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.s18: Chapters XX–XXX: Buildings of Two to Twelve Storeys
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.c14.s18
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Chapters XX–XXX: Buildings of Two to Twelve Storeys
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¹ Rām Rāz, *Essay*, pp. 53-57, see plates XXII–XXXIV.
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The contents of these eleven chapters of the *Mānasāra* may be conveniently summarised together. They deal respectively with two-storeyed (*dvi-tala*), three-storeyed (*tri-tala*), four-storeyed (*chatus-tala*), five-storeyed (*pañcha-tala*), six-storeyed (*shaṭ-tala*), seven-storeyed (*sapta-tala*), eight-storeyed (*ashṭa-tala*), nine-storeyed (*nava-tala*), ten-storeyed (*daśa-tala*), eleven-storeyed (*ekādaśa-tala*), and twelve-storeyed (*dvādaśa-tala*) buildings. In each of these chapters we find a classification of the peculiar kind of edifice under discussion followed by an account of certain details, in particular the location of the divine images with which the walls are decorated. Thus the buildings of two storeys are divided into eight classes which are called *śrīkara*, *vijaya*, *siddha*, *paushṭika*, *kāntika*, *adbhuta* (also *prabhūtaka*), *svastika*, and *pushkala*. Those of three storeys are likewise divided into eight classes, called *śrīkānta*, *āsana*, *sukhālaya*, *keśara*, *kamalāṅga*, *brahma-kānta*, *meru-kānta*, and *kailāśa*. The same eight-fold division is found in connection with the four-storeyed buildings; here the names are *vishṇu-kānta*, *chatur-mukha*, *sadā-śiva*, *rudra-kānta*, *īśvara-kānta*, *mañcha-kānta*, *vedi-kānta*, and *indra-kānta*. The eight classes of the five-storeyed buildings are called *airāvata*, *bhūta-kānta*, *viśva-kānta*, *mūrti-kānta*, *yama-kānta*, *gṛiha-kānta*, *yajña-kānta* and *brahma-kānta*. In the case of the buildings of six storeys there are no less than thirteen classes, the technical names of which are *padma-kānta*, *kāntāra*, *sundara* *upakānta*, *kamala*, *ratna-kānta*, *vipulāṅka*, *jyotish-kāntu*, *sarorūha*, *vipulākṛiti*, *svasti-kānta* *nandyāvarta*, and *ikshu-kānta*. The seven-storeyed buildings are divided into eight kinds—*puṇḍarīka* *śrīkānta*, *śrībhoga*, *dhāraṇa*, *pañjara*, *āśramāgāra*, *harmya-kānta*, and *hima-kānta*, The eight classes of eight storeyed buildings are called *bhū-kānta*, *bhūpa-kānta*, *svarga-kānta*, *mahākānta* *jana-kānta*, *tapas-kānta*, *satya-kānta*, and *deva-kānta*. Those of nine storeys are divided into seven kinds—*saura-kānta*, *raurava*, *chaṇḍita*, *bhūshaṇa*, *vivṛita*, *supratikānta*, and *viśva-kānta*, of which the first four represent the small type of nine-storeyed buildings, the next two the intermediate type, and the last one the large type. The ten-storeyed buildings are divided into six classes which are named *bhū kānta*, *chandra-kānta*, *bhavana-kānta*, *antarīksha-kānta*, *megha-kānta*, and *abja-kānta*. Buildings of eleven storeys admit of six varieties—*śambhu-kānta*, *īśu-kānta*, *chakra-kānta*, *yama-kānta*, *vajra-kānta*, and *akra-kānta*. Finally, buildings of twelve storeys are divided into ten kinds—*pāñchāla*, *drāviḍa*, *madhya-kānta*, *kāliṅga-kānta*, *virāṭa*, *kerala*, *vaṁśa-kānta*, *māgadha-kānta*, *janaka-kānta* and *gurjara* (*sphūrjaka*). It deserves notice that in this instance the terms by which the classes are designated are apparently geographical names.
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In chapter XXX we find, moreover, an elaborate account of staircases (*sopāna*).