Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c20.20

c20.20

[Figure: PILLARS IN Mandapam Vestibule 12 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 FEET SECTION IN OF THE TEMPLE PERUMAL AT [CONJEVERAM] PERSPECTIVE OF VAIKUNTHA- KANCHIPURAM A.D. 710-20. PLAN 10 5 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 FEET calculations and religious precepts. Bearing unmistakable evidences of having been dictated by a dominating hierarchy, they recall the ordinances of the Holy Tribunal which stood sentinel over the art of Spain in the mediaeval period, with the result that the artists of both countries were fettered to a prescribed formula. And as in Europe all knowledge and culture were in the hands of the Church, so in India the outlook of men's minds was controlled by priestly influence as their aesthetic productions plainly testify. It was the practice therefore for the silpas to be committed to memory by the Indian artisans, and recited by the master-mason to his staff while at work, thus constituting a technical *lingua franca*, or workshop language. Such a system is in accordance with that by which most instruction is conveyed in the east—the reiteration of passages from books, or the repetition of patterns in drawing, until the lesson becomes second nature. The silpas were designed to place in the hands of the workmen an authoritative text-book on the grammar of his art, which if faithfully followed would make failure impossible. They were also intended to be a means of preserving the inner character of the crafts, and communicating this character wherever these crafts were practised, even in the most remote localities or over the seas.