idea of worship – Sagunopaasana, the supreme as personal God with attributes and Nirgunopaasana, the supreme as absolute spirit unconditioned by attributes. Correspondingly, the Sakala, complete in itself, is used for shrines of gods with form (sakalamoorthy) and to perform yajna (fire rites). However the Nishkala is used for installation of idols without form- nishkalamoorthy– and for auspicious, pure performances. The amorphous center is considered beneficial to the worshippers, being a source of great energy. This could also be used for settlements. In commercial buildings, only odd numbers of modules are prescribed as the nishkala or amorphous center would cause too high a concentration of energy for human occupants. Even here, the Brahmasthana is left unbuilt with rooms organised around. In accordance with the position occupied by the gods in the mandala, guidelines are given for zoning of site and distribution of rooms in a building. Some of these are: North – treasury Northeast – prayer room East – bathroom Southeast – kitchen South – bedroom Southwest – armoury West – dining room Northwest – cowshed
“Essay on the Architecture of the Hindús.”
Ráz, Rám.
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1 (1834): 145 – 146.
The Vastu Purusha Mandala is an essential component of the Vastu Shastra and serves as a theoretical and graphical analysis. It is a foundation for creating designs, like a spiritual layout that considers the movement of astronomical objects and spiritual powers. Purusha is the Sanskrit word for vitality, strength, life, or celestial humanity. It also depicts the earth from all four sides, illustrating the perpendicular link between dawn and dusk.
According to Vaastu Purusha’s design, the quad corners’ depiction is known as the Chaturbhuji, and within this, Prithvi Mandala is also represented.
Additionally, the square plan will reveal the positions of the stars, sun, moon, luminaries, and a human’s exact zodiac symbol based on their birth date and location.
In this blog, we will glance at the intriguing history of the Vaastu Purusha Mandala, which arose from the Vastu shastra. And also provide a brief explanation of some factors of the Vastu Purusha Mandala.
Table of Contents
The Origin of the Vastu Purusha Mandala
The Scientific Concept of Vastu Purusha
Significance of Vastu Purusha Mandala
Vastu Purusha Mandala: Elements, Gods, and Deities
Where should I place Vastu Purusha in the House?
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Vastu Purusha Mandala?
Vastu Purusha Mandala is an ancient Indian architectural concept that helps in designing buildings in harmony with nature and cosmic energies. It’s like a blueprint that represents the energy of a place, with a symbolic figure lying down, head in the northeast and feet in the southwest. This figure is believed to influence the energy flow of the building. Architects and builders use this concept to arrange rooms, doors, and other elements in a way that promotes well-being and prosperity for the people living or working in the building.
“Griha Pravesh Vastu Mandala” refers to the Vastu principles followed during housewarming ceremonies, ensuring auspiciousness and harmony in the new home’s energy flow.
The Origin : Vastu Purusha Mandala
It all begins with Brahma, the Planet’s founder, experimenting with several species. Brahma used all his abilities to create an ideal man-made, and that is how Vaastu Purusha was introduced.
Vishwakarma Prakash’s old Vastu manuscript tells a fascinating narrative about Vastu Purusha Mandala’s origins. The plot revolves around a bloody battle between the Gods, devtas, demons, and asuras. In the battle, God Shiva fought for the devtas, and on the other side, Andhaka Asur fought for the asuras.
When the conflict occurred, a few drops of sweat landed on the ground from Lord Shiva’s head. The devtas and asuras were both terrified when a giant entity appeared from that exact spot, namely, Vaastu Purusha, who started claiming to be Lord Shiva’s son and got approval to eat Triloka, because of his insatiable appetite. Additionally, Triloka is a combination of three worlds the land of God (Swargaloka), the middle men’s kingdom (Mrityuloka), and the house of the Asuras and Devtas(Pataloka). Due to this, the gods were terrified when the enormous creature began eating Trilok and turned to Brahma to preserve the Planet. Furthermore, to save Triloka, Lord Brahma sought the assistance of Astha Dikapalakas, the protector of the eight cardinal points and instructed other Devtas and Asuras to kill him with his head to the northeast and feet to the southwest.
