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) v2.c13.s2: III.—Classical Literature: The Epics
Mānasāra Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Mānasāra-Śilpaśāstra; III. Mānasāra on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Mānasāra: Translation; V. Architecture of Mānasāra: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v2.c13.s2
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III.—Classical Literature: The Epics
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The Epics furnish copious description of cities, storeyed buildings, balconies porticos, triumphal arches, enclosing walls, flights of stone masonry steps for tanks and a variety of other structures, all indicative of a flourishing architecture in the country.
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The plan of the city of Ayodhyā is strikingly similar to the town-plan given in the *Mānasāra* and other architectural treatises.¹ “The temples (*devāyatana*) in this city (Ayodhyā) were as resplendent as the sky. Its assembly-halls, gardens, and alms-houses (*prapā*) were most elegant; and everywhere were arranged extensive buildings crowded with men and women........... The houses were as mines of gems, and the abodes of the goddess of fortune. The steeples (*śikhara*) of the houses were as resplendent as the crests of mountains and bore hundreds of pavilions (*vimāna*) like the celestial palace of the chief among the Devas. The rooms were full of riches and corn, exquisitely gilt and decorated, and seemed as charming as pictures; and they were so arranged that men could pass from one room to another without perceiving any inequality (in the floor).” ²
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¹ See writer's *Dictionary* under *Nagara*.
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² Rāmāyaṇa, I, 5, 10-15. Compare also the description of Laṅkā, Laṅkā-kāṇḍa (VI. 3, 3rd Sarga.
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The Mahābhārata contains short but comprehensive accounts of the cities of Dvārakā (III. 15), Indraprastha (1. 207, 30f), a floating city (III. 173, 3), Mithilā (III. 207, 7), and others.
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In the Sabhā-parvan there are interesting descriptions of some assembly-halls. Maya built an assembly-hall for the Pāṇḍavas (chapter I). A description is given also of the assembly-hall of Indra (chapter VII), of Yama (chapter VIII), of Varuṇa (chapter IX), of Kubera (chapter X), and of Brahman (chapter XI).
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A large number of houses were needed for the accommodation of the kings invited to Indraprastha on the occasion of King Yudhishṭhira’s royal feast, *Rājasūya*, and the poet describes the lodgings assigned to the guest: “O king, these and many other princes of the middle country (India proper) came to the great ceremonial, *Rājasūya*, of the sons of Pāṇḍu. By order of the virtuous monarch, to them were assigned dwellings replete with refreshments of every kind, and having by them charming lakes and ranges of ornamental plants . . . . . Those houses were lofty as the peaks of the Kailāsa mountain, most charming in appearance, and provided with excellent furniture. They were surrounded on all sides by well-built high walls of a white colour. The windows were protected by golden lattices and decorated with a profusion of jewellery. The stairs were easy of ascent; the rooms were furnished with commodious seats, and clothing, and garlands; and the whole was redolent with the perfume of the finest agallochum. The houses were white as the goose, bright as the moon, and looked most picturesque even from a distance of four miles. They were free from obstructions, provided with doors of uniform height, but of various quality, and inlaid with numerous metal ornaments, even as the peak of the Himālaya. The princes were refreshed by the very sight of those mansions.”¹
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¹ Mahābhārata, B. II. C. 34, As. Soc. Edition, I, page 354.
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“In the story of Nala, allusion is made to a lofty balcony from which men were seen from a great distance; and in the Rāmāyaṇa, Mantharā ...... looks out from an upper window of the palace to notice the rejoicings of the people in the street on the nomination of Rāma to the Vice-Kingship of Kośala.”²
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² R. L. Mitra, *Indo-Aryan*, I, page 21.
