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.c16.82

v2.c16.82

"The distance between each tower should exceed an arrows's flight . . . . The walls will be intercepted by the lower parts of the towers where they occur, leaving an interval equal to the width of the tower, which space the tower will consequently occupy. The towers should be made either round or polygonal. A square tower is a bad form on account of its being easily fractured at the quoins by the battering ram; whereas the circular tower has this advantage, that when battered, the pieces of masonry whereof it is composed being cuneiform, cannot be driven in towards their centre without displacing the whole mass. Nothing tends more to the security of walls and towers, than backing them with walls or terraces; it counteracts the effects of rams as well as of undermining . . . . ."