The core part of Vastu Purusha was created by Brahma, which consisted of 44 other deities and 45 energy fields. It symbolizes the diverse facets of our lives inhabiting the other components of our body. The chart conveys the message of worshipping Brahma for your overall well being. According to Hinduism, an individual must perform a Vastu Purusha Mandala planning ritual before partaking in a new endeavour for good luck.
The Scientific of Vastu Purusha
Mandala refers to a map or blueprint that reflects the cosmos figuratively. ‘Purusha’ means celestial man, spirit, relationship, strength, or life.
The Vastu Purusha Mandala is the metaphysical plan that encompasses the journey of supernatural forces and heavenly bodies. It is an essential component of Vastu Shastra. Mathematically, it is a diagrammatic representation of the stars and planetary movements.
Importance of the Vastu Purusha Mandala
Vastu Shastra is a theoretical construct because the earth consists of living or non-living organisms. It also holds vibrations and positive and negative energy. Vastu Purusha Mandala represents a human being’s activity, and its origin has been explained above. Besides, every minute, any inherent magnetic and positive energy fields happen due to Vastu Purusha Mandala principles.
It begins with the excavation of a blank area and ends with the construction process with Brahma and the other 44 deities; therefore, 45 in total are called energy fields. Generally, they gradually occupy their assigned positions as the edifice progresses. Vastu design for residences, workplaces, and industries is determined by Mandala.
Vastu Purusha Mandala: Elements, Gods, and Deities
According to Vastu Purusha Mandala, all living beings are composed of a combination of five elements, namely the sky (Akasha), air (Vayu), water (Jal), fire (Agni), and earth (Prithvi), and these elements are also known as Panchabhutas. Moreover, the world’s surface magnetism and energetic zones support the growth of surrounding architecture, which aids in the creation of the most optimal household. Besides, numerous rooms are built to maintain adequate natural light as well as provide a sense of solitude to relatives.
The Vastu Purusha Mandala diagram splits the globe into squares. All of these fair parts are defended by 45 gods, of which some protect you from internal conflicts, while others help protect you from external factors.
The innermost area of the home is run by Brahma. It is claimed by Vastu that this portion is the gem of the house, which maintains all the positive energy of the surrounding area.
The picture depicts the oldest Vastu Purush sculpture, situated in Rameshwara temple, Karnataka.
Vastu Purush Direction
Regardless of the time of day, living beings face various challenges. The ancient Vastu experts represented the eight cardinal angles who split the 24 hours into eight halves. They constructed and aligned different rooms of a home towards the eight cardinal points so that the occupants might receive tranquility from the sun’s rays based on their location. Some of the directions are as follows:
North-East: Brahma Muhurta time varies from 3 am to 6 am, immediately before sunrise, when the sun points towards the apartment’s north-eastern corner. However, these hours are considered beneficial for yoga, meditation, or study. Moreover, the puja or meditation rooms should be located in the northeast corner.
East: When the sun is in the eastern portion of the home from 6 am to 9 am. However, the east direction is an excellent location for a bathroom and a perfect time for bathing.
South-East: The most excellent time to prepare meals is during the day between 9 am and 12 pm. The sun lies in the home’s southeast corner, which is also an ideal location for a kitchen space.
South: The interval between noon and 3 pm is the best time to recover after lunch, also known as Vishranti. The sun is in the south, which is the perfect time to sleep.
West: 6 pm to 9 pm are ideal for dining, resting, or studying. The sun rises in the west, making this the most acceptable spot for a dining room or sitting area.
North-West: The period to sleep is between 9 pm to midnight; The sun is in the northwest corner of the home. This area is also suitable for a spare bedroom.