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“In the city [described in the epics] special palaces existed for the King, the princes, the chief priests, ministers, and military officers. Besides these and humble dwellings (the larger houses being divided into various courts)³, there were various assembly-halls, courts of justice, and the booths of small traders with goldsmith's shops, and the work-places of other artisans.”⁴
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³ Compare the Mānasāra, under *Prākāra*, in the writer's Dictionary. Cf. “These courts have mosaic pavements of gold” (R. VI. 37, 27, 58; Mbh. I. 185. 20; 11-33 and 34)
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⁴ Hopkins, *J. A. O. S.*, 13, under *city*
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“The words *toraṇa*, arched gateway; *harmya*, masonry house; *devāyatana*, temple; *sabhā*, assembly hall; *prāsāda*, palace; *śikhara*, steeple; and *vimāna*, pavilion, in the above extract [from the Rāmāyaṇa] are noteworthy. None of them can consistently be applied to huts and thatched houses for which the poets invariably use different words. Prurient fancy may extol and exaggerate, but it never suffices to create names of material objects which the fanciful have never seen or heard of; a Ruskin may amuse himself and his readers by building an imaginary palace in the air,⁵ but his ideas are always of the earth, earthly, taken from material objects with which he is familiar.”⁶
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⁵ The Queen of the Air, by John Ruskin, 1869.
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⁶ Mitra, *ibid*, pages 23-24.
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The Purāṇas generally deal with the subject of architecture in more detail than the classes of literature referred to above. Casual references like those given above from the preceding classes of literature are frequently met with in all the nineteen great Purāṇas.¹ Some nine Purāṇas have, however, treated the subject more systematically, and have materially contributed to the later Śilpa-śāstras themselves. The *Matsya-Purāṇa*, for instance, has eight comprehensive chapters dealing in great detail with architecture and sculpture.² In one of these chapters accounts are given of eighteen ancient architects.³ One chapter is devoted to the column which is the regulator of the whole composition of a building.⁴ Columns are divided into five classes, as in the western system, and their component parts into eight mouldings exactly like those of the Græco-Roman orders.⁵ Buildings are described in two chapters together with their architectural details, such as plans, measures, classifications, pavilions, halls, storeys, steeples, and cupolas.⁶ Some of the building materials are also discussed in a separate chapter.⁷ The remaining three chapters are devoted exclusively to sculpture.⁸ One of these deals with a very technical subject, namely, the *tālamāna* or proportionate measures of an image⁹; and in the other two the images of the Phallus and its Pedestal are described.
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¹ वायु, स्कन्द (also called कुमार), मत्स्य, विष्णु, भागवत, पद्म, गरुड, अग्नि, ब्रह्म, शिव, नारद, मार्कण्डेय, वराह, वामन, लिङ्ग, कूर्म, ब्रह्माण्ड, ब्रह्मवैवर्त and भविष्य।
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² Chapters 252, 255, 257, 258, 262, 263, 269 and 270.
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³ See pages 161-62.
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⁴ Chapter 255—स्तम्भमाननिर्णय।
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⁵ For details see pages 147, 149, 128.
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⁶ Chapters 269—(प्रासादलक्षण), and 270 (मण्डपलक्षण)
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⁷ Chapter, 257, दारूाहरण।
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⁸ Chapters 258—(नवताल लक्षण), 292 (पीठिकालक्षण), 263 (लिङ्गलक्षण).
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⁹ For details see page 81.
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The *Skanda*, which is another early Purāṇa, has devoted three chapters to the subject. One of these refers to the laying out of a large city.¹⁰ In another, mention is made of the construction of a golden hall and three chariots in accordance with the descriptions supplied, and the names of the architects are added.¹ The details of the construction of a special pavilion for the wedding of a royal princess is described in another chapter wherein reference is made to the painting also.² Sculpture is associated with architecture; but painting is hardly mentioned in these works.
