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.s54.3

v2.c14.s54.3

This is done by means of an instrument, called *pralamba-phalaka*. which is a square plank of four, three, two, or one *aṅgula* in thickness, with the sides equal to three-fourths or one-half of the length of the image. Another plank of the same size is used as the stool on which the image is placed. The first mentioned plank (*pralamba-phalaka*) is fixed to the crown of the head of the image. The planks are kept parallel to each other. Holes are male in the upper plank, wherefrom are suspended strings at the other end of which are attached small balls of iron or stone. The number of holes and strings suspended from them, by which the plumb-lines are determined, varies from five to eleven, according to the different postures and poses of the image. The five principal plumb-lines consist of one drawn from the centre of the upper plank corresponding to the crown of the head, and four on the four sides of the body. Two other lines drawn adjoining the right and left sides of the face make the number seven. Another two lines drawn on the right and left sides of the back of the head make the number nine, and two lines drawn from the two arm-pits make the total of the lines eleven.