North: The time from midnight to 3 am; the sun appears in the north, the time of darkness and secrecy. The northern direction is the best place to hide valuables and keep them protected.
Art and Cosmology in India
Subhash Kak
Patanjali Lecture given at Center for Indic Studies, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, May 5, 2006
Fractal geometry as the synthesis of Hindu cosmology in Kandariya Mahadev temple, Khajuraho
Iasef Md Rian a, Jin-Ho Park a, Hyung Uk Ahn a, Dongkuk Chang b a Department of Architecture, Inha University, South Korea b Department of Architecture, Chosun University, South Korea
Received 4 May 2006, Revised 21 July 2006, Accepted 15 January 2007, Available online 23 April 2007.
Symbolism in Hindu Temple Architecture and Fractal Geometry – ‘Thought Behind Form’
Tanisha Dutta – PhD Research Scholar, Department of Architecture and Planning, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur, India Vinayak S. Adane – Professor, Department of Architecture and Planning, Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur, India
In ancient India, town planning was considered an important aspect of architecture and was influenced by religious and cultural beliefs.
The term is used to indicate the arrangement of various components in such a way that the town as such attains significance of a living organism. The town planning was done in scientific footing even in the ancient times.
Planning of a town is dependent on the various factors:
Soil Type
Climatic Conditions
Topography
Wind Orientation
Orientation to Take Advantage of Sun and Wind
The towns were highly influenced by the Site conditions.
The towns were generally located along the bank of the water body.
A flowing stream was preferred for Sanitary requirements.
The towns on the river edge were OBLONG shape; to take maximum advantage of the river.
Main Street (King/ Raja Marg) were aligned East-West to get roads purified by the Sun’s rays; while the shorter roads were along North – South.
Roads around the village called Mangal Vithi were reserved for priests.
A typical Indian town consisted of the following:
Market
Street
Public Buildings
Residences
Temples
Royal Palace
Recreational Centers
Tank
City Fort
1) Classification of Ancient Town Planning
(BASIS – Shape and Size Of the TOWN)
There are quite a number of books written by ancient authors about town planning in India. Also known as ‘VASTU SHASHTRA’ (TOWN PLANNING SCIENCE)
Dandaka
Sarvathobadra
Nandyavarta
Padmaka
Swastika
Prastara
Karmuka
Chaturmukha
i) Dandaka
Dandaka is a Sanskrit term that refers to a type of town plan shaped like a staff or rod. In ancient Indian town planning, different shapes and designs were used to symbolize different things and to promote specific qualities in the built environment.
The Dandaka town plan was characterized by its straight lines and regularity, which symbolized stability and order. This type of plan was often used in the design of military fortifications and other structures that required a strong and orderly layout. The Dandaka plan was also believed to promote positive energy and to enhance the functionality of the structures it was used in.
Dandaka, Literally means a village that resemble, a staff. Its streets are straight and cross each other at right angles at the center, running west to east, and south to north.
This type of town plan provides for two main entrance gates and is generally adopted for the formation of SMALL TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
Village is Rectangular / Square with street width of street varies from 1-5 danda.
Village office located in the east.
Female deity (Gramadevata) will generally be located outside the village, whereas Male deities in the northern portion.
ii) Sarvathobadra
Sarvatobadra is a Sanskrit term that refers to a type of town plan shaped like an umbrella. In ancient Indian town planning, the umbrella shape symbolized protection and shelter. The Sarvatobadra town plan was characterized by its circular shape and radiating streets, which provided a sense of harmony and balance to the built environment.
This type of plan was often used in the design of religious and spiritual structures, such as temples and ashrams, where people sought refuge and peace. The circular shape of the Sarvatobadra plan was also believed to promote positive energy and to enhance the functionality of the structures it was used in.
This type is applicable to larger villages and towns, which have to be constructed on oblong or square sites.
The whole town should fully be occupied with HOUSES of various descriptions that should be inhabited by all classes of people.
