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.s4.2

v6.c41.s4.2

The *Nāgara*, *Vesara*, and *Drāviḍa* are the three broad styles distinguished in the *Mānasāra*.¹ They are applied to both architecture² and sculpture.³ With reference to the construction of cars or chariots a fourth style is mentioned.⁴ This is called *Randhra*, which seems to be a corrupt form of *Andhra*. In an epigraphical record,⁵ *Kaliṅga* is mentioned as a distinct style of architecture. But if the identification of *Vesara* with Telugu or *Tri-Kaliṅga* be accepted, the *Kāliṅga* and the *Andhra* would be the two branches of the *Vesara* style. In the case of twelve-storeyed buildings, which are the most magnificent and imposing edifices as described, twelve special types, not necessarily the styles, of residential dwellings are also mentioned in the *Mānasāra*.⁶ All these names are geographical, implying the twelve provinces into which the then India was divided architecturally, if not also politically. And these types are distinctly based on geographical divisions, in exactly the same way as the three styles, the *Nāgara*, *Vesara* and *Drāviḍa*, as also the two branches of the *Vesara*, the *Kāliṅga* and *Āndhra*, are based. The Græco-Roman orders, on which the European styles of architecture are mainly based, are also but geographical names.¹