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The Hindu Temple v1.c9.s9: The Proportions of South Indian Temples

The Hindu Temple v1.c9.s9

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The Proportions of South Indian Temples

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The pure proportions of the earlier texts are, it has been shown, modified later. A large body of Vāstuśāstras, moreover, which belongs to South India, testifies to a further departure from the correspondence between the proportions of the plan and the elevation of the temple. None of the known sources of South Indian architecture is as ancient as the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’.⁵⁴ In the ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’, compiled between the ninth and eleventh centuries, is the key to the complexities of the proportions of the South Indian temples. They correspond to the complex nature of these types of temples.

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⁵⁴ The relatively earlier datable sources as yet known are the ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’ and the ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’; the latter gives two chapters to the Drāviḍa-prāsāda, while the former deals with the architecture of the Drāviḍa-prāsāda only to the exclusion of other types. The ‘Vaikhānasāgama’ is probably earlier and, on the whole, has been assigned a date not later than the eighth century A.D. Its author is Marīci; the architectural terms (śikhara, etc.) have their definite South Indian connotation.—The ‘Kāmikāgama’ appears to be later than the ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’ or of the same age.

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Size, in a South Indian temple is more than a quantity. The different classes of the South Indian temples are distinguished partly by their size which in turn is connected with the simplicity or the complexity of their types. The simplest or one storeyed small temple (alpa-prāsāda) has for its superstructure but another yet smaller shrine, complete with its perpendicular walls and cupola (Fig. e, on p. 185). The larger temples with many storeys show this superstructural temple raised to the top floor (Figs. f-h), 16 floors being the maximum number, whereas each one of the lower storeys has its parapet of chapels. In brief, the distinctions are not only between the Small Shrines (alpa-prāsāda) and the large, Main Temples (mukhya-prāsāda) but also and even more important, between the Alpa-prāsādas and the Jāti Vimānas. Jāti means not only a special class (Jāti) of temples; a Jāti temple is a ‘collective temple’ which carries on its perpendicular walls the various classes of the shrines of the parapet. It is their ‘common denominator’.⁵⁵ The 20 Main Temples (mukhya-prāsāda) dedicated to Śiva, Brahmā and Viṣṇu—are foremost amongst the Jāti Vimānas. Second in the hierarchy of the Jāti Vimānas come the 32 Jātitara Prāsādas, dedicated to all the gods, and these are followed by the Jāti Vimānas of which twelve are for (worship by) Brāhmaṇas, 24 for Kṣatryas (kings) and 8 for Vaiśyas and Śūdras.

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⁵⁵ The rendering of the architectural term ‘Jāti Prāsāda’ as ‘collective temple’ is based on the meaning of Jāti: “reduction of fractions to a common denominator”.

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The Alpa or Kṣudra-vimānas, the small shrines, are described as having from one to three or four storeys (Ī.P. III. Ch. XXX. 18-21; 54-60). Their width ranges from 3 to 10 cubits (hasta). They have an inner ambulatory (madhya-nāḍikā) between double walls, or are with one set of walls only. In the latter instance the area of the Garbhagṛha has 64 squares, while the former it has 81; by the preservation of these numbers the South Indian temples prove themselves built on the Vāstu-maṇḍala. The walls are relatively much thinner than in the temples of Chart I. Instead of having a thickness of 1/4 to 1/6th of the width of the Prāsāda or of the Mūlasūtra they are assigned an eighth, ninth or tenth part only; or in a Sāndhāra shrine, the thickness of the outer wall is 1/6th of the width of the Prāsāda, that of the inner wall 1/8th of the width of the Garbhagṛha ('Śilparatna', XX, 1-3). The proportions of the plan thus form a geometrical series when there are double walls; they form no series at all in the temple without ambulatory; which judging from the proportions of its plan is an afterthought introduced for the sake of the completeness of the 'small temple'.

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The vertical proportions are meted out with reference to the height. It is a principle of the South Indian proportions that the total height of the temple is subdivided into a certain number of parts; each of these again is subdivided; the latter divisions are not directly referable to the division of the ground plan although the height itself is expressed in terms of the Mānasūtra.⁵⁶

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⁵⁶ This applies also to the proportions of the wall or pillar and door. Their total height is commensurate to their width. The pillar is higher than the door by 1/7th, 1/8th or 1/9th of its own height and the width of the door remains, as in the earliest texts, half of its own height ('Śilparatna' XXII. 3). See note 10, Part VII.