Templedominates the village.
iii) Nandyavarta
Nandyavarta is a Sanskrit term that refers to a type of town plan that is circular with a central square and streets radiating outwards. This type of town plan was commonly used in ancient India, particularly in the design of cities and large settlements. The circular shape of the Nandyavarta town plan symbolized unity and completeness, while the central square served as a gathering place for the community.
The radiating streets provided easy access to different parts of the city and promoted connectivity between the various neighborhoods and areas. The Nandyavarta town plan was also believed to promote positive energy and to enhance the functionality of the structures it was used in.
Mainly used for construction of TOWNS and not villages.
Adopted for sites which are either circular or square in shape with 3000-4000 houses.
The streets run parallel to the central adjoining streets with the temple of the presiding deity in the center of the town.
Temple of the presiding deity at the center of the town.
This name is derived from a flower, the form of which is followed in this layout.
iv) Padmaka (Lotus Petals)
Padmaka is a Sanskrit term that refers to a type of town plan shaped like a lotus flower. In ancient Indian town planning, the lotus flower was a symbol of purity, enlightenment, and beauty. The Padmaka town plan was characterized by its circular shape, with streets radiating outwards in a petal-like pattern.
This type of plan was often used in the design of religious and spiritual structures, such as temples and ashrams, where people sought refuge and peace. The circular shape of the Padmaka plan was believed to promote positive energy and to enhance the functionality of the structures it was used in, while the petal-like pattern of the streets added to the overall aesthetic appeal of the built environment.
This type of plan was practiced for building of the TOWNS with fortress all around.
Pattern of the PLAN resembles petals of lotus radiating outwards from the center.
The city used to be an island surrounded by water.
No scope for expansion.
v) Swastika
Swastika is an ancient Hindu symbol that is widely used in Hindu architecture and town planning. The word “swastika” comes from the Sanskrit word “svastika,” which means “good fortune” or “well-being.” The symbol consists of four arms that are bent at right angles, arranged in a cross-like pattern. The arms are typically of equal length and can be arranged clockwise or counterclockwise.
In Hinduism, the swastika is a powerful symbol of good luck and prosperity. It is often used as a decorative element in Hindu temples, homes, and other structures to bring good fortune and to ward off evil spirits. In ancient Indian town planning, the swastika was used to mark the entrance of a building or town, and to provide a visual representation of the Hindu belief in the cyclical nature of life.
This type of plan contemplates some diagonal streets dividing the site into certain triangular plots.
The site may be of any shape.
The town is surrounded by a rampart wall, with a MOAT at its foot.
Two main streets cross each other at the center running north to south and west to east.
Temple is at the centre.
Jain temple is in south-west cell.
vi) Prastara
Prastara is a Sanskrit term that refers to the arrangement of tiles or stones used in the construction of floors or pavements. In ancient Indian architecture and town planning, the prastara was an important decorative element that was used to create intricate and beautiful patterns on the floors of buildings.
The characteristic feature of this plan is that the site may be either square or rectangular but not triangular or circular.
The sites are set apart or the very rich, rich, middle class and poor.
The size of the site increases according to the capacity of each to purchase or build upon.
The main roads are much wider when compared to those of other patterns.
The town may or may not be surrounded by a fort.
vii) Karmuka
This refers to a town plan that is shaped like a bow.
This plan is suitable for the place where the site of the town is in the form of a bow or semi-circular or parabolic and mostly applied for towns located at sea shores or riverbanks.
The main streets of the town run from north to south or east to west and the cross streets run at right angles to them. This divides the whole area into BLOCKS.
Female deity (the presiding deity) is installed in the temple built in any convenient place.
viii) Chaturmukha
Chaturmukha is a Sanskrit term that refers to a building or structure that has four faces or entrances. In ancient Indian town planning and architecture, Chaturmukha structures were used for a variety of purposes, including as temples, gateways, and other religious or secular buildings.
