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.c49.65

v7.c49.65

**Dr. Kalidas Nag**, m.a., d.litt.—While Hindu Painting and Decorative art were hovering between hope and despair as to the chance of gaining *occidental* recognition (the only recognition that carried weight !) Hindu architecture attracted the notice of all experts by its undeniable grandeur and originality. Ever since the publication of the *Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus* by Ram Raz, published in London (1834), there was a steady increase in the appreciation of the Hindu style and of the stone epics of India. The monumental studies of Rajendralal Mitra on Orissan architecture, followed by the work of Manomohan Ganguli, have demonstrated that the interest in the subject was growing. The enormous documentation of Cunningham, Burgess, and others of the Archaeological survey challenged the attention of artists and archaeologists all over the world. But the indigenous tradition of India with regard to the science and art of Architecture did not receive the serious examination long overdue, before Dr. Acharya came forward to devote years of his academic studies to the elucidation of the problems of the Hindu *Śilpa-śāstras*. Accidentally coming across a copy of *Māna-sāra* he plunged deeper and deeper into the intricacies of Hindu constructional science : the more baffling were the problems of the texts preserved in the 'most barbarous Sanskrit,' the more intense became his zeal which ultimately led to the development of this splendid *Dictionary*--the first of its kind--of Hindu architecture. Thanks to the comprehensiveness of Hindu masters of the science, Architecture in the work has been treated in its broadcast sense, implying practically everything that is constructed,--from buildings religious and secular to town-planning, laying out of gardens, making of roads, bridges, tanks, drains, moats, etc., as well as the furniture and conveyances. Thus the *Dictionary* of Dr. Acharya gives us for the first time in a handy volume a rich vocabulary hitherto unknown or only vaguely known. Dr. Acharya has earned the permanent gratitude of all Indologists by collating and collecting not only manuscripts (largely unpublished) but also the epigraphic data scattered in the bewildering documents of Indian inscriptions which have given a sureness of touch and a precision of connotation that are admirable. Dr. Acharya has spared no pains to put the meaning of the terms as much beyond doubt as possible, for he has placed the terms invariably in their organic context by quoting *in extenso* from the generally inaccessible texts. Thus the *Dictionary* will not only react in a wholesome way on our accepted notions of Hindu art and archaeology but also on the future compilation of a comparative lexicon of the Hindu technical terms--our future *Paribhāshendu-śekhara*.