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¹⁰ माहेश्वरखण्ड, Part II, chapter 25—स्वयं विश्वकर्मद्वारा निर्मितमहीनगरस्थापनवर्णनम्।
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¹ वैष्णवखण्ड, Part II, chapter 25—निखिलसाहित्यसम्भारसंग्रहपत्रं श्रुत्वा इन्द्रद्युम्नाज्ञया पद्मनिधिना स्वर्णशालानिर्माणम्। नारदाज्ञया विश्वकर्मणा स्यन्दनत्रयनिर्माणम्। तस्य रथस्य नारदकरेण स्थापनम्। तत्प्रसंगेन रथस्थापनप्रकारविधिवर्णनम्।
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² माहेश्वरखण्ड, Part 1, chapter 24—हिमालयेन स्वसुताया विवाहार्थं गर्गाचार्य-पुरोहितं पुरस्कृत्य विश्वकर्मद्वारा पूर्वमण्डपनिर्माणादिवर्णनम्। विवाहमण्डपे चातुर्येण सर्वदेवताप्रतिकृतिचित्रविन्यासं श्रुत्वा सर्वेषां देवानां शङ्काप्राप्तिः।
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The *Garuda-purāṇa* makes some valuable additions to the contributions of this class of literature to architecture. One of the four chapters devoted to this subject deals systematically with all the three classes of buildings, namely. residential, military and religious, as well as with the laying out of pleasure-gardens and pavilions therein. Thus, in this chapter residential buildings, forts and fortified towns, temples and monasteries are described along with garden-houses.³ The following chapter treats exclusively of religious buildings.⁴ The remaining two chapters are devoted to sculpture, one dealing with rules regarding the construction of an image and the other with the installation of images in temples.⁵
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³ Chapter 46—प्रासादारागदुर्गदेवालयमठादिवास्तुमानलक्षणनिरूपणम्।
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⁴ Chapter 47—प्रासादलिङ्गमण्डपादिशुभवास्तुलक्षणनिरूपणम्।
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⁵ Chapters 45--शालग्राममूर्तिलक्षणम्, 48—देवानां प्रतिष्ठाविधिः।
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The *Agni*, among all the Purāṇas, has dilated on the subject at great length. There are sixteen chapters of which one deals with town-planning, two with residential buildings and the remaining thirteen with sculpture. The importance of its contributions to the Śilpa-śāstra lies, however, specially in two things. First, it seems to have been aware of the *Mānasāra*, the standard work on architecture.⁶ Secondly, its chapter on town-planning is a real addition to the Purāṇas' contributions to architecture.⁷ Temples and residential buildings are described in two chapters.⁸ The treatment of sculpture also is unique, and is the most exhaustive of all the
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⁶ Compare, तदूर्ध्वं च भवेद् वेदो सकण्ठा मानसारका। (Chapter 42, verse 16),
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⁷ Chapter 106—नगरादिवस्तु।
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⁸ Chapters 42—प्रासादलक्षणकथनम्, and 104—प्रासादलक्षणम्।
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तृतीया वेदिका त्वग्ने सकण्ठा मानसारकः। (Chapter 104, verse 11).
For details see page 166.
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For details see page 113.
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accounts given in the Purāṇas. It deals with almost all the classes of religious images, both of male and female deities, as well as of those not falling under either of these categories. Thus, of the thirteen chapters on sculpture, one is devoted to the description of the sun-god,¹ one to the ten incarnations of Vishṇu,² two others also to Vishṇu under the name of Vāsudeva,³ one to the guardian angel of the house,⁴ one to the goddess of fortune,⁵ two to the female deities in general,⁶ four to the Phallus and its Pedestal,⁷ and the remaining one to the stone gods, Śālagrāma and others.⁸
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¹ Chapter 51—सूर्यादिप्रतिमालक्षणम् ।
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² Chapter 49—मत्स्यादिदशावतारकथनम् ।
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³ Chapters 44—वासुदेवादिप्रतिमा, and 60—वासुदेवादिप्रतिष्ठाविधिः ।
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⁴ Chapter 43—प्रासाददेवतास्थापनम् ।
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⁵ Chapter 62—लक्ष्मोप्रतिमाविधिः ।
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⁶ Chapters 50—देवीप्रतिमालक्षणम्, and 52—देवीप्रतिमालक्षणम् ।
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⁷ Chapters 53—लिङ्गलक्षणम्, and 54—लिङ्गमानादिकथनम्, 45—पिण्डिकालक्षणम्, 55—पिण्डिकालक्षणकथनम् ।
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⁸ Chapter 46—शालग्रामादिमूर्तिलक्षणम् ।
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The *Nārada-purāṇa* practically completes the Purāṇas' contributions to architecture. In a single chapter it describes the construction of pools, wells and tanks as well as temples.⁹ The *Liṅga-purāṇa* supplements the contributions by adding an account of the construction of sacrificial pits together with a description of temples and the installation of deities therein.¹⁰
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⁹ Part I, Chapter 13—देवतायनवापीकूपतडागादिर्निमाणम् ।
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¹⁰ Part II, Chapter 45—यागकुण्डविन्यासकथनपूर्वकं सर्वेषां देवानां स्थापनविधिनिरूपणम् ।