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The height is twice the width of an Alpa Prāsāda; being divided into 8 parts, four are assigned to the perpendicular walls and 4 to the superstructure; each of these main divisions of the Small Temple is subdivided three-fold, the perpendicular wall into its socle (adhiṣṭhāna), 'pillar' or wall surface proper (stambha) and entablature (prastara); the superstructure of the one-storeyed Alpa-prāsāda analogously has the following three parts: its Neck (kaṇṭha); the Śikhara; and the Stūpi, above the Śikhara.⁵⁷ These 6 portions follow in the vertical direction the rhythm 1:2:1; 1:2:1, this is how the 8 parts of the height are meted out.

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⁵⁷ The (solid) dome shaped roof or cupola is called Śikhara in South Indian Vāstuśāstra (I.P. IV. XXXII. 67-68). Eight kinds of Śikharas are distinguished according to their section (śiraśchanda) or 'plan': square, rectangular, circular, elliptical, of Śalā-shape, the 6 sided and the 16 sided ('caturaśra, āyataśra, vṛtta, vṛttāyata, śalākāra, ṣaḍaśra, aṣṭāśra, ṣoḍaśāśra'). These Śikharas, moreover, fall into seven different classes according to their relative height. The names of these seven classes are: Kāliṅga, Kāśya, Vārāṭa, Ullaka, Sauṇḍika, Kāśmīra and Gāṅgeya (verse 71). The 'Mayamata', XVIII. 8-10, too knows 8 classes of these Śikharas and gives the proportionate height as 2/5, 3/7, 4/9, 5/11, 6/13, 7/15, 8/17, and 1/2 of the width of the chapel. Kaṇṭha (neck) stands for 'bhitti', the wall of each; the generally accepted height of the cupola or Śikhara being 1/2 of the width of the chapel. The respective names of the 8 classes are in the 'Mayamata': Pāñcāla, Vaideha, Māgadha, Kaurava, Kausala, Śaurasena, Gāndhāra and Āvantika. These, however, are names of the Lupās (rafters) in the I.P.; whereas the names of the eight classes of the Lupās in the 'Mayamata' are: 'Vyāmiśra, Kāliṅga, Kauśika, Varāṭa, Drāviḍa, Barbara, Kollaka and Sauṇḍika (XVIII. 13-14). These names refer to countries and seem to suggest that the various proportions of the dome originated in the various parts of India. Their series however are interchanged in the two texts, with those of the rafters (lupā). The name Varāṭa is common to both the texts, Drāviḍa occurs in the 'Mayamata' only. The various proportionate heights from 2/5 to 1/2 are named after regions of India from Kashmir in the North-west to Kaliṅga (Orissa) in the East. Varāṭa (Berar) as the name of a region is familiar to Vāstuśāstra. The naming and classification of certain properties of the dome-shape after various parts of India is a characteristic of South Indian texts; cf. chapter on 'Nāgara, Drāviḍa, Vesara'.

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The triple sub-division is absent from the majority of the proportions of Chart I. The socle there is not specifically assigned a definite height.⁵⁸

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The triple division of the perpendicular portion is necessary in view of the special kind of superstructure which is a complete shrine; its walls now form the neck (grīvā) of the Sikhara, its dome shaped roof, on which is placed the finial (stūpi).

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Alpa-Vimāna acc. to ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’ Pt. III. ch. XXX. 54-59.

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| | | A without ambulatory | B with ambulatory |
| Proportions of the Plan | Width of the Vimāna (mānasūtra) Width of the Garbhagṛha ... Thickness of wall ... ... Thickness of outer wall ... Width of ambulatory (madhyanāḍikā) ... ... | W = 10x 4/5W = 8x W/10 = x | W = 9x W/3 = 3x W/9 = x do. do. |
| Proportions Vertical measures | Height of socle (adhiṣṭhāna) ... Pillar (stambha) or wall ... Entablature (prastara) ... Neck (kaṇṭha) ... ... ... Śikhara . . . . . Stūpi . . . . . | W/4 = 5x/2 W/2 = 5x W/4 = 5x/2 W/4 W/2 W/4 | W/4 = 9x/4 1 part W/2 = 9x/2 2 W/4 = 9x/4 1 W/4 1 W/2 2 W/4 1 |
| Height of Vimāna | | 2W = 20x | 2W = 18x 8 parts |

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According to their size, there are 3 varieties of ‘small shrines’. The foremost has indeed a height twice its width, whereas the height of the lesser varieties is given as 1 6/7 W or 1½ W for the mean and the least kind (verses 52-53, ib.).

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The width of the Garbhagṛha in a one storeyed temple is given in the ‘Vaikhānasāgama’ as 3/5, 4/7, 5/9, 6/11, 7/13, 8/15 or 9/17 of the width of the Prāsāda. The ‘Kāśyapaśilpa’, XXVII, adds 1/3 or 1/2 to these possible proportions (slightly modified) and the ‘Mānasāra’ also follows them closely.