The four faces of a Chaturmukha structure symbolized the four cardinal directions, and were believed to provide protection and access to the building from all directions. The four entrances also allowed for easy flow of people and goods in and out of the structure, promoting connectivity and accessibility.
This is applicable to all types of towns (from the largest town to the smallest village).
The site may be either square or rectangular having four faces.
The town is laid out east to west lengthwise with four main streets.
The temple of the presiding deity is always at the center.
These principles of town planning in ancient India helped create well-organized, functional, and beautiful towns and cities that were capable of supporting their populations and promoting a sense of community and well-being.
Manasara Vastushastra is an elaborate treatise on town planning in ancient India. It is written by a sage named Mansara. It is one of the 5 documents that exists now which deals with Vastu Sasthram. There are several chapters in this book on town planning and construction of buildings. Vastu Sastra has laid strong emphasis on the selection of a proper site for establishing a new village, town or a city. A traditional city designed according to the principles of sacred geometry was based on cosmological theories. – Vaastu Purush Mandala. Silpasasthras refers to four distinct categories of habitation settlements within the forts and fortified cities; 1. Janabhavanas : houses for common mass. 2. Rajbhavanas : palaces and gorgeous mansions for ruling class. 3. Devabhavanas : religious shrines. 4. The public buildings such as public rest house, public gardens, public libraries, public tents, reservoirs, and wells. The Manasara describes that these sites for establishing a city used to be determined from its smell, taste, shape, direction, sound and touch. It speaks of the street that is on the border of the street (Mangalaveedhi) and the street that surrounds the Brahmasthana (Brahmaveedhi) It says that an ideal city should be placed in such a local geographical position where various kinds of trees, water bodies, rivers, plants, shrubs, green vegetation cover, including cattle should be present in great numbers. If a river adjoins the site it should run from left to right or West to East or South to North. Also the site should have water table at a depth equal to a man’s height with his arms raised above his head. The site should also comply with moderate temperature during summers and winters. If these parameters were not met with, the land would be rejected. Varanasi is located in such a way that the river flows from south to north.
Patna (Pataliputra) is located in such a way that the river flows from left to right. Opposite side of the river is not part of the main city. According to the shapes there are eight different types of settlements mentioned. Dandaka Sarvathobhadra Nandyavarta Padmaka Swastika Prastara Karmuka Chaturmukha
1. Dandaka Streets are straight and cross each other at right angles at the centre Has 4 gates on four sides Rectangular / square Width of the street varies from one ‐ Five danda (1 danda is 1-2 meters) 2 transverse street at the extremities Have single row of houses The village offices located in the east. 2. Sarvathobhadra This type of town plan is applicable to larger villages and towns, which have to be constructed on square sites. According to this plan, the whole town should be fully occupied by houses of various descriptions and inhabited by all classes of people. The temple at the central area dominates the village 3. Nandyavarta Commonly used for the construction of townsand not for villages. It is generally adopted for the sites either circular or square in shape 3000 – 4000houses The streets run parallel to the central adjoining streets with the temple of the presiding deity in the center of the town. “Nandyavarta” is the name of a flower, the form of which is followed. 4. Padmaka This type of plan was practiced for building of the towns with fortress all round. The pattern of the plan resembles the petals of lotus radiating outwards from the center. The city used to be practically an island surrounded by water, having no scope for expansion 5. Swastika Contemplates some diagonal streets dividing the site into rectangular plots. The site need not be marked out into a square or rectangle and it may be of any shape. A rampart wall surrounds the town, with a moat at its foot filled with water. 