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.s25.13

v6.c40.s25.13

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.