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Śikhara is the name of the dome shape, whether it crowns the High Temple (Harmya) of the Alpa-Vimāna, Jāti-Vimāna, or of any of the Anukāya-aṅgas (kūṭa, koṣṭha, etc.) of the latter. The ‘Mayamata’, XVIII. 16 enumerates, in addition to the shapes of the cupola in the I.P., the following: the 12 sided; the ripe Āmalaka shape; the lotus bud shape, and the globular dome. Cf. also ‘Śilparatna’, XXXII. 1—17, for further specifications about the proportionate height of the Śikhara.

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⁵⁸ In Orissa, Pābhāga is the name of the lowermost zone of the wall (vedikā) with its horizontal mouldings; they have their specific names (‘kumbha, kalaśa’, etc.); also in the temples of Gujarat. Pābhāga, Jaṅghā and Baraṇḍi (‘Canons of Orissan Architecture’, op. cit. pp. 98-99), in the Orissan temple correspond in their proportions to those of the Adhiṣṭhāna, Stambha and Prastara of the South Indian Alpa-prāsāda. With the addition of the Pīṭha, the actual socle, in an Orissan temple, however, the proportion changes from 1:2:1 to 2:2:1. Re. the Pīṭha and Vedibandha, the socle and the series of mouldings at the bottom of the wall, see notes 40 and 41.

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The level of the floor of the Adhiṣṭhāna is either where the Jaṅghā starts from or at a lower level where the mouldings of the Prati are: (cf. Mallayya, Studies, op. cit., JAU., X. p 113; commenting on T.S. I. 11. 17). This would be suitable in an Alpa-prāsāda.

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The ideal height and proportions of an Alpa-prāsāda are given in the ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’. The modifications of these perfect proportions are also classified. Five possible kinds of proportionate measurement are generally admitted in the South Indian texts. The height of the temple is divided into a certain number of parts and these are assigned to the base, wall and entablature, and to the three parts of the High Temple or the superstructure. In Alpa-prāsādas, the height is divided into 6 or 8 parts, but also into 9, 10, 11 or 12 parts;⁵⁹ these are variously assigned to the four or six main horizontal divisions of the temple; each variety is given a name of its own, as shown in the chart below. A divergence from the perfect type, “at peace” in its proportions (Śāntika), is, it appears, the rule. The superstructure, moreover, in three out of the five varieties exceeds in height the lower ‘half’ of the building.

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⁵⁹ The height is subdivided in each of the above classes in a certain number of parts. The number of these divisions is the greater the more storeys the Prāsāda has.

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The vertical proportions of one-storeyed South Indian Temples or Alpa-Vimānas, acc. to ‘Vaikhānāśagama’, VI.

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| Number of equal divisions of the height | The Peaceful: Śāntika 6 8 | The Successful: Pauṣṭika 9 | The Joygiver: Jayada 10 | The Super-natural: Adbhuta 11 | The All-Desired: Sarvakāmika 12 |
| | H=1 3/7W | H=1½W | H=1¼W | H=2W | H=2½W |
| Adhiṣṭhāna ... | 1 1 | 1 | 1 | 1¼ | 1¼ |
| Stambha ... | 2 2 | 2½ | 2½ | 2½ | 2½ |
| Prastara ... | 1 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1¼ |
| Kaṇṭha ... | 1 | 1¼ | 1½ | 1½ | 2¼ |
| Śikhara ... | 2 2 | 2¼ | 3 | 3½ | 2¼ |
| Stūpi ... | 1 1 | 1 | 1 | 1¼ | 1 |
| Vargas⁶⁰ ... | 4 6 | | | | |

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⁶⁰ Instead of the—in a Drāviḍa building (‘Kāmikāgama’, XLIX. 13)—usual six major sections (varga) the ‘least’ shrines have only four sections (varga).—The ratios (‘Kāmikāgama’, ch. XLIX, 80-88), differ considerably from those of the ‘Vaikhānāśagama’.

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The ‘Vaikhānāśagama’ allows from 1 3/7 to 2 ⅛ the width as the height of the Prāsāda. The height of a South Indian temple does not, as a rule, exceed the double of the width of the Prāsāda: this refers to small shrines whereas in large temples the height, as a rule, is 1 3/7 only of the Mānasūtra (‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’) or it is equal to the diagonal of the square of the Mānasūtra. The latter proportion is given in the ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’.

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In later Vāstu-śāstras, the proportions remain basically the same but further variations are conceded. The ‘Kāśyapaśilpa’, XXVII, 14 f, divides the height either into 8, 9 and 10 or also into 7, 15 and 16 equal parts and has three different proportions when the height is divided into 9 parts. Two of these are: 1, 2½, 1, 1¼, 2¼, 1;—as also in the ‘Vaikhānāśagama’—and the other: 1, 2, 1, 1½, 2½, 1.

