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.s9.67

v6.c40.s9.67

Doors are furnished with 'door-posts and lintel, with hollows like a mortar for the door to revolve in, with projections to revolve in those hollows, with rings on the door for the bolt to work along in, with a block of wood fixed into the edge of the door-post, and containing a cavity for the bolt to go into (called the monkey's head), with a pin to secure the bolt by, with a connecting bolt, with a key-hole, with a hole for a string with which the door may be closed, and with a string for that purpose.'³ The windows are stated to be of three kinds according as they are made with railings, lattices, and slips of wood.⁴ The shutters are adjustable and can be closed or opened whenever required.⁵ Five kinds of roofing are mentioned—brick-roofing, stone-roofing, cement-roofing, straw-roofing, and roofing of leaves.⁶ The roof is first covered over with skins and plastered within and without ; then follow whitewash, blocking, red-colouring, wreath-work and creeper-work.¹ 'The floors were of earth, not of wood, and were restored from time to time by fresh clay or dry cowdung being laid down, and then covered with a whitewash in which sometimes black or red was mixed. From the parallel passage in *Mahāvagga* (I, 25, 15) and *Chullavagga* (VIII, 3, 1), it would seem that the red colouring was used rather for walls, and the black one for floors.'² It appears, however, that with a view to removing the dampness, gravel was spread over the floor.³