2 main streets cross each other at the center, running S to N and W to E. 6. Prastara The site may be either square or rectangular bu t not triangular or circular. The sites are set apart for the poor, the middle class, the rich and the very rich, the sizes of the sites increasing according to the capacity of each to purchase or build upon. The main roads are much wider compared to those of other patterns. The town may or may not be surrounded by a fort. 7. Karmuka Suitable for the place where the site of the town is in the form of a bow or semi‐circular or parabolic and mostly applied for towns located on the seashore or river banks. The main streets of the town run from N to S or E to W and the cross streets run at right‐angles to them, dividing the whole area into blocks. The presiding deity, commonly a female deity, is installed in the temple build in any convenient place 8. Chaturmukha Applicable to all town sstarting from the largest town to the smallest village. The site may be either square or rectangular having four faces. The town is laid out east to west lengthwise, with four main streets. The temple of the presiding deity will be always at the center
Topic – Ancient and Modern Town Planning in India
Invited Lecture at Yangon Technology University (YTU), Yangon, Myanmar:
Presentation · January 2018 DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28448.23041
Prafulla Parlewar School of Planning and Architecture
Maharishi Vedic Architecture and Quality of Life: An International Mixed Methods Study of Lived Experience
Subject Areas : Architecture
Lee Fergusson 1 (Professor of Vedic Science, Education and the Environment, Maharishi Vedic Research Institute, Gold Coast, Australia) Sanford Nidich 2 (Director, Center for Social-Emotional Health and Consciousness, Fairfield, Iowa, USA) Anna Bonshek 3 (Professor of Vedic Science, Art and Vedic Architecture, Maharishi Vedic Research Institute, Gold Coast, Australia) Randi Nidich 4 (Director, Center for Social-Emotional Health and Consciousness, Fairfield, Iowa, USA)
Received: 2020-07-08 Accepted : 2020-08-06 Published : 2020-10-01
anthropologist, has written that: “Those who believe the ancient peoples of Asia were incapable of crossing the ocean have completely lost sight of what the literary sources tell us concerning their ships and their navigation. Many of the peoples of Southeastern Asia had adopted Indian Hindu-Buddhist civilizations. The influences of the Hindu-Buddhist culture of southeast Asia in Mexico and particularly, among the Maya, are incredibly strong.
The term Navigation originates from the Sanskrit word “Navgati” (meaning science of sailing) (Nav – gati) Nav means sailor or ship and gati means pace or speed in Sanskrit.
With great zeal Indian historians pointed out that, in the past, Hindu civilization had extended far beyond the present boundaries of India. It had included not only Southeast Asia but extended as far as Indonesia (Bali and Java), the Philippines and perhaps it has influence even to South America, is something the world may have to think again, with the strong evidences emerging with time.
== The question arises whether the ancient Hindus of Indonesia had contact with Mayan civilisation across the pacific which is evident from the pyramid constructions in Indonesia very similar to that of the Mayans. I shall share some information of what I collected from my reading. ==
The strongest, and indeed a hard piece of evidence established for trans-Pacific contact is the use of a particular technique for the manufacture of bark paper, common to China, Southeast Asia, Indonesia and Mesoamerica.
Michael Coe (2001a:58) in his book says that knowledge of this paper-making method “was diffused from eastern Indonesia to Mesoamerica at a very early date.” He further argues that since bark paper was used to make books, information may have been exchanged between Pacific and Mesoamerican peoples.
The Indonesian Hindu temples Resembling Mayan Pyramids
Candi Sukuh Hindu Temple dedicated to Bhima of Mahabharata in Indonesia
Candi Sukuh Hindu Temple dedicated to Bhima of Mahabharata in Indonesia strikes a disquieting alien chord with its flat topped step pyramid and its Mayan calendar carvings.
The religious structures in Java are commonly called Candis, a term which originally meant a commemorative building.
In general layout, the temple conforms to the plan of most other Hindu temples. There are three precincts, consisting of three concentric terraces. However, where most temples would have a large square shrine, Candi Sukuh has a pyramid reminiscent of Mayan structures from Central America.
