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.c14.s13.4

v2.c14.s13.4

The height of a pillar is twice, one-and-a-half times or one-and-a-quarter times that of its base, or the height of the pillar begins at 2½ *hastas* and ends at 8 *hastas*, the increment being by 6 *aṅgulas* or ¼ *hasta*. But according to Kāśyapa, the height of the pillar may be 3 times that of the base ; or 6 or 8 times that of the pedestal. The width (diameter) of a pillar may be ⅙, 1/7, ⅛, 1/9 or 1/10 of its height, or ⅓, ¼ or ⅙ of the height if it be a pilaster (*kudya-stambha*). The width of the pilaster, according to the *Mānasāra*, is 3, 4, 5 or 6 *mātras* (*aṅgulas*), and twice, thrice or four times of these should be the width of the *kampa*. The height of a pillar being divided into 12, 11, 10, 9 or 8 parts, the one of these parts may be the breadth of the pillar, and at the top it is diminished by one-fourth.