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.s26: Chapter LXIX: The Defects of the Limbs (aṅga-dūshaṇa-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.s26
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Chapter LXIX: The Defects of the Limbs (aṅga-dūshaṇa-vidhāna)
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The chapter opens with the announcement that it will describe the evil consequences of a defective construction of buildings, which threaten the king, the kingdom, and the maker. It is laid down that no part of a building should be larger or smaller than what is prescribed. But nothing is further stated about the defects themselves. Nor are images separately mentioned. The penalties for defective construction are enumerated with regard to the different architectural members, such as doors, staircases, columns, walls, domes, spires, etc. Thus, it is stated that, if the altar (*vedikā*) be too small, the master will lose his eyesight ; if the pinnacle (*stūpikā*) be too large or too small, the people will be afflicted with poverty ; if the columns be too large or too small, the family of the master will be exterminated, and so forth.
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No such penalties, however, are mentioned for defects in sculptural objects.
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Tʜᴇ Cʜɪsᴇʟʟɪɴɢ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Eʏᴇ (*Nayanonmīlana-lakshaṇa-vidhāna*)
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When the Indian sculptor has carved a divine image, the ceremony of chiselling (*lit.* opening) the eyes of the idol is the final function, by which it is, as it were, imparted with eyesight and rendered fit to be worshipped. The custom is quite ritualistic, although it is stated here that it should be carried out by the architect. The ceremonies consist in the worshipping of different deities, in performing the sacrifice with the holy fire, and in the *ratna-śuddhi* (*lit.* purifying the jewel), etc.
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The setting of precious stones in the different parts of the phallus and in the images of the deities is also described in the present chapter.
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This last chapter of the work closes with the statement that this science of architecture and sculpture was originally described by Brahmā, Indra, and all the other gods, and that the *Mānasāra* has been compiled on the basis of these authorities.
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It will be noticed that of the seventy chapters of the *Mānasāra* the first eight are introductory, the next forty-two deal with architectural matters, and the last twenty are devoted to sculpture. In the introductory chapters full accounts are given of such preliminary matters as the table of contents, the system of measurement, the necessary training and qualifications of the different classes of architects, the selection of site, testing of soil, planning, designing, dialling, finding out cardinal points, and astronomical and astrological calculations. Next are given all the architectural details of various kinds of villages, towns, and forts; joinery, dimensions and foundations of buildings; pillars and their component parts, such as pedestals, bases, shafts, and entablatures; storeys varying from one to twelve in ordinary buildings and to seventeen in gate-houses; the artistic arrangement of mansions in as many as ten rows; compounds and courts of edifices, their gate-houses, their attached and detached buildings, their compartments, halls and chambers, their doors, windows and the openings; the steps and staircases for buildings, hills and rivers, etc.; their courtyards, quadrangles, and arches; royal courts, palaces, thrones, and crowns; cars, chariots, and other conveyances; articles of furniture, such as bedsteads, couches, tables, chairs, wardrobes, baskets, cages, mills, lamps; dresses and garments; and ornaments, such as various chains, armlets, anklets, head-gear and footwear. In the concluding portion are given the sculptural details of idols of deities of the Hindus, the Buddhists, and the Jains, statues of great personages, and images of animals and birds.
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Thus it may be concluded that, as a standard work on architecture in the widest sense of the term, the *Mānasāra* is perfectly complete and methodical in all respects.
Linked texts (1)
- Mānasāra — Sanskrit