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.c42.s1.66

v6.c42.s1.66

It seems to be quite an accidental coincidence that this magnificent work on the *Mānasāra* should have been brought out almost at the centenary of its first notice in the *Journal of the Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland* by Rama Raz, the talented pioneer in this field of work. Rama Raz was a typical product of the nineteenth century, and his work, practically the last one, as he died before the work was actually out, had to be brought out, such as it was, under disadvantages and difficulties that he had to overcome, quite comparable to those that Professor Acharya had actually to surmount. Rama Raz's notice was based upon the few scattered chapters, and from a few manuscripts collected from here and there, and put together not by any successful effort at translation, but by what could more or less be guessed at by references to living workmen and extant buildings, with such assistance as could be got from *pandits* whose knowledge of the science was by no means profound. Having regard to the disadvantage under which this first work was published, it must be regarded as a very creditable performance, even from the vantage point of our possession of the whole text and the far superior equipment that we have for understanding and appreciating the work as a whole.