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) v7.c49.102

v7.c49.102

This is not the place in which to give a lengthy review of these two volumes the first of which runs to 861 pages. This book is a monument of erudition and patient industry. A man who can produce works of this order must be wholly immersed in his subjects. Existing dictionaries, in Sanskrit, English, or any other language, do not elucidate the architectural terms of a long distant past, and without such a survey as Dr. Acharya has undertaken there could be no proper appreciation of the ancient genius. The texts of the *Vāstu-śāstra* have, as the author stated in his preface, been waiting for hundreds of years to be unearthed from manuscripts which are quite inaccessible without the guidance of a special dictionary. This is the task to which the author has addressed himself, and those who are competent to express an opinion will agree that he has brought to light new things hitherto left unexplained in inscriptions and general literature.