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.s57.5

v2.c14.s57.5

It will be noticed that of the seventy chapters of the *Mānasāra* the first eight are introductory, the next forty-two deal with architectural matters, and the last twenty are devoted to sculpture. In the introductory chapters full accounts are given of such preliminary matters as the table of contents, the system of measurement, the necessary training and qualifications of the different classes of architects, the selection of site, testing of soil, planning, designing, dialling, finding out cardinal points, and astronomical and astrological calculations. Next are given all the architectural details of various kinds of villages, towns and forts; joinery, dimensions and foundations of buildings; pillars and their component parts such as pedestals, bases, shafts and entablatures; storeys varying from one to twelve in ordinary buildings and to seventeen in gate-houses; compounds and courts of edifices, their gate-houses, their attached and detached buildings, their compartments halls and chambers, their doors, windows and the openings, their courtyards, quadrangles, and arches; royal courts, palaces, thrones and crowns; cars, chariots and other conveyances; articles of furniture such as bedsteads, couches, tables, chairs, wardrobes, baskets, cages, mills, lamps; dresses and garments; and ornaments such as chains, armlets, head-gear and foot wear. In the concluding portion are given the sculptural details of idols of deities of the Hindus, the Buddhists and the Jains, statues of great personages, and images of animals and birds.¹