The Hindu Temple v1.c5.s8.26

v1.c5.s8.26

In the Sthaṇḍila plan, the side length is 7 units and the number of squares is 49, the central square is for Brahmā, the zone around it has 8 squares and is assigned to the gods, the border around it has 16 squares and is assigned to men, and the outermost border of 24 squares to the Piśācas. The special significance of this distribution within the square of 7 is that it forms a geometrical progression based on the number 8 which belongs to the Maṇḍūka maṇḍala. The Padamagarbha plan has no such numerical correspondences. Cf. ‘Mānasāra’, VII. 20-21; IX. 178-180.