Another new discovery is a Candi-Sukuh like pyramid and even a stone sphinx on a remote island off New Guinea. The site is known to even a nearby logging company, but no-one to the outside world in general. This giant pyramid has only been seen by helicopter pilots and a few natives of the island. It is another example of Hindu/Maya connection in the early pacific. So far no photographs of the site have come forth. No one yet knows the age of this New Guinea pyramid and its “sphinx” on a remote island near the Solomons.
Reference : Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored. BOOK Authored by Frank Joseph and Zechariah Sitchin.
The Hindus are also the only older people besides the Mayans who are known to have employed the concept of zero in their mathematics.
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Ancient Architects Employed Analogous Design Doctrines and Masonry Methods
Sri V. Ganapati Sthapati, has just measured with tape, compass and a lay-out story pole, the Mayan structures. He has confirmed that the layout of these structures, locations for doors, windows, proportions of width to length, roof styles, degree of slopes for roofs, column sizes, wall thicknesses, etc., all conform completely to the principles and guidelines as prescribed in the Vastu Shastras of India. Residential layouts are identical to those found in Mohenjodaro ruins of India. The temple layouts are identical to those that he is building today and that can be found all over India.”
Ganapati Sthapati is India’s foremost traditional temple architect and an expert in sculpture and stone construction to personally examine these ancient buildings. Sthapati is the architect of the San Marga Iraivan Temple being built at Kauai Aadheenam, Hawaii.
Sthapati was accompanied by two California builders and architects Deva Rajan and Thamby Kumaran. The trio began 11,000 feet high in central Peru at the Incan site of Machu Picchu. Sthapati believes, Indian architecture originated from the Mayan people of Central America. In Indian history, Mayan appears several times, most significantly as the author of Mayamatam, “Concept of Mayan” which is a Vastu Shastra, a text on art, architecture and town planning. The traditional date for this work is 8,000bce.
The fundamental principle of Mayan’s architecture and town planning is the “module.” Buildings and towns are to be laid out according to certain multiples of a standard unit. Floor plans, door locations and sizes, wall heights and roofs, all are determined by the modular plan. More specifically, Mayan advocated the use of an eight-by-eight square, for a total of 64 units, which is known as the Vastu Purusha Mandala. The on-site inspection by Sthapati was to determine if the Incan and Mayan structures followed a modular plan and also intended to examine the stone working technology-his particular field of expertise.
Sthapati was born in 1927 into a family whose ancestors, members of the aboriginal tribe of Viswakarmas, built the great temple at Tanjore in the 10th century ce at the request of Raja Raja Chola. He learned the craft from his father, Sri M. Vaiydyanatha Sthapati and his uncle, Sri M. Sellakkannu Sthapati. He spent 27 years as head of the Government College of Architecture and Sculpture in Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, and is responsible for India’s significant resurgence in the ancient art of stone carving. After his retirement in 1988, he continued building temples and founded the Vastu Vedic Research Foundation to explore the ancient origins of the temple craftsmen. He is responsible for the construction of dozens of temples in India, and others in Chicago, Washington D.C., Kentucky, Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, and Hawaii in the USA as well as in the UK, Singapore, Fiji, Malaysia, Mauritius and the Seychelles.
Machu Pichu He proceeded to measure the buildings in detail and discovered each to be built on a module-based plan, following the system of eight-by-eight squares. The module method was followed within small fractions of an inch. The buildings were oriented toward certain points of the compass. Also the lengths of buildings were never more than twice the width.
Saqsayhuman, an Incan site dated from 400 bce to 1400 ce Here are the famous stone walls made of rocks weighing up to 160 tons and fitted together so expertly that a knife blade cannot be put in any joint. Sthapati pointed out small knobs left on their faces, used for the use of levers, the exact same method used in India to move large stones. Thirty to forty men moved these large rocks with this method, he explained to the guide’s astonishment.
He observed details of the stone working being identical to what is practiced in India, such as the method of quarrying stones by splitting off slabs, the jointing and fitting of stones, the use of lime mortar, leveling with a plumb bob line and triangle, and the corbeling for the roofs. Corbeling is the method by which stones are drawn in layer by layer until they meet or nearly meet to allow a roof slab to be placed on top.
