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.s38: Chapter LI: The Triad (Trimūrti-lakshaṇa-vidhāna)
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.s38
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Chapter LI: The Triad (Trimūrti-lakshaṇa-vidhāna)
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The Indian Triad, to which the title of the chapter refers, consists of the three great gods, Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva. The chapter may be divided into two parts. The first part deals with the materials (*dravya*) of which the idols of all other deities as well as of these three are made. The second part describes the external features of the Triad.
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The materials for making idols are nine, namely, gold, silver, copper (*tāmra*), stone, wood, *sudhā* (stucco, also mortar and plaster), *śarkarā* (*lit.* gravel or grit), *ābhāsa* (marble) and earth (terra-cotta). All the materials enumerated are well known except *ābhāsa*, of which a special description is given.
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*Ābhāsa* is subdivided into three kinds, called *chitra*, *ardha-chitra*, and *ābhāsa* proper. If it is perfectly transparent (*sarvāṅga-dṛiśyamāna*, *lit*, which can be completely seen through) it is called *chitra*: if only half transparent, it is known as *ardha-chitra*; and in case it is partially (*lit.* one fourth) transparent, it is called *ābhāsa* proper. This description, however, does not help us to identify *ābhāsa* with any certainty. It may have some affinity to crystal, but the latter has been referred to elsewhere by its own common name, *sphaṭika*. The ordinary meaning of the word *ābhāsa* is splendour, light, transparency. It implies undoubtedly a transparent substance. I am inclined to think that it may refer to some particular and more or less transparent variety of marble (alabaster?), of which various other kinds, such as white, black, red, yellow, etc., are described in the next chapter in connection with the materials of which the *pīṭha* or *yoni* part of the phallus (*liṅga*) of Śiva is made.
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The second part begins with an account of the different classes of images. An idol may be stationary (*sthāvara*) or movable (*jaṅgama*); erect, sitting or recumbent. The movable images are used especially on the occasion of festivals. The three or four poses (*bhaṅga*), called *ābhaṅga*, *samabhaṅga*, and *tribhaṅga*, are discussed more fully at the end of chapter LXVII.
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The remaining portion of the chapter is devoted to a minute description of the images of Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva, the three gods constituting the *Trimūrti*.
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Brahmā should have four arms and four faces. He should wear a diadem and the matted hair of an ascetic (*jaṭā-mukuṭa-maṇḍita*). Two of his hands should be in the gift-bestowing (*varada*) and refuge-granting (*abhaya*) attitudes. The four attributes held in his hands are the water-pot (*kuṇḍika*), the rosary (*aksha-mālā*), and the large and small sacrificial ladles (*sruk-sruva*). The various ornaments, with which his body is to be adorned, are described in great detail. As to his clothes, he is said to wear a strip of bark (*chīra*) and an upper garment (*uttarīya*). His whole body should be of golden colour. Brahmā is accompanied by his two Śaktis (female energies), the goddesses Sarasvatī and Sāvitrī, standing to his right and left respectively.
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Vishṇu is also four-armed (*chatur-bhuja*), but has one head. His head-gear is the diadem called *kirīṭa*. He wears a yellow garment, while the colour of his body is dark blue (*śyāma*). His chest is adorned with the symbol called *śrīvatsa*. Two of his hands are in the gift-bestowing and refuge-granting attitudes. His attributes are the lotus-flower, the mace (*gadā*), the discus (*chakra*), and the conch-shell called *Pāñchajanya*. Among the numerous ornaments which bedeck his limbs, special mention is made of the graceful garland of wild flowers (*vana-mālā*) which hangs down by both his legs. At the back of his head there is an ornamental nimbus (*śiraś-chakra*, lit., a head-disc). Vishṇu is likewise attended by two goddesses (*Śakti*), apparently Lakshmī and Bhū-devī (the Earth-goddess).
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Śiva, the third member of the Triad, is four-armed and is, moreover, distinguished by a third eye, which is placed in the middle of his fore-head. Like Brahmā, he wears the matted hair of the ascetic. The figure of Gaṅgā (the river personified) as well as the crescent are inserted in his head-dress, the latter on the left side. On the left side of his neck there is the mark of the deadly poison *kālakūṭa*. His dress consists of a tiger-skin reaching down to the knees, and a waist-cloth. His complexion is said to be red.¹ Two of his hands are in the attitude of granting a boon (*vara*) and of conferring security (*abhaya*). In the remaining two hands he holds an antelope (*hariṇa*) and a tabor or hand-drum.² Śiva is accompanied by the goddess Pārvatī who keeps standing or seated on his left side.
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¹ Elsewhere the complexion of Śiva is stated to be white.
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² The name of the second attribute which occurs also in the iconographic portion of the 7th chapter, appears to be *ḍhakkā*. But this word usually indicates a large kettle-drum, whereas the tabor which is one of Śiva's emblems is called *ḍamaru*.
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Images of the three members of the triad are said to be measured in the largest type of the *daśa-tāla* measurement and those of their consorts in the middle type. The particulars of these two types of measurement are not discussed here, but reserved for an elaborate treatment in two separate chapters.
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The pedestals are also dealt with in a separate chapter. Here it is very briefly stated that the pedestals of the triad should be of the *padma-pīṭha* or the *mahā-pīṭha* kind, and be furnished with a *prapā* (canal), a *toraṇa* (ornamental arch), and *kalpa-vṛiksha* (ornamental tree).
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The chapter closes with a statement that the particulars not mentioned here with regard to the making of these idols, should be supplied according to the rules of the *Śāstras*.