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The ‘Mānasāra’ XIX, also divides the height into 8, 10 and 12 parts, but also into 14, 16 and 32 parts.

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The generally five-fold classification of the South Indian temples according to their proportionate height applies not only to the Alpa-prāsādas, but also to the Jāti (and Mukhya) Vimānas. While the height of the largest temples (Mukhya Prāsāda) is generally 1 3/7 parts of its width or equal to the diagonal of the square (kṣetra) of the Prāsāda, there are several further variations, and their nomenclature is not always the same in the different texts of which some are listed below.

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The Proportion of Height and Width of a Drāviḍa Temple.

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| | Vaikhānasa-āgama VI. | Īśanaśivagurudevapaddhati, IV. XXXI. | Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra. | Mayamata XI. 8-9. | Kāśyapaśilpa XXIV. 5-6. | Mānasāra XXXV. 21-25. | Śilparatna XVI. 7-9. Mayamata XIX. 2. |
| Śāntika ... | H=1 3/7W | H=1 3/7W | | 1 3/7 | 1 4/5 | H= W | 1 3/7 |
| Pauṣṭika ... | H=1 1/2W | H=1 5/7W | | 1 3/6 | 1 5/6 | H=1¼W | 1 1/2 |
| Jayada ... | H=1 3/4W | H=1 6/7W | H=W√2 | 1 3/5 | 1 6/7 | H=1½W | 1 3/4 |
| Sarvakāmika ... | H=2 1/7W | | | 1 3/4 | 2 1/8 | H=1¾W | W |
| Adbhuta ... | H=2W | H=2W | | 2W | 2W | H=2 W | 2W |
| Abhicāra ... | | | | | | | 3/4W |

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The Jāti-Vimānas too, can be relatively small temples, their width ranging from 7 to 23 Hastas; (Ī.P. III. Ch. XXX. 13-14). They are however more than double the size of the Kṣudra or Alpa-prāsāda : these measure from 3 to 10 Hastas only.

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Jāti-Vimānas are those which have for their parapet and later for their ‘enrichment’ or completeness only, a row consisting of various miniature shrines, surrounding, as a rule, each of their several storeys. The fully evolved South Indian temple may best be designated as “Jāti” or “Collective” Vimāna; the Mukhya Prāsāda comprises the largest temples; they too are Jāti-Vimānas in their composition (Fig. h; Part VI).

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The Jāti Vimānas, as a rule, top the list of four classes of temples, called Jāti, Chanda, Vikalpa and Ābhāsa.⁶¹ These four classes differ in the selection and the

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⁶¹ The Ī.P., III. ch. XXX. 1-18, assigns a definite number of storeys and width to each class:

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| | Storeys | Width in hastas |
| Jāti - Vimāna | 3—12 | 15—70 or also 7—23 |
| Chanda ” | 5—12 | 17—63 |
| Vikalpa ” | 5—12 | 13—55 |
| Ābhāsa ” | 4—12 | 11—47 |
| Mukhya Prāsāda | 3—12 | 13—68 |
| Alpa Vimāna | 1— 4 | 3—10 |

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arrangement of the miniature chapels and they are also prescribed to be each of definite height. These distinctions however are secondary, all the four classes being Jāti Vimānas in principle.

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The height of the Collective or Jāti Vimānas (Sarvajāti) is severally given as twice the width whereas the Main (Mukhya) temples differ from the Jāti Vimānas inasmuch as their height is only 1 3/7 of their respective width. The largest of these Main temples (Mukhya-prāsāda) in its maximum width has 70 hastas; the height of this 12 storeyed temple is 100 cubits.⁶²

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⁶² 68 Hastas is the mean width of this largest Mukhya Prāsāda.

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The Jāti-Prāsāda has its plan laid out with the help of the Māna and Vinyāsa-sūtras. Along the Mānasūtra, the width of the Garbhagṛha measures from 1/3 to ½ and more of the width of the Prāsāda. On the Vinyāsa-sūtras and to the Paryanta-sūtra the various buttresses project evenly and but little; only the central pier steps forth more boldly; the perpendicular walls of the Prāsāda, the prism or ‘cube’ which they form, is not impaired by these offsets; the many varied patterns of the plan and of the rhythms of the wall to which the northern Indian method led, are not part of the severe stereometry of the South Indian structure. (Fig. h on p. 187 and Fig., p. 257).

