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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.s3: The Five Orders

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.c41.s3

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English

The Five Orders

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Like the five Græco-Roman orders, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Tuscan, and Composite, columns in ancient India also were divided into five main orders or classes. In the *Mānasāra*¹ they are called *Brahma-kānta*,² *Vishṇu-kānta*, *Rudra-kānta*, *Śiva-kānta*, and *Skanda-kānta*. These divisions are based on the general shapes of columns. With respect to dimensions and ornaments the five orders are called *Chitra-karṇa*, *Padma-kānta*, *Chitra-skambha*, *Pālikā-stambha*, and *Kumbhastambha*. A sixth variety in the latter division is pilaster and not pillar proper, and is called *Koshṭha-stambha* and *Kuḍya-stambha*.³

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¹ Chapter XV, 20–23, 31, 39, 40, 73, 204.

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² Also mentioned in *Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum*, Vol. III, p. 252, 253, *Epigraphia Indica*, XII, pp. 212, 216 verse 151.

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³ *Mānasāra*, XV, 84.

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Among the *Purāṇas*, these details are very clear only in the *Matsya-Purāṇa*. In this *Purāṇa*,⁴ as well as in the *Bṛihat-saṁhitā*,⁵ the five orders are called *Ruchaka*, *Vajra*, *Dvi-vajra*, *Pralīnaka*, and *Vṛitta*.

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⁴ *Matsya-Purāṇa*, Chap. CCLX, vv. 1–6.

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⁵ *Bṛihat-saṁhitā*, LIII, 27–30, also *J. R. A. S.* (N. S.), VI, p. 285, notes 1, 2.

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Of the *Āgamas*,⁶ the *Suprabhedāgama* contains the essential details. The names of the five orders according to this *Āgama*⁷ are *Śrī-kara*, *Chandra-kānta*, *Saumukhya*, *Priya-darśana*, and *Śubhaṅkarī*; the last one is stated to be the Indian composite order, being a compound of *Saumukhya* and *Priya-darśana*, just as the Græco-Roman composite order is a compound of Corinthian and Ionic.

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⁶ *See*, for instance, the *Kāmikāgama*, Paṭala XXXV, 24–26, 161, LV, 203, etc.

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⁷ *Suprabhedāgama*, Paṭala XXXI, 65–67.

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Between the European and the Indian columns, however, there is obviously a striking point of difference. Of the Græco-Roman orders the five names have been left unchanged, while in India the names of the five orders have varied in various treatises referred to above. It is true, all the same, that the criteria of divisions are essentially the same in the *Mānasāra*, the *Āgamas*, the *Purāṇas*, and the *Bṛihat-saṁhitā*.⁸ We have also seen above that the *Mānasāra* contains two sets of names of the five orders, one set referring, like the *Āgamas*, the *Purāṇas*, and the *Bṛihat-saṁhitā*, to the shapes of the columns, or more precisely the shafts, while the other refers mostly to the capitals. The works, other than the *Vāstu-śāstras*, as represented by the *Mānasāra*, have not kept this distinction clear. What we can reasonably infer from this as regards the mutual relation of these treatises will be further elucidated by a consideration of the component parts of the column. The question of variation of the names of the five orders in the Indian works can perhaps be explained. While in Europe the origin of the names of the five orders is traced to historical geography,¹ in India the names were based on the shapes of columns. And as the Indians are comparatively religious and poetical, rather than historical in temperament and imagination, they chose mythological and poetical names according to the spirit of the times when these various works were composed. Thus in the *Mānasāra* we see the orders bearing the names of mythological deities, Brahmā, Vishṇu, Rudra, Śiva, and Skanda; as well as called *Chitra-karṇa* (variegated ears), *Padma-kānta* (graceful like lotus), *Chitra-skambha* (of variegated shaft), *Pālikā-stambha* (edged like a measuring pot), and *Kumbha-stambha* (of jug-shaped capital); while, in the Āgama, they bear highly poetical names: *Śrī-kara* (beautifying), *Chandra-kānta* (graceful like the moon), *Saumukhya* (of very charming face), *Priya-darśana* (sight-pleasing), *Śubhaṅkarī* (auspicious). In the *Purāṇas* and the *Bṛihat-saṁhitā* they are called *Ruchaka* (beautiful, pleasing), *Vajra* (club, hence lasting), *Dvi-vajra* (doubly lasting), *Pralīnaka* (firmly attached, hence a pilaster), and *Vṛitta* (round, hence solid and dignified).

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⁸ *See* references given above, and for further details consult the writer's *Encyclopaedia*, under Stambha.

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¹ Doric is derived from the species of columns first seen in the cities of Doria (*Vitruvius*, IV, 1). That species of which the Ionians (inhabitants of Ionia) were the inventors has received the appellation of Ionic (*ibid*). Callimachus constructed columns after the model of the tomb in the country about Corinth, hence this species is called Corinthian (*ibid*). The other two orders, Tuscan and Composite, are of Italian or Roman origin. The Tuscan order has reference to the country of Tuscany, formerly called Etruria, in Italy (Gwilt, *Encyclopaedia of Architecture*, article 178).

