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.c41.s15.39

v6.c41.s15.39

‘The same remarks apply to their civic buildings: palaces and porticos, and even dwelling-houses, are all as rich as carving and gilding and painting can make them; but, as in the pagodas, it is overdone and fails to please, because it verges on vulgarity.’ Being in despair of the future even, Fergusson concludes that ‘the new civilization is not indigenous, but an importation. The men of progress wear hats, the ladies French gowns, and they build palaces with Corinthian porticos and sash-windows.’ He truly deplores the similar state of affairs in India when he says, ‘it is the sort of civilization that is found in the bāzār in Calcutta, and it is not desirable, in an architectural point of view, at all events, if, indeed, it is so in any other respect.’¹