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.s42: Chapter LV: The Jain Images (Jaina-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.s42
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Chapter LV: The Jain Images (Jaina-lakshaṇa-vidhāna)
v2.c14.s42.2
The opening lines describe in detail the various kinds of measurements used in Indian sculpture.
v2.c14.s42.3
The linear measurement is divided into six kinds, *māna*, *pramāṇa*, *parimāṇa*, *lamba-māna*, *unmāna*, and *upamāna*.
v2.c14.s42.4
The measurement from the foot to the top of the head is called *māna* which is in fact nothing but height. *Pramāṇa* is the measurement of breadth (*vistāra*);
v2.c14.s42.5
*parimāṇa* is the measurement of girth or circumference (*paritaḥ*); *lam'a-māna* is the measurement along the plumb-line or the line drawn perpendicularly through the different parts of the body, the *māna* or the measurement of the height being determined by the surface of the body; *unmāna* is the measurement of thickness (*nimna*) or diameter; and *upamāna* is the measurement of interspace (*antara*), such as that between the two feet of an image; this measurement is evidently taken from one plumb line to another.
v2.c14.s42.6
The primary measurement (*ādi-māna*) refers to comparative measurement and is divided into nine kinds. The height of an image is determined 1st, by comparing it with the breadth (*tāra*) of the whole temple (*harmya*); 2ndly, with the height of the cella or sanctum (*garbha-gṛiha*); 3rdly, with the height of the door (*dvāra-māna*); 4thly, with the measurement of the base (*adhishṭhāna*); 5thly, by expressing it in *hastas*; 6thly, in the *tāla* system; 7thly, in *aṅgulas*; 8thly, by comparing it with the height of the worshipper; and 9thly, with the height of the riding-animal (*vāhana*) or with the height of the principal idol (*mūla-bera*).
v2.c14.s42.7
Absolute measurement in cubits (*hasta*), etc., is given in the case of many architectural and sculptural objects.
v2.c14.s42.8
The *aṅgula* (lit. finger) measurement has reference to both comparative and absolute measurements. Three kinds of *aṅgulas* are expressly distinguished, and a fourth *aṅgula* is added later.
v2.c14.s42.9
(*a*) The *berāṅgula* is the measurement taken by the *aṅgula* or finger of the main idol.
v2.c14.s42.10
(*b*) The *mānāṅgula* refers to the ordinary absolute measurement in *aṅgulas*, one *aṅgula* being equal to eight *yavas* (barley grains) or ¾ of an English inch.
v2.c14.s42.11
(*c*) The *mātrāṅgula* is the measurement determined by the length of the digit and the width of the middle finger in the right hand of the master (*kartṛi*).
v2.c14.s42.12
(*d*) Another kind of *aṅgula* measurement is determined by dividing the whole length of the body of an image into a number of equal parts each of which is called a *deha-labdhāṅgula* or simply *dehāṅgula*. In the last sense, *aṅgula* is used to mean simply a part. Thus both *aṅgula* and part (*aṁśa*) are indiscriminately used throughout the work. If the length, etc., of a building or image is divided into a number of equal parts for some special purpose, each of them is called *aṅgula* or *aṁśa* indiscriminately. This lack of discrimination has been very confusing in many places, rendering it extremely hard to distinguish an absolute measurement from a comparative one.
v2.c14.s42.13
The height of the image is determined by comparing it with the height of the worshipper (*yajamāna*). It may be of nine kinds, according as it extends from the foot of the worshipper to his sex-organ, navel, heart, breast, arms, chin, tip of the nose, hair limit (on the forehead), or to his full height. The *tālamāna* admits of many varieties: the ten *tāla* measurements vary from one *tāla* to ten *tāla*; each of these is again divided into three types, the *uttama* or the largest, the *madhyama* or the intermediate, and the *adhama* or the smallest. Thus an image is of the *daśa-tāla* measurement when its whole length is equal to ten times the face inclusive of head. In the largest type of the *daśa-tāla* system, the whole length is divided into 124 equal parts which are proportionately distributed over the different limbs of the body: in the intermediate type, the whole length is divided into 120 equal parts, and in the smallest type, into 116 equal parts. In the *nava-tāla* system, the whole length would be nine times the face, in the *ashṭa-tāla*, eight times, and so forth. Several of these *tāla* measures are described in detail in the subsequent chapters.
v2.c14.s42.14
The varieties of the alternative measurements in each case are simplified by the application of the rules of *āyādi-shad-varga*.
v2.c14.s42.15
The main object of the chapter, namely, the description of the Jain deities, is thus submerged in a lengthy discussion of the various measurements used both in architecture and sculpture.
v2.c14.s42.16
Like all other idols, the images of Jain deities too may be stationary or movable; they may be in the erect or in the sitting posture. They have a purely human shape, and wear neither robes nor ornaments. On the chest the *śrīvatsa* symbol is marked in gold. They are placed on a throne decorated with the *makara-toraṇa*, and the ornamental tree (*kalpa-vriksha*), and are attended by Nārada and other sages, by Yakshas, Vidyādharas, Siddhas, Nāgendras, and Lokapālas, etc. All these attendants, it should be observed, are also known as Hindu deities.
v2.c14.s42.17
The twenty-four Tīrthaṅkaras or Jain saints, are referred to but not specified.¹
v2.c14.s42.18
¹ Cf. JAMES BURGESS, *Digambara Jaina Iconography, Indian Antiquary*, vol. XXXII, pp. 459 sqq., for the full list of the Jain Saints; see also the writer's *Dictionary of Hindu Architecture*.