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With regard to the names and the functions of the component parts of the column, the variation is a little less marked; but these subservient parts, called mouldings and common to all orders, vary in number. Thus in the *Mānasāra*, which of almost all the treatises deals separately and exhaustively with the pedestal, the base, and the entablature, mention is made, in connexion with the pillar, of five mouldings,² apparently of the shaft, namely, *bodhikā*, *mushṭi-bandha*, *phalakā*, *tāṭikā*, and *ghaṭa*. The *Suprabhedāgama* describes two sets of seven mouldings,¹ one set referring to the column of the main building and the other to that of the pavilion—*daṇḍa*, *maṇḍi*, *kaṇṭha*, *kumbha*, *phalakā*, *vīra-kaṇṭha*, and *potikā*; and *bodhikā*, *uttara*, *vājana*, *mūrdhikā tulā jayantī*, and *tala*. These increasing number of mouldings reached the significant number of eight in the *Matsya-Purāṇa*, the *Bṛihat-saṁhitā*, and the *Kiraṇa-tantra*, and bear the very same eight names,² to wit, *vahana*, *ghaṭa*, *padma*, *uttaroshṭha*, *bāhulya*, *bhāra* (or *hāra*), *tulā*, and *upatulā*.

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² *Mānasāra*, XLVII, 16–18.

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¹ *Suprabhedāgama*, Paṭala XXXI, 56–60, 107–108.

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² *Matsya-Purāṇa*, Chap. CCLV, 1–6f, *Bṛihat-saṁhitā*, LIII, 29–30, *Kiraṇa-tantra*, *J. R. A. S.* (N. S.), VI, 285, notes 1, 2.

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The significance of the number eight referred to above lies in the fact that the component parts of the Græco-Roman orders also are eight in number,³ and like the five orders themselves, their names are always the same ever since their introduction, though most of them have been given more than one name. They are called: (1) the ovolo, echinus, or quarter round; (2) the talon, ogée, or reversed cyma; (3) the cyma, cyma-recta, or cyma-tium; (4) the torus; (5) the scotia or trochilos; (6) the cavetto, mouth, or hollow; (7) the astragal; and (8) the fillet, listel, or annulet.

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³ See figures 867–874 and articles 2532, Gwilt, *Encyclopaedia of Architecture*, and *Glossary of Architectural Terms*, plate XXXIV.

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The *Mānasāra* refers to five mouldings; the *Suprabhedāgama* describes seven; and the *Matsya-Purāṇa*, the *Bṛihat-saṁhitā*, and *Kiraṇa-tantra* each makes mention of eight mouldings. But if the very large number of mouldings,⁴ described in the *Mānasāra* in connexion with the pedestal, the base, and the entablature, be also taken into account, the *Mānasāra* will certainly exceed all other treatises under notice. Thus in the *Mānasāra* we can detect the following mouldings⁵: (1) *abja*, *ambuja*, *padma* or *saroruha* (cyma); (2) *antara*,

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⁴ See the writer's *Encyclopaedia*, under *Upapīṭha*, *Adhishṭhāna* and *Prastara*.

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⁵ There are mouldings which bear a large number of names or synonyms, e.g.:

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(i) *Kapota*, *prastara*, *mañcha*, *prachchhādana*, *gopāna*, *vitāna*, *balabhī*, and *matta-vāraṇa*.
(ii) *Prati-prastara*, *prati-vājana*, *anvanta*, *avasāna*, *vidhāna* and *vidhānaka*.
(iii) *Prati-rūpa*, *dalākāra*, *vījana*, *vājana*, *kshepaṇa*, *vetra*, *paṭṭa*, *uttara*, *paṭṭikā*, *kampa*, *trika*, *maṇḍa*, and *antarita*.
(iv) *Tulā-daṇḍa*, *jayantī* and *phalakā*.
(v) *Kapota*, *vakra-hasta*, *lupā*, *gopānaka* and *chandra*.
(vi) *Saṁgraha*, *mushṭi-bandha*, *maddala*, *uddhṛita-hasta*, *valabhī* and *dhāraṇa*.
(vii) *Nāṭaka*, *anta*, *mṛiṇālikā*, *vallikā*, *chitrāṅga* and *kulikāṅghrika*.
(viii) *Uttara*, *vājana*, *ādhāra*, *ādheya*, *śayana*, *uddhṛita*, *mūrdhaka*, *mahātaulī* and *svavaṁśaka*

