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.s7.31
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.s7.31
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v6.c40.s7.31
The symbolism of these *śmaśāna* structures might have been derived from the civic and sacrificial Vedic *drupadas* (posts)³ to which offenders and sacrificial victims were bound. ‘The Buddhistic monolithic pillars erected beside the relic-*stūpas* and on the highways and public thoroughfares is probably the developed form of such memorial *śaṅkus*. This is sufficient explanation of the Asokan pillars, and a theory of their Persepolitan origin is unnecessary.’¹