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The buttresses of the Jāti-prāsāda are named after the respective miniature shrines (Kūṭa, Koṣṭha, Pañjara, etc.) placed above them in the superstructure of the temple. Buttress and recess (salilāntara; harāntara) alternate and never does one offset project from another; the stereometry of the South Indian temple, its nearness to the ‘cube’ and the pyramid, are maintained by the discipline of these its ‘lesser limbs’ (anukāya).⁶³

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⁶³ The graded planes of the perimeter, of the temples to the north of the Drāviḍa country, are unknown there. In South India, a stereometric architectural body carries representational sculptures, whereas the other temples show a gradual conversion of monumental sculpture into its carved surfaces.

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The method of proportionate measurement of the South Indian Prāsāda comprises : A, (1) the proportions along the Mānasūtra, or the co-ordinates, (2) those between the Vinyāsasūtras in the first or ground floor and (3) in each of the subsequent storeys; all of these referring to the Talacchanda, or the rhythms of the floor and : B, the height which is divided into a certain number of parts. The 4-storeyed temple may be taken as representative of the method which also applies to the most ambitious, the 16 storeyed temple, whose width (mānasūtra) is divided into 34 and whose height is divided into 202 parts.

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A one storeyed building, however, should have a width of 3, 5, 7, or 9 hastas. A two-storeyed building of 12 or 13 hastas and a three storeyed building of 15 or 17 hastas. With every storey above that, the width of the building should be increased by 5 hastas (III. XXX. 49-52). This is the general rule.

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The difference between Jāti, Chanda, Vikalpa and Ābhāsa in the selection and arrangement of the miniature shrines Kūṭa, Koṣṭha, Pañjara, etc., is formulated in I.P. The ‘Kāmikāgama’, XLV. 7; 19-20; etc.; ‘Mayamata’, XXII. 77 f. Jāti, Chanda, etc., in the ‘Mānāsāra’, XI. 103-4; XXX. 174-5, etc., do not refer to the varieties of architectural shapes but denote various measurements only.

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A. "Rhythm of the Floors" of a 4 storeyed South Indian Temple according to 'Kāśyapaśilpa', XXX.⁶⁴

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⁶⁴ Vocabulary: Gṛha-piṇḍi, Ālinda and Hara are 'enclosures' of the Garbhagṛha; their width is given. They correspond to the inner wall, ambulatory and outer wall respectively. Karṇakūṭa is the Kūṭa near the corner, the chapel with a square plan. Pañjara is another kind of chapel; Harāntara are the recesses intervening between the chapels; Koṣṭha is the rectangular chapel in the centre. Adhiṣṭhāna and Tala are synonyms for socle or base; Mañca and Prastara for entablature which here combines the role of 'socle' of the higher floor and 'entablature' of the lower floor; Caraṇa and Talipa for pillar; Kaṇṭha and Gala for neck; Śīrṣaka and Śikhara for cupola and Stūpi as well as Sikhā for finial. The Paryanta-sūtra is not explicitly given in the 'Kāśyapaśilpa'.

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I. According to a division of the co-ordinates of the ground floor :

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| I. Mānasūtra | .. 12 | Garbhagṛha | .. 6 | Gṛhapiṇḍi* | .. 1 | Ālinda* | .. 1 | Hara*⁶⁵ | .. 1 |

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⁶⁵ The asterisk indicates that the respective parts of the building are symmetrical and have to be counted twice—the Gṛhapiṇḍi, etc.—to either side of the Garbhagṛha; the Karṇakūṭa, etc. to either side of the Koṣṭha. The numbers given against each length are those of the parts into which the Mānasūtra is divided.

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II. According to a division of the sides of each floor : by Vinyāsasūtras :

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| 1st Floor | .. 8 | Karṇakūṭa* | .. 1 | Pañjara* | .. 1 | Koṣṭha | .. 2 | Harāntara*: the rest |
| 2nd Floor | .. 8 | " | .. 1 | " | .. 1 | " | .. 2 | " |
| 3rd Floor | .. 6 | " | .. 1 | " | .. 1 | " | .. 1 | " |
| 4th Floor | .. 3 | " | .. 1 | " | .. 1 | " | .. 1 | " |

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The Mānasūtra, i.e. the co-ordinates of the square plan of the Prāsāda being divided here into 12 parts, the width of the Garbhagṛha is half of it, or 6 parts, its wall (gṛhapiṇḍi) has a thickness of one part; this is also the width of the inner ambulatory (ālinda); the outer wall (hara) has also a thickness of one part.