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*antarita*, *antarāla* or *antarika* (fillet) ; (3) *aṅghri* ; (4) *aṁśu* ; (5) *argala* ; (6) *ādhāra* ; (7) *āliṅga* ; (8) *āsana* ; (9) *bhadra* ; (10) *bodhikā* ; (11) *dala* ; (12) *dhārā-(kumbha)* ; (13) *gala*, *grīva*, *kaṇṭha* or *kandhara* (dado) ; (14) *ghaṭa* ; (15) *gopāna-(ka)* ; (16) *hāra* (bead) ; (17) *janman* (plinth) ; (18) *kapota* ; (19) *kampa*, *kampana* (fillet) ; (20) *karṇa* ; (21) *kumbha* ; (22) *kumuda* (torus or astragal) ; (23) *kendra* ; (24) *kshepaṇa* ; (25) *mushṭi-bandha* ; (26) *mūla* ; (27) *mṛiṇāla* or *mṛiṇālikā* ; (28) *nāṭaka* ; (29) *nāsī* ; (30) *nimna* (drip) (31) *paṭṭa* or *paṭṭikā* (fillet) ; (32) *prati* or *pratika* ; (33) *prati-vakra* ; (34) *prati-vājana* ; (35) *prati-bandha* ; (36) *pratima* ; (37) *pāduka* ; (38) *prastara* ; (39) *phalakā* ; (40) *ratna*, compounded with *kampa*, *paṭṭa*, and *vapra* ; (41) *tāṭikā* ; (42) *tuṅga* ; *uttara* (fillet) ; (44) *upāna* (plinth) ; (45) *vapra* or *vapraka* ; (46) *valabha* or *valabhī* ; and (47) *vājana* (fillet).

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There are a number of compound mouldings also, such as *kampa-karṇa*, *karṇa-padma*, *kshudra-kampa*, *kshudra-padma*, *kshepaṇāmbuja*, *mahāmbuja*, *padma-kampa*, *ratna-kampa*, *ratnapaṭṭa*, *ratna-vapra*, *vajra-paṭṭa*, etc.

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Again, of all these treatises, only the *Mānasāra* and the *Āgamas* refer to certain highly technical and purely architectural matters. Thus in the *Mānasāra* we find the measurements and other details of 64 varieties of bases divided into nineteen classes,¹ called (1) *pāda-bandha*, (2) *uraga-bandha*, (3) *prati-krama*, (4) *kumuda-bandha*, (5) *padma-kesara*, (6) *pushpa-pushkala*, (7) *śrī-bandha*, (8) *mañcha-bandha*, (9) *śreṇī-bandha*, (10) *padma-bandha*, (11) *kumbha-bandha*, (12) *vapra-bandha*, (13) *vajra-bandha*, (14) *śrī-bhoga*, (15) *ratna-bandha*, (16) *paṭṭa-bandha*, (17) *kukshi-bandha*, (18) *kampa-bandha*, and (19) *śrī-kānta*.

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¹ *Mānasāra*, XIV, 11–387. See details in the writer’s *Encyclopaedia*, under *Adhishṭhāna*.

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In the *Suprabhedāgama* only four classes² of bases are mentioned, namely, *padma-bandha*, *chāru-bandha*, *pāda-bandha*, and *prati-krama*. The *Kāmikāgama* has only the general description of the base.³

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² *Suprabhedāgama*, XXXI, 17 f.

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³ *Kāmikāgama*, XXXV, 22, 23, 114, 116, 122, LV, 202.

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In the *Mānasāra* sixteen types of pedestals are described in detail under three classes,⁴ namely, *vedi-bhadra*, *prati-bhadra*, and *mañcha-bhadra*.

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⁴ *Mānasāra*, XIII, 37–127. See details in the writer's *Encyclopaedia*, under *Upapīṭha*.

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Only scanty information of the pedestal is found in the *Kāmikāgama*,¹ the *Suprabhedāgama*,² and a Tāmil version of the *Mayamata*.³

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¹ Paṭala XXXV, 115, 122.

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² Paṭala XXXI, 12.

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³ *Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus*, Rām Rāz, pp. 23, 26.

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As regards the entablature, various mouldings and their measurements are described under eight classes in the *Mānasāra*.⁴ The *Kāmikāgama*,⁵ the *Suprabhedāgama*,⁶ and the *Vāstuvidyā*⁷ have only briefly referred to the general description of the entablature.

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⁴ Chapter XVI, 22–149. *See* details in the writer's *Encyclopaedia*, under *Prastara*.

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⁵ XXXV, 27–29, LIV, 1–4, 7-8, 9–46, 47.

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⁶ XXXI, 68–71, 72–74.

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⁷ Ed. Ganapati Śāstrī, IX, 23, 26.

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The comparative measurements of the column proper and the pedestal, the base, and the entablature, are also given in more detail in the *Mānasāra* than in the *Āgamas* and some of the architectural treatises.⁸

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⁸ *See* details in the writer's *Encyclopaedia*, under *Stambha*, *Upapīṭha*, *Adhiṣṭhāna* and *Prastara*.

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Thus in respect of the names of columns, the number of their subservient parts called mouldings, and also the base, the pedestal and the entablature, as well as their comparative measurements, the *Mānasāra* will always occupy the first place among all the treatises under observation.

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