Garudapurana 1.47

The glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa, [chapter] 47.
Sūta said:
And I shall declare the characteristics of temples, O Śaunaka; hear that.
Having laid out sixty-four squares, marked by the cardinal and intermediate directions,

it should be four-cornered, with doors [occupying] four [squares] according to the number of the Ādityas (twelve);
and forty-eight [squares] should form the arrangement of the walls.

The vertical wall-base is equal to the upper field; [the height] should be twice half the wall-base.
And the pediment is prescribed as wide as the width of the sanctum.

It should be made one-third of that, or else one-fifth.
The projection of the pediment should be made; its height reaches halfway up the spire.

Dividing the spire into four parts, the terrace-binding is on three parts;
and on the fourth part of it, the neck should be executed down to its base.

Or else, having made an even site divided into sixteen parts,
one should first make the sanctum in its middle with four parts.

The height of the walls should be according to measure, with four parts.

The height of the spire is twice the height of the wall by measure;
and circumambulatory [paths] are to be made with half of half the spire.

The projection in the four directions is likewise to be known by the wise.
The discerning man, having divided the measure of the sanctum into five parts,

and taking one part, should again construct a projection.
In front of the part, equal to the sanctum's baseline, [stands] the entrance pavilion.

This is stated as the general characteristic of a temple.
Now I shall speak of the measure based on the liṅga: the pedestal should be equal to the liṅga.

The sanctum, O Śaunaka, should certainly be twice that all around.
The wall should be two-fold, and the wall-base occupies half of its width.

The spire is declared to be twice that of the wall-base, O Śaunaka.
The work beneath the pedestal and sanctum, [and] the pediment, [is done] according to that measure.

The projection is thus declared, and the remainder is just as before.
This is remembered as the liṅga measure; now the door measure is stated.

Having made the forefront of the cubit like four, the doorway should be an eighth part;
its width is thus declared, and it may be doubled according to one's wish.

Like the doorway in the middle of the pedestal, the rest should be hollow.
The remaining wall is one quarter, grasped with half of the doorway.

The wall-base is equal to its width; the spire should be twice that.
The pediment is to be understood as before; [so] should be the projection and height.

This is the measurement of the pavilion; and I shall state another form.
One should make a field of three times four [parts] where the deities reside.

By the measure made in this manner, projecting out to the exterior parts,
the perimeter foundation is extended by a quarter-part all around the temple.

One should make the sanctum double [that]; here is the measurement of the foundation.
That very [measure] is the height of the wall; the spire is considered double.

And I will state the measure and basic types of temples according to measurement:
Vairāja, Puṣpaka, Kailāsa, the one called Mālikā (or Maṇika),

and Triviṣṭapa: these five temples are the sources of all types.
The first is square, the second is oblong,

another is round, [another] round and elongated, and the fifth here is octagonal.
From these alone arise the very charming temples,

forty [in number], from those that are the archetypes of all.
Meru, Mandara, and another [called] Vimāna,

Bhadraka, Sarvatobhadra, Rucaka, and Nandana,
the one named Nandivardhana, and Śrīvatsa: these nine

are square, born from Vairāja—let this be understood.
Valabhī, Gṛharāja, Śālāgṛha, Mandira,

Vimāna, Brahmamandira, Bhavana,
Uttambha, and Śibikāveśman: these nine originate from Puṣpaka.

Valaya, Dundubhi, Padma, and another, Mahāpadma,
Mukulī, Uṣṇīṣī, Śaṅkha, and Kalaśa,

and another, Guvāvṛkṣa: [these] round ones arise from Kailāsa.
Gaja, Vṛṣabha, Haṃsa, Garuḍa, the one named Siṃha,

Bhūmukha, Bhūdhara, Śrījaya, and Pṛthivīdhara:
these nine, round and elongated, arise from the one called Maṇika.

Vajra, Cakra, and another, Muṣṭika, the one named Vabhru,
Vakra, Svastika, Khaḍga, Gadā, Śrīvṛkṣa,

and Vijaya by name, and Śveta: these originate from Triviṣṭapa.
A triangle, a lotus, a crescent, a quadrangle, a sixteen-sided one—

the structure of the pavilion may be arranged wherever [prescribed].
Sovereignty, wealth, and the increase of lifespan,

the gain of sons, women, and prosperity arise in the order of the triangle and the rest.
One should construct [the pavilion] facing the flag and other [signs], and so the sanctum with a famed door.

The pavilion is multiplied with even numbers, and so is the grid.
A fore-porch should be made by the knowledgeable architect out of a fourth part of the pavilion,

provided with latticed windows facing each other, or it may be without latticed windows.
By the measure of one and a half walls, or again by the measure of a wall,

or even twice the wall, pavilions should be made in some places.
On the temple, a spire tower should be made, variegated with uneven storeys,

adorned with irregularities of profile, avoiding disproportion of dimensions.
The foundation is four-streamed, adorned with four pavilions;

equipped with a hundred peaks, Meru is the highest temple.
Its pavilions should be made adorned with three projections.

They are diverse or non-diverse in the measures of their shapes and compositions;
among them, some have supports and some are without supports.

Those temples arise by distinctions in façade elements,
without confusion with one another, because of the consistency of their structures.

Many temples are proclaimed for the distinction of deities.
There is no restriction regarding the temple for self-manifest deities.

For those very deities, one should construct [temples] according to the prior measurement;
rectangular there, equipped with four corners,

they should be made provided with dormer windows, endowed with a drum-spire.
In front [of the temple], small pavilions should be made for the vehicles [of the gods].

A theatre hall should be made adjoining the doorway area.
And for the deities in the temple, [shrines] should be made in the cardinal and intermediate directions.

And principal door-guardians should be made separately after going [around].
At a short distance from there, cloisters should be made for those who depend upon [the temple].

An enclosed platform should be constructed, supplied with fruits, flowers, and water. / Installing the gods in temples, a man should worship [them] with offerings of worship. / Vāsudeva is all gods, the recipient of all, the maker of His temples and the rest.

Thus ends the forty-seventh chapter, named "Description of the Characteristics of Temples, Liṅgas, Pavilions, and the Rest," in the section on conduct, in the first part of the first section in the glorious Garuḍa Mahāpurāṇa.