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) v6.c40.s25: Chapter LXVII: The Plumb-Lines (Pralamba-lakshaṇa-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) v6.c40.s25

Language: English

Chapter LXVII: The Plumb-Lines (Pralamba-lakshaṇa-vidhāna)

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The plumb-lines, as has already been pointed out, are lines drawn through the body of an image in order to find out accurately the perpendicular and the horizontal measurements of the different parts of the body.

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This is done by means of an instrument called *pralamba-phalaka*, which is a square plank of four, three, two, or one *aṅgula* in thickness, with the sides equal to three-fourths or one-half of the length of the image. Another plank of the same size is used as the stool on which the image is placed. The first mentioned plank (*pralamba-phalaka*) is fixed to the crown of the head of the image. The planks are kept parallel to each other. Holes are made in the upper plank, wherefrom are suspended strings at the other end of which are attached small balls of iron or stone. The number of holes and strings suspended from them, by which the plumb-lines are determined, varies from five to eleven, according to the different postures and poses of the image. The five principal plumb-lines consist of one drawn from the centre of the upper plank corresponding to the crown of the head, and four on the four sides of the body. Two other lines drawn adjoining the right and left sides of the face make the number seven. Another two lines drawn on the right and left sides of the back of the head make the number nine, and two lines drawn from the two armpits make the total of the lines eleven.

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The line drawn from the crown of the head (*śikhā-maṇi*, *lit.* crest jewel) passes by the diadem and the headdress, the middle of the forehead, the eyebrows, the nose, the chin, the neck, the chest (*hṛidaya*), the navel, the sex organ, the thighs, between the knees, the ankles (*nalaka*), the heels, the soles of the feet, and the two big toes. This is evidently drawn along the surface of the body in a perfectly erect or straight posture of the image. The other plumblines, too, touch different parts of the body; but they are not particularly mentioned here.

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Very minutely are described the comparative and the absolute measurements of the perpendicular distance between different parts of the body by a plumb-line, as well as the horizontal distance from one line to another. The distance, say, between the two big toes, is said to be eight *aṅgulas*. The variation of these measurements in different postures and poses is carefully considered.

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The three postures of images, namely, erect or standing (*sthānaka*), sitting (*āsana*), and recumbent (*śayana*), are frequently mentioned in the *Mānasāra*.¹

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¹ Each of these three, of course, admits of a variety. The sitting posture (*āsana*) is in particular distinguished into various forms in Indian literature and sculpture, such as the *padmāsana*, *bhadrāsana*, *vajrāsana*, *vīrāsana*, *svastikāsana*, *yogāsana*, etc. In some books, even eighty-four postures are enumerated. These manners of sitting form part of the eight-fold observances of ascetics.

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In the present chapter a special reference is made to the three *bhaṅgas* or poses which are distinguished in Indian sculpture. They are known as *sama-bhaṅga* or equipoise, *ābhaṅga* or a slight flexion, *ati-bhaṅga* or an excessive flexion, and *tri-bhaṅga* or of three flexions.¹

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¹ The expression *tri-bhaṅga* (and *tri-bhaṅgin*) is applied to Kṛishṇa in his aspect of the divine cow-herd (Gopāla) playing the reed-pipe. Cf. *Een onbekend Indisch tooneelstuk* (Gopālakeli-chandrikā). Tekst met inleiding door W. Calland. (Verhand. Kon. Akad. v. Wetensch, te Amsterdam N. R. Dl. XVII, No. 3. Amsterdam 1917, p. 46, 1. 1 (*marakata-vibhaṅgojjvala-tri-bhaṅgāṅga-gopālena*) and p. 124, 132 (*tri-bhaṅgin*).

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The First Casting of the Image (*Madhūchchhishṭa-vidhāna*)

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The chapter opens with an enumeration of the names of phalli and ascetics (*muni*), as well as of architects,² but the subject proper is the casting of an image in wax (*madhūchchhishṭa*). The *sthapati* and the *sthāpaka* prepare the wax, but the manner of its preparation is not expressly described. All kinds of images, temporary or permanent, stationary or movable, are moulded in wax. The process appears to be this. Some part of the image is covered with a thin copper-leaf (*tāmra-patra*) and the wax is laid on two or three *aṅgulas* deep. Earth (*mṛittikā*) is spread above the part covered with wax. The idol is heated after it has been besmeared. If the master likes, the smearing may be done with melted iron too. One-half of the image, which is not covered with earth, is washed in water. The process is repeated several times. If any of the minor limbs be lost through this process, the image should be furnished with it again after having been heated. But if the head or the middle of the body (*madhyakāya*) be damaged, the whole image should be changed. If the master does not approve of the image, it should be recast. The whole process in its different stages has to be attended by many ritualistic ceremonies.

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² The six kinds of phalli (*jyotir-liṅga*) enumerated here are: *śaiva*, *pāśupata*, *kālamukha*, *mahāvrata*, *vāma(na)* and *bhairava*. Cf. above, where the fifth class is called *vāma*. The names of the *munis* are Agastya, Kāśyapa, Bhṛigu, Gautama, Bhārgava, Gālava (?Gārga), etc., cf. above. The expert authorities on architecture are the following: Viśvakarman, Viśveśa, Viśvasāra, Prabodhaka, Vṛita, Maya, Tvashtṛi, Manu, Nala, Mānavit, Mānakalpa, Mānasāra, Prashṭṛi, Mānabodha, Viśvabodha, Naya, Ādisāra, Viśāla, Viśvakāśyapa, Vāstubodha, Mahātantra, Vāstuvidyāpati, Pārāśariyaka, Kālayūpa, Chaitya, Chitraka, Āvarya, Sādhakasāra-saṁhitā, Bhānu, Indra, Lokajña, and Saura.

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In other texts the process of casting an image is much more clearly described : ‘If images have to be cast in metal, the wax must first be melted and poured (out of the mould) and all defects removed with cloth.’¹ ‘If the images be required to be made of earth, rods (of metal or wood) must be (inserted in them), if of metal, they must first be prepared well in wax.’² ‘If an image is to be made of metal, it must first be made of wax, and then coated with earth; gold and other metals are purified and cast into (the mould) and a complete image is thus obtained by capable workmen.’³ ‘In regard to bronze images,’ says Mr. Rao,⁴ ‘it is believed by some that India could not have known the *cire perdue* method of making metal images earlier than about the tenth century A.D., and that India must have therefore borrowed it from Europe. That the art of casting metals in wax moulds is much earlier in India can be shewn in more ways than one.’ In support of his assertion, Mr. Rao cites the three above-mentioned quotations.

Linked texts (4)

Suprabhedāgama — Sanskrit
Kāraṇāgama — Sanskrit
Mānasāra — Sanskrit
Viṣṇusaṃhitā — Sanskrit