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.c16.109

v2.c16.109

In India, on the other hand, the names of the orders were based on the shapes of the columns. And as the Indians are comparatively more religious and sentimental than critical 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 the poetical names like *Chitra-karṇa* (variegated ear), *Chitra-skambha* (variegated capital), *Padma-kānta* (graceful like lotus), *Kumbha-stambha* (of jug-shaped capital), and *Pālikā-stambha* (shaped like a measuring pot). In the *Āgama*, the names are more poetical: *Śrīkara* (beautifying), *Chandra-kānta* (graceful like the moon), *Saumukhya* (of a charming face), and *Śubhāṅkarī* (auspicious). In the *Purāṇa*, the *Bṛihat-saṁhitā*, and the *Kiraṇa-tantra*, the names combine beauty and utility—*Ruchaka* (pleasing), *Vṛitta* (round and dignified), *Vajra* (beautiful and solid like the club), *Dvi vajra* (doubly so), and *Pralīnaka* (firmly attached).