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The width of the Prāsāda is thus 12 parts; for the purpose of allotting to the piers or buttresses their proportionate part of the width of the Prāsāda the latter is now divided by the Vinyāsasūtras into 8 parts of which the buttress at the corner occupies 1 part, the 2nd buttress also 1 part and the one in the middle of the building has 2 parts. Their names are those of the type of the chapel of the superstructure; placed on top of each pier respectively; the Karṇakūṭa at the corner, etc. (cf. Fig. h where however further elaborations of the Anukāyas are to be seen).

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The reduction in width of the floors (bhūmi) of the superstructure is given by means of the Vinyāsasūtras.

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Similarly, the successive floors of the temples with a larger number of storeys are divided each into equal parts decreasing for example, by one part in a 10-storeyed temple, from 14 parts of the ground floor to 3 parts of the top floor; and by 2 parts in a 16 storeyed building, from 32 parts of the ground floor to 4 parts of the sixteenth floor.

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B. "Rhythms of the Elevation" of a 4 storeyed South Indian Temple.⁶⁶ acc. to 'Kāśyapaśilpa'.

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⁶⁶ The further sets of rhythms with the Māna and Paryantasūtra, each of 10 or 9 parts respectively, are given in XXX. 36 f.

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| | | Śāntika Prāsāda Height : 39 parts | | Pauṣṭika : H : 42 parts | Jayada : H : 50 parts | Adbhuta : H : 50 parts | Sarva-kāmika : H : 50 parts |
| Ground floor | Adhiṣṭhāna .. | 2½ | Tala | 3 | 3½ | 3½ | 3½ |
| | Pillar .. | 5 | | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| | Mañca .. | 2½ | Prastara | 3 | 3 | 3½ | 3 |
| 2nd floor | Caraṇa .. | 4¾ | Talipa | 5 | 6 | 6½ | 6½ |
| | Mañca .. | 2½ | Prastara | 3 | 3 | 3¼ | 3 |
| 3rd floor | Caraṇa .. | 4¼ | Talipa | 4½ | 6 | 6 | 6½ |
| | Prastara .. | 2 | Mañca | 2½ | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 4th floor | Caraṇa .. | 4¼ | | 4½ | 5½ | 5½ | 5½ |
| | Mañca .. | 2½ | | 2 | 3½ | 2½ | 2¾ |
| The Crowning | Vedikā .. | 1 | | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| parts | Kaṇṭha .. | 2 | | 1½ | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| | Śirṣaka .. | 4½ | | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| The Finial | Stūpi .. | 2 | | 2 | 1½ | 2¼ | 1 |

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Whereas, it has been stated already, the height of the Great Temples is 1 3/7 of their width in the 'Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati', it is the diagonal (karṇa) of the square of the plan in the 'Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra' (LXII. 1) where the various Bhūmis are expressed as parts of the height or the diagonal (S.S. LXII. 207. 212). The several storeys are divided into horizontal strata (stara). In a seven-storeyed temple for example, each storey having (a) its socle (pīṭha) or the corresponding lower part of the wall (vedi); (b) its pillar or wall space proper (jaṅghā); and (c) entablature parapet (kūṭaprastara), the respective height of each of the seven storeys is 9½, 7½, 6½, 5¾, 4¼, 4, 3, successively to which are added the cornice of the shoulder course (kapota), etc.; and the 'bell' (ghaṇṭā) or dome-shape, etc. The width of the seven-storeyed temple is given as 35 Hastas.

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Vertical Proportions of a 7 Storeyed Temple according to 'Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra', LXII. 183-191.

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| First Floor : | Pīṭha .. | .. | .. | .. | 3 | Hastas |
| | Jaṅghā .. | .. | .. | .. | 5 | " |
| | Kūṭaprastara .. | .. | .. | .. | 1½ | " |
| Second Floor : | Vedikābandha .. | .. | .. | .. | 2 | " |
| | 2nd Jaṅghā .. | .. | .. | .. | 4 | " |
| | Kūṭaprastara .. | .. | .. | .. | 1½ | " |
| Third Floor : | Vedi .. | .. | .. | .. | 1½ | " |
| | 3rd Jaṅghā .. | .. | .. | .. | 3½ | " |
| | Kūṭaprastara .. | .. | .. | .. | 1½ | " |

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| Fourth Floor : | Vedi | .. | .. | .. | 1¼ Hastas |
| | 4th Jaṅghā | .. | .. | .. | 3 " |
| | Kūtaprastara | .. | .. | .. | 1½ " |
| Fifth Floor : | Vedikābandha | .. | .. | .. | 1 " |
| | 5th Jaṅghā | .. | .. | .. | 2 " |
| | Kūtaprastara | .. | .. | .. | 1¼ " |
| Sixth Floor : | Vedikā | .. | .. | .. | 1 " |
| | 6th Jaṅghā | .. | .. | .. | 1¾ " |
| | Kūta | .. | .. | .. | 1¼ " |
| Seventh Floor : | Vedi | .. | .. | .. | ½ " |
| | 7th Jaṅghā | .. | .. | .. | 1½ " |
| | Kūtaprastara | .. | .. | .. | 1 " |
| | Kapota | .. | .. | .. | 3 " |
| | Ghaṇṭā with Padma and Śirṣa | .. | 5½ " | | |
| | The Total Height is | .. | .. | 49 Hastas | |

