The Development of Hindu Iconography c15.35

c15.35

however, is a little roundabout in his manner of referring to the height of the image and its pedestal. Another simpler way of fixing it in relation to the shrine door is mentioned in the *Hayaśīrṣa Pañcarātra*; it says that the measure of the height of the door (shrine door) should be divided into 8 equal parts; two of these parts should constitute the height of the image and one part of it divided into three parts, the height of the pedestal, which should be neither too high nor too low.¹ It is to be noted that the surface of the pedestal should be square, its length and breadth measuring the same as the height of the image proper, according to some texts, but its height should be half the height of the image.² The above details generally apply to the *dhruva-beras* (in the case of Viṣṇu images) or *acala* variety of images (they may also be applicable to *calācala* variety).³ The *Matsyapurāṇa* distinctly says that those images which are meant for worship in the private chapels of the house-holders should never measure more than a digit of the thumb or a *vitasti* (one span) at the utmost, while those that are to be enshrined in palaces, *i.e.*, temples, should measure not more than 1/16th part of the whole height of the latter; one should make an image up to this height (this is the *uttama* or best class) or less than it (of the *madhyama*, *i.e.*, middling, or *kaniṣṭha*, *i.e.*, the lowest class) according to his means, but on no account should the image measure more than 1/16th part of the full height of the shrine.¹