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The *Vāyu*, which is one of the very early Purāṇas, maintains its unique position by dealing with the construction of various temples built upon mountain tops.¹¹ Examples of these temples are still found on several peaks of the Himālaya and the Vindhya ranges. For the *Brahmāṇḍa-purāṇa* there was very little left to add. In a single chapter it describes the construction of temples and residential buildings.¹²
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¹¹ Part I, Chapter 39—शैलस्थितविविधदेवालयकीर्तनम् ।
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¹² Chapter 7—गृहादिनिर्माणम् ।
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The *Bhavishya*, apparently a late Purāṇa, has also nothing new to contribute. Three of its chapters are devoted to sculpture.¹³ Architecture proper, comprising the description of temples, is treated in a single chapter.¹⁴ The most striking
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¹³ The Madhya-parvan, Chapter 12—प्रतिदेवताप्रतिमालक्षणवर्णनम् ।
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¹⁴ The Brahma-parvan, Chapter 130—प्रासादलक्षणवर्णनम् ।
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The Brahma-parvan, Chapters—
131—मूर्तिस्थानम्, 132—प्रतिमामानम् ।
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feature of this Purāṇa is that the number, name and other architectural details of the buildings described in it are identical with the twenty types found in the *Matsya-purāṇa*, and the *Brihat-saṁhitā* of Varāhamihira¹.
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¹ For details see pages 114–118.
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The *Brihat-saṁhitā*, usually classed under the astronomical and astrological treatises, is but a semi-Purāṇa, dealing, as it does, with heterogeneous subjects like the Purāṇas themselves. Its authorship is attributed to Varāhamihira who is supposed to be one of the nine traditional gems in the court of a mythical Vikramāditya², and is thus imagined to be a contemporary of Kālidāsa a poet of unrivalled fame In this treatise there are but five chapters devoted to both architecture and sculpture. But the subjects have been treated with a master hand. The chapters open with a definition of the science of architecture, and the author goes on to describe, briefly but succinctly and to the point, the suitable building sites, testing of soil, general plan, comparative measures of storeys and doors, and carvings thereon, and other important parts of a building. The preliminary subjects are described in the opening chapter.³ Then follows the description of the buildings proper, under the same twenty types as in the *Matsya* and *Bhavishya Purāṇas*, the names and details being identical.⁴ The preparation of cement is discussed in a separate chapter.⁵ One whole chapter is devoted to the construction of the necessary articles of house-furniture, such as bedsteads, couches, and seats.⁶ Quite consistently with his sense of proportion Varāhamihira devotes only one chapter to sculpture, where too the details of images are described in a scientific manner which is distinctly missing in other ancient literature.⁷ He is, however, accused of being "in the habit of uncritically copying his authorities" and misappropriating their materials. But in his treatise seven architectural authorities are mentioned distinctly.⁸
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² For the names of the nine gems, see page 161, note 1.
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³ Chapter 53—वास्तुविद्या ।
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⁴ Chapter 56—प्रासादलक्षणम् । For fuller details, see pages 117, 115, 116.
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⁵ Chapter 57—वज्रलेपलक्षणम् ।
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⁶ Chapter 79—शय्यासनलक्षणम् ।
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⁷ Chapter 58—प्रतिमालक्षणम् ।
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⁸ गार्ग and मनु (LVI. 30-31), वसिष्ठ (LVIII. 8), भास्कर (LVIII 52), विश्वकर्मन् (LI. 29), नग्नजित् (LVIII, 4, 15) and मय (LI, 29, LVII, 8).
Linked texts (25)
- Agnipurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit
- Padmapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Brahmavaivartapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Varāhapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Nāradapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Brahmāṇḍapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Brahmapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Garuḍapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Vāyupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Liṅgapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Śivapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Kūrmapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Mārkaṇḍeyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Vāmanapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Bṛhatsaṃhitā — Varāhamihira, Sanskrit
- Bhaviṣyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Viṣṇupurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Skandapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Vāsiṣṭha
- Dvārakā
- Bhagavantabhāskara — Nīlakaṇṭha Dīkṣita 1625, Sanskrit