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.s7.1

v6.c40.s7.1

IT IS NEEDLESS to say that the details of the art of building were systematically embodied for the first time in the avowedly architectural treatises. They are necessarily missing in non-architectural literature, especially that composed before the growth of the *Vāstu-śāstra*. But casual references to this art go as far back as the oldest existing literature of the world. That the people of that time had learnt the art of building, and used to reside in skilfully constructed houses and not in natural caves, is sufficiently clear, not only from the various synonyms for a house,¹ but also from the articles of furniture. ‘The hymns of the *Atharva-veda*² give some information about the construction of a house, but the details are extremely obscure. . . . According to Zimmer,³ four pillars (*upamit*) were set up on a good site, and against them beams were leant at an angle as props (*pratimit*). The upright pillars were connected by cross-beams (*parimit*) resting upon them. The roof was formed of ribs of bamboo cane (*vaṁśa*),⁴ . . . The walls were filled up with grass in bundles (*palada*), and the whole structure was held together by ties of various sorts (*nahana*, *prāṇāha*, *saṁdaṁśa*, *parishvañjalya*).⁵ It