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.s9: Chapter XI: The Dimensions of Buildings of Various Storeys (Bhūmilamba-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.s9
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Chapter XI: The Dimensions of Buildings of Various Storeys (Bhūmilamba-vidhāna)
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The name of this chapter is ‘Bhūmilamba,’ which literally means the height of the storey. The *Kāmikagāma* (paṭala 50, verse 1) defines this name, Bhūmilamba, thus: “*Chatur-amśādi-samsthānam bhūmi-lambam iti smṛitum.*” The chapters on the subject, in both the works, *Mānasāra* and *Kāmikāagma*, deal with the measurement of length, breadth, and height of buildings of one to twelve storeys.
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The various shapes of buildings are mentioned in the opening lines of the chapter. They may be square, rectangular, round, octagonal, or oval. Buildings of all kinds, such as the *vimāna* or temple, the *harmya* or palace, the *gopura* or gate-house, the *śālā* or hall, the *maṇḍapa* or pavilion, and the *veśman* (residential houses generally) should have one of these five shapes.
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Buildings are again divided into four classes—*jāti*, *chhanda*, *vikalpa* or *saṁkalpa*, and *ābhāsa*—which are frequently referred to in the subsequent chapters. These four classes seem to have different characteristics in different cases.
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The proportion between height and width is expressed by five technical names, *śāntika*, *paushṭika*, *pārshṇika* (sometimes called *jayada*), *adbhuta*, and *sarvakāmika*. When the height of a building or idol is 2¼ times of its width, it is called *śāntika*, the *paushṭika* height is twice the width, the *pārshṇika* or *jayada* height is 1¾ of the width, the *adbhuta* height is 1½ of the width, and the *sarvakāmika* height is 1¼ of the width. This proportion of height and width is not, however, strictly followed all through. There is a slight variation in some cases. But the proportions given above are the most common. The measurement of length, breadth and height is invariably divided into three types: large, intermediate, and small. The *śāntika* and the *paushṭika* heights are prescribed for the large type of measurement, the *pārshṇika* or *jayada* for the intermediate type, and the *adbhuta* and the *sarvakāmika* for the small type.
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Five series of length and five series of breadth are prescribed here for each of the several classes of buildings of one to twelve storeys. But in some subsequent chapters as many as nine alternatives of length or breadth are prescribed for one and the same object.
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The five series of breadth in the small type of one-storeyed buildings are 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 cubits, and the five series of length are 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 cubits. In the intermediate type the five series of breadth are 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 cubits, and the five series of length 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 cubits. In the large type, the five series of breadth are 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 cubits, and the five lengths are 7, 9, 11, 13 and 15 cubits.
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All the classes of buildings of one to twelve storeys are in this way measured separately. The dimensions of the twelve-storeyed building in its three types are given briefly.¹ In the small type they are 35, 37, 39, 41, 43 cubits, in the intermediate type 36, 38, 40, 42, 44 cubits, and in the large type, 37, 39, 41, 43, 45 cubits. These are the fifteen kinds of *Vipula*, and the height should be as before.
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¹ The description of these dimensions is much clearer in the *Kāmikāgama* (*paṭala* 50). According to this work, the width of a twelve-storeyed building is 70 cubits and the height 100 cubits. It expressly states (*śloka* 33) that it is never desirable that buildings should be larger than 77 cubits in height and 70 cubits in width.
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These are the measurements in the *jāti* class of buildings. Three-fourths, half and one-fourth of these are prescribed for the *chhanda*, the *vikalpa* and the *ābhāsa* classes respectively.
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The concluding part of this chapter prescribes the number of storeys allowed in edifices according to the social status of their occupants. In the first instance reference is made to the various classes of kings², of whom the one highest in rank, namely, the *chakravartin* or universal monarch, is said to inhabit a palace of five to twelve storeys. The residence of the heir-apparent (*yuvarāja*), as well as those belonging to the chief feudatories (*sāmanta-pramukhya*), should have one to three storeys.
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² Cf. below, chapter XLI. In the present passage only six out of the nine classes are mentioned, the *maṇḍaleśa*, *paṭṭadhara* and *pārshṇika* having been omitted.
Linked texts (2)
- Kāmikāgama — Sanskrit
- Mānasāra — Sanskrit