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.c16.44

v2.c16.44

According to Vitruvius he is required to be a good writer also, because an architect is to commit to writing his observations and experience, in order to assist his memory. Drawing is employed in representing the forms of his designs. Geometry, which forms a part of mathematics, affords much aid to the architect; to it he owes the use of the right line and circle, the level and the square, whereby his delineations of buildings on plane surfaces are greatly facilitated. Arithmetic estimates the cost, and aids in the measurement of the works; this, assisted by the laws of geometry, determines those abstruse questions wherein the different proportions of some parts to others are involved. The science of optics enables him to introduce with judgement the requisite quantity of light according to the aspect. Unless acquainted with history, he will be unable to account for the use of many ornaments, which he may have occasion to inroduce. For history the expression *purāṇa* is used in Indian literature and it implies mythology or mythological stories which are as a rule depicted in the buildings of a nation. There are, however, other uses of history for an architect.