The Hindu Temple v1.c5.s2.61

v1.c5.s2.61

⁴⁵ The Yoni formula is but one of six formulæ, the Āyādi-Ṣaḍvarga, in which the remainder determines the gain or loss which will accrue to the builder, the Nakṣatra (ṛkṣa), the lunar day (tithi) and the solar day (vāra) on which it is good to build that particular building. These formulæ belong to astrology in general; they are applied to the building as though it is a living entity whose destiny is to be determined. It is however only their cumulative bad effect which makes any perimeter inauspicious once the Yoni formula is satisfied. (V. K. R. Menon, ‘6 Canons of Indian Architecture’, ‘Bulletin of the Sri Rama Varma Research Institute’, 1934, pp. 67-77). The formulæ are not ‘canons’. See ‘Mānasāra’, XXX. 168-194, etc. and P. K. Acharya, ‘A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture’, pp. 600-611. The Yoni and the other five formulæ are considered when no other, definite injunction is given where the temple of a specified divinity has to face, etc. (see Part VII). The power of the specific divinity and its appropriate orientation outweigh the Āyādiṣaḍvarga.