Early Indian Architecture: I. Cities and City-Gates, etc.; II. Bodhi-gharas c6.3

c6.3

Coomaraswamy's preoccupation with terms and terminology and textual sources is evident from his methodology in respect of terms relating to Time in the Third Volume of our series. In this volume, the same concern is reflected in the essay on Indian architectural terms. Here, Coomaraswamy was responding to P.K. Acharya's work on Indian architecture and a Dictionary of Hindu Architecture. Coomaraswamy comments on the terms included in the Dictionary, draws attention to others not included by P.K. Acharya, and gives his own interpretation, draws attention to primary sources especially the *Mahāvaṁsa*. This essay is an excellent example of Coomaraswamy's ability for razor-sharp response, almost combativeness, as also constructive illuminating criticism. Perhaps his unpublished papers may still reveal further reflection on these terms and perhaps even reinterpretation. In this essay, it is Coomaraswamy the skilled craftsman, the lexicographer, the investigator of textual terminology that comes to the fore. For example, one can speculate how a later Coomaraswamy would have interpreted the term 'Meru'. Here, he is content to draw attention to E.B. Havell's works on the Himalayas in Indian Art. The metaphysician Coomaraswamy may well have written a whole volume on the 'Meru'.