Sthapati considers the similarity of this technology to that used in India to be very significant. The use of the horizontal lintel and the absence of the arch are additional noteworthy points of correspondence between the two traditions.
The Mayan Yucatan Peninsula Having arrived at Chichén Itzá in time for the summer equinox on March 21st. The trio got to witness the moment of sunset at equinox, a shadow is cast by the steps of the Pyramid which creates the image of a serpent’s body which joins a stone carving of a serpent’s head at the bottom of the stair case. It is a stunning demonstration of Mayan astronomical and architectural precision.
The trio got back to work and tape measured and closely examined the Pyramid of the Castle. It too conformed to the Vastu Vedic principles of Mayan. The temple structure at the top was exactly 1/4th of the base. And the stepped pyramid design derived from a three-dimensional extension of the basic eight-by-eight grid system. The temple room at the top was also modular in design, with the wall thickness determining the size of doorways, location of columns, thickness of columns and the width and length of the structure.
From Chichén Itzá, they traveled on to Uxmal where they observed the snake and “bindu” designs on the wall faces. They were astounded by the thousands of pyramids at Tikal and Uxacturn in Guatemala, all laid out to conform to a grid pattern and oriented in astronomically significant directions.
Use of lime mortar for all of the stone and brick buildings, can been seen in the monumental creations in Mahabalipuram and the stone temples of Tanjor and Gangai Konda Choleswram in Tamil Nadu. The outer surfaces were plastered, embellishments worked out in lime mortar, then painted. This method was strongest among the Mayas at Tikal and Uaxactún, where all of the structures once had a plaster coating painted with many colors.
Sri Ganapati Sthapati is vigorously continuing his research and is open to suggestions one may contact him with queries or information at :
Vastu Vedic Research Foundation, Plot A-1, H.I.G. Colony, 1st Main Road (New Beach Road), Thiruvalluvar Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Madras 600 041, India.
Vastushastra System – Measurements and Proportions
Prof. S. K. Gupta1 1Dean & Director, Amity University Haryana, Panchgaon, Manesar, Gurgaon
International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET) ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor:6.887 Volume 5 Issue X1, November 2017- Available at http://www.ijraset.com
ANALYSIS OF FACTS, UNDERSTANDINGS & USES OF VASTU SHASTRA IN HEALTHCARE
Dr. Karthikeyan S Affiliation: Yukan Energetical Vastu, Institute of Scholars & Indian Science Congress Association, Govt. of India DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10061488 Published Date: 01-November-2023
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research ISSN 2348-3164 (online) Vol. 11, Issue 4, pp: (215-226), Month: October – December 2023, Available at: http://www.researchpublish.com
Vedic Physics includes a theory of the emergence of matter from the invisible Substratum of Thaamic matter, into either the stable 8 x 8 Satwa Material or the dynamic 9 x 9 Raja form. Matter emerges in two dimensions from the Substratum, emerging at the very center of a circle, with the extrusion of tiny particles of Dark Matter through a central hole, at the logarithm of e, or the Euler Number. The extrusion of matter through the central hole exerts force on peripheral areas. This phenomenon helps to explain why Brahma is considered as the center of the Vedic Square, or the 9 x 9 Vastu Shastra, as well as the central No. 5 Square in the 3 x 3 Magic Square of Chinese divination, including Qi Men Dun Jia.
Quintessence of Vastu Art and Architecture: Forms of Spirit and Atoms of Consciousness
A Shilpi Sp«aks-6
TEMPLES OF Space SCIENCE
Dr. V.Ganapati Sthapati
English version of Tamil text By
Dr. S.P. Sabharathnam
REVELATION OF AN ESOTERIC GEOMETRY OF NORTH INDIAN HINDU TEMPLES
Varanasi is located in such a way that the river flows from south to north.
Viewpoints which Matter 
