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.c15.s2.11

v2.c15.s2.11

Between the European and the Indian columns, however, there is obviously a striking point of difference. Of the Græco-Roman orders, the five names have been left unchanged, while in India the names of the five orders have varied in various treatises referred to above. It is true, all the same, that the criteria of divisions are essentially the same in the *Mānasāra*, the *Āgamas*, the *Purāṇas*, and the *Bṛihat-saṁhitā*. We have also seen above that the *Mānasāra* contains two sets of names of the five orders, one set referring like the *Āgamas*, the *Purāṇas*, and the *Bṛihat-saṁhitā*, to the shapes of the columns, or more precisely the shafts, while the other refers mostly to the capitals. The works other than the *Vāstu-śāstras* as represented by the *Mānasāra* have not kept this distinction clear. What we can reasonably infer from this as regards the mutual relation of these treatises will be further elucidated by a consideration of the component parts of the column. The question of variation of the names of the five orders in the Indian works can perhaps be explained. While in Europe the origin of the names of the five orders is traced to historical geography,¹ in India the names were based on the shapes of columns. And as the Indians are comparatively religious and poetical rather than historical in temperament and imagination, they chose mythological and poetical names according to the spirit of the times when these various works were composed. Thus in the *Mānasāra*, we see the orders bearing the names of mythological deities, Brahmā, Vishṇu, Rudra, Śiva, and Skanda; as well as called *Chitra-karṇa* (variegated ears), *Padma-kānta* (graceful like lotus), *Chitra-skambha* (of variegated shaft), *Pālikā-stambha* (edged like a measuring pot), and *Kumbha-stambha* (of jug-shaped capital); while in the *Āgama*, they bear highly poetical names—*Śrī-kara* (beautifying), *Chandra-kānta* (graceful like the moon), *Saumukhya* (of very charming face), *Priya-darśana* (sight-pleasing), *Śubhaṅkarī* (auspicious), and in the *Purāṇas*, and the *Bṛihat-saṁhitā*, they are called *Ruchaka* (beautiful, pleasing), *Vajra* (club, hence lasting), *Dvi-vajra* (doubly lasting), *Pralīnaka* (firmly attached, hence a pilaster), and *Vṛitta* (round, hence solid and dignified).