Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c20.16

c20.16

What the guilds did for the practice, the other institution, the *silpas* professed to do for the theory. In their more comprehensive form, the *silpas* were a vast and erudite compilation of canons for guidance in all spheres of human activity, one important section of which, however, concerns itself with aesthetics. At an early date some such regulations appear to have existed in a literary form, as mention is made of them in the *Brahmajala Sutta* of the *Digha Nikaya* or "Dialogues of the Buddha," of probably the fifth century B.C. Later, these ancient aphorisms were codified into the silpas, extracts from which have been preserved textually and may date from the sixth century A.D. There are books, mostly in Sanscrit, professing to be transcripts of portions of this immense work, copies of which were widely distributed, as they have been found in the lamaseries of Tibet, and also in Nepal. In the section on Aesthetics the three forms of artistic expression are dealt with, namely Sculpture, Painting and Architecture. That portion relating to the building art, the *Vastuvidya*, or "Rules of Architecture (*vastu*)" contains detailed directions for the proper construction of every kind of building, religious and secular, and includes an imposing array of technical rules of proportion and recondite prescriptions, with a fund of astronomical [Figure: Fig 1 Mahishasur Mandapa , c 650 A D]