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.s24: Chapter XXXVI: The Location and Measurement of Houses (Gṛiha-māna sthāna-vinyāsa)
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.s24
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Chapter XXXVI: The Location and Measurement of Houses (Gṛiha-māna sthāna-vinyāsa)
v2.c14.s24.2
The main object of the chapter is to describe the arrangement and situation houses in the compound The breadth of a house is said to be of five kinds, namely, from two or three *daṇḍas* to ten or eleven *daṇḍas*, the increment being by two *daṇḍas*. The length may be equal to twice the breadth. Houses are stated to be built in a village, town, port (*pattana*), *kheṭaka*, grove, or hermitage, near a hill or mountain, or on the bank of a river, etc.
v2.c14.s24.3
In the 34th chapter various sorts of *maṇḍapas* have been stated to be located in different parts of the five courts into which the whole compound of a temple is divided. In the present chapter, structures intended for various purposes are located in the different squares into which an inhabited area is divided according to the *parama-sādhika* plan described in the 7th chapter called *Pada-vinyāsa*
v2.c14.s24.4
The *Brahma-sthāna* or the central square is stated to be unfit for a residential building. The temple of the family god is generally built in this part. Round this are constructed the dwelling houses for the master of the family, his wife and children, and servants, sheds for cows, horses, poultry, etc., the kitchen and dining hall, etc., rooms for guests, for reading or study, for the daily sacrifices of the upper caste-people, for amusements and music, for the dancing girls, and for all other domestic purposes. The arrangement of these different structures is, however, slightly different according to the caste and social position of the family. But the general plan of the dwelling houses for a family is the same in all cases.