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In a Prāsāda with the maximum number of 12 storeys their decrease in height is however differently spaced and this holds good also for each of the Prāsādas with a different number of storeys. The width of a 12 storeyed temple being given as 67 Hastas in the ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’ its height is given as 95 Hastas, of which the successive storeys have 14, 11, 10½, 10, 8½ 7½, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2½ Hastas; and the High Temple with its cupola or Śikhara—here called Ghaṇṭā, the bell shape—with a height of 2 and 4 Hastas respectively make up the approximate length of the diagonal of the square of the Prāsāda, which is 67 Hastas wide. The successive decrease of these pragmatic proportions does not yield any series.

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Gaṇya-māna, the proportionate vertical measurement of the height of the temple and of its component parts (‘Mānasāra’, XXVII. 35) is elaborated in South Indian Vāstuśāstras. The several component parts, analogous to the height of the temple, are subdivided each into a number of sub-sections, strata or mouldings; entire chapters, in the various texts, treat for example of the sub-divisions and proportions of the Ādyaṅgā, the socle (adhiṣṭhāna) only. Whereas eight varieties of the socle, according to its profiles and their proportions, are recorded in the ‘Vaikhānāśāgama’, VI, five varieties only are given in the ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’, LXI, fourteen varieties are described in the ‘Mayamata’ XIV. 38, and ‘Śilparatna’, XIX. 1, twenty-two in the ‘Kāśyapaśilpa’ and sixty-four different kinds of Adhiṣṭhāna under 19 classes in the ‘Mānasāra’, XIV. 10-372.⁶⁷ When the great Vimānas of South India were built meticulous ‘case-laws’ of the many possible proportions based on the norm were classified in Vāstu-śāstra.

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⁶⁷ The chronological sequence of South Indian Vāstuśāstras is approximately: ‘Vaikhānāśāgama’, ‘Mayamata’, ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’, ‘Kāmikāgama’ (note 54). The ‘Tantrasamuccaya’ belongs to the early part of the 15th century (Mallayya, op. cit. JAU. vol XII. No. 1. p. ii). While the ‘Kāśyapaśilpa’=‘Aṃśumadbheda’ of Kāśyapa and ‘Prayogamañjarī’ are prior to the 15th century (ib. p. III), the ‘Śilparatna’ dates from the later part of the 16th century. The ‘Mānasāra’ has been assigned, by P. K. Acharya, a place close to the ‘Bṛhat Sarphitā’ and ‘Matsyapurāṇa’ (‘Architecture of Mānasāra’, p. LIX, LVIII). The ‘Mānasāra’ has

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nothing in common with these treatises on the science of architecture and represents a different school, i.e. that of South India exclusively.

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The word ‘Mānasāra’ is also not to be found in the ‘Agnipurāṇa’, where the Āmalasāraka has been mistaken by P. K. Acharya and rendered as ‘Mānasāra’; cf. A. P. ch. LXI; note 40 and chart I.

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Amongst South Indian text books the ‘Mānasāra’ stands relatively nearest to Kāśyapa’s treatise which, being referred to in the ‘Tantrasamuccaya’, belongs to an age prior to the 15th century. The ‘Mānasāra’, moreover, frequently, though summarily, speaks of Buddha and Jina temples and images. This would indicate that these religions must have had adherents in S. India not very long before the compilation of the ‘Mānasāra’; it may be assigned to the Pāṇḍya age when high Vimānas were still erected and necessitated the detailed measurements given in the ‘Mānasāra’.

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Most of the sources used in the present context have been published; a few only have been translated (‘Mānasāra’ and parts of ‘Tantrasamuccaya’ and ‘Vāstu-vidyā’). Relevant passages from unpublished texts are given in the Appendix.

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About four hundred manuscripts of Vāstu-śāstra, as yet not published, are said to exist.

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CHART II

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THE TWENTY TEMPLES

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Acc. to: 'Viśvakarmaprakāśa',** VI. 82-107; 'Bṛhat Saṃhitā', LV. 20-31; 'Matsya Purāṇa'*, CCLXIX. 28-56; 'Bhaviṣya Purāṇa'†, CXXX. 24-37; 'Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra'†, LXIII. 1-34.

