Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v1.c6.s17.42

v1.c6.s17.42

TĀLA-MĀNA—A sculptural measurement. In this system the length of the face (including the head) is stated to be the unit (Matsya-Purāṇa, chap. 258, v. 19). But it seems more logical to have the span or the distance between the tips of the fully stretched thumb and middle finger, which is technically called tāla (see below), as the unit. It admits of many varieties: the ten tāla measures are mentioned in the Mānasāra. But the Bimbamāna has reference to twelve kinds (see below). Each of these ten or twelve kinds is again sub-divided into three types, namely, the uttama or the largest, the madhyama or the intermediate, and the adhama or the smallest. Thus an image is of daśa-tāla measure when its whole length is equal to ten times the face (including the head). In the largest type of the daśa-tāla system, however, the whole length is divided into 124 equal parts which are proportionately distributed over the different parts of the body ; in the intermediate type, the whole length is divided into 120 equal parts, and in the smallest type into 116 equal parts. In the nava-tāla system, the whole length would be nine times the face, in the ashṭa-tāla, eight times, and so forth. The details of the following tāla measures are given in the Mānasāra.