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.s44: Chapter LVII: Images of Sages (Muni-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.s44
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Chapter LVII: Images of Sages (Muni-lakshaṇa-vidhāna)
v2.c14.s44.2
The seven well-known patriarchs or sages (*rishi* or *muni*) are taken to illustrate the three varieties of the *tāla* measurement. They are Agastya, Kāśyapa, Bhṛigu, Vaśishṭha, Bhārgava, Viśvāmitra, and Bharadvāja.
v2.c14.s44.3
Agastya is bright blue (*śyāma*) in colour, Kāśyapa yellow (*pīta*), Bhṛigu dark or black (*krishṇa*), Vaśishṭha red (*rakta*), Bhārgava brownish (*piṅgula*), Viśvāmitra red (*rakta*), and Bharadvāja yellow (*hāridra*, lit. turmeric-coloured). They are represented in a purely human shape, being ‘two-armed and two-eyed’; they wear yellow garments and the sacred thread (*yajña-sūtra*) and are distinguished by the matted hair of the ascetics (*jaṭājūṭa*). In their two hands they hold a staff (*daṇḍa*) and a book (*pustaka*). Of Agastya who is mentioned first among the seven sages, it is stated particularly that he is corpulent (*bṛihat-kukshi*) and hump-backed (*kubjākāra*).
v2.c14.s44.4
Of these seven sages, Agastya is measured in the seven-*tāla*, Kāśyapa and Bhṛigu in the eight-*tāla*, and the rest in the nine-*tāla*. The details of these three *tāla* measurements are given subsequently.
v2.c14.s44.5
In the *sapta* or seven-*tāla* measurement, the whole length of the image is seven times the height of the face which is generally twelve *aṅgulas* (9 inches) in the Indian system. This length is divided into 12×7=84 equal parts, of which the proportional distribution among the different limbs is explained at great length.
v2.c14.s44.6
In the *ashṭa* or eight-*tāla* system, the whole length is similarly divided into 96 equal parts, and in the nine-*tāla* into 108 equal parts.