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| Names | Shape of ground plan [number of sides (aśra)] | Number of storeys (bhūmi) | [in cubits (hastas)] | Śikhara | Aṇḍa | Śṛṅga | Garbha | Dvāra | Prāggrīva | Kuṇḍara | Gavākṣa | Jāla | Candraśālā | Valabhī |
| | | | Width | Height | | | | | | | | | | |
| 1. Meru ... | 6 | 12; 16*; 16‡ | 32; 50* | 64 | several‡ | | 100* | Andhārīkā‡ | 4 | All | many† | | | |
| 2. Mandara ... | 6 | 10; 12* | 30; 45*; 40‡ | 60 | 1 | | | | | Prāsādas have Prāggrīvas aud Toraṇas† | | | | |
| 3. Kailāsa ... | 6 | 8; 9*; 10† | 28; 40*; 16** | 56 | 1 | | | | | | | | | |
| 4. Vimānacchanda ... | 6 | 8 | 21; 34*; 12 or 20‡ | 42 | many* | | | | 4‡ | | | Gavākṣas | Jālas | |
| 5. Nandana ... | 6 | 6 | 32; 30*; 30‡ | 64 | | 16 | | | | | | | | On both sides* |
| 6. Samudra†; Samudga ... | 16* circular | 1; 2* | 8* | 16 | | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 7. Padma ... | 16* 6 petals | 1; 3* | 12**; 20*; 8, 12 or 20‡ | 16 | | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 8. Garuḍa ... 2nd Garuḍa 3rd Garuḍa | Shape of Garuḍa; 6‡ with wings and tail.* | 7; 1† 8*; 6* 10*; 12‡ | 24; 10 or 8‡ | 48 | | 20 | | | | | | | | 3* |
| 9. Nandivardhana‡; Nandin | Garuḍa without wings and tail.* | 7 | 24; 32*; 32‡ | 48 | | 20 | | | | | | | | |
| 10. Gaja*; Kuñjara ... | Elephant-back. | 1; 6** | 16 | 32 | | 1 | | | | | | | 3; many* | Valabhī |
| 11. Gharāja†; Guharāja ... | Guhā (cave) | 1 | 16 | 32 | | | | | | | | on→ | Valabhī |
| 12. Vṛṣa ... | Circular | 1; 2* 3**; 5 or 7‡ | 12; 20* | 24 | | 5*; 1 | 1 | of 4 Hastas** | | | | 3 | Valabhī |
| 13. Hamsa ... | Hamsa with beak, wings, tail, elliptical† | 1 | 12; 10* | 24 | many‡ | | 1 | | | | | | 3 Candraśālā† | |
| 14. Kumbha*; Ghaṭa ... | Kalaśa (jar) | 1; 9* | 16‡ | 32 | | 5* | 1 | Temples 17-20: No light; walls all round Garbha | 4 | | | | Bhadraśālā | |
| 15. Sarvatobhadra ... | Square; 16* | 5 many‡ | 26; 30*; 30‡ | 52 | many | many | | | | Large Prāggrīva* | | | Candraśālā‡ | |
| 16. Mrgarāja*; Siṃha ... | 12; round* | 1; 6* | 8; 16*; 12‡ | | | 1 | | | One door in the west | | | | | |
| 17. Vartula*; Vṛtta ... | Circular | 1 | 20*; 12‡ | | | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| 18. Caturaśra*; Vāvṛkṣa‡; Catuṣkoṇa ... | Square | 1 | 8 | | | | | | | | | | | |
| 19. Ṣoḍaśāśra ... | 16 | 1; 2** | 25‡ | | | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| 20. Aṣṭāśra ... | 8 | 1; 3‡ | 28‡ | | | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| Valabhīcchandaka*‡ Grha* Śrīvṛkṣa* ... | | 16 | 3* | | | | | | | broad* | | | | |

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Alternative figures in the various texts are indicated by the sign which denotes the respective passage, for example, 'Matsya Purāṇa'*. The descriptions of the Br. S. however are valid also in the other texts where no alternative statement is tabulated. The chart shows most, though not all the figures, given in the texts. ** Refers to V.P. where it differs from M.P.

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The first of these, the *Gospel of the Hebrews*, was used by the Jewish Christians of Palestine, and was probably a version of the Gospel of Matthew, though it contained some traditions not found in our canonical books. The *Gospel of the Egyptians* was used by the ascetic sects of Egypt, and was marked by a strong tendency towards mysticism and asceticism. The *Gospel of Peter* was used by the Docetists, and taught that Christ did not really suffer, but only appeared to do so.

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These gospels, and others like them, were not accepted by the Church as a whole, and were gradually lost or suppressed. The Church, however, felt the need for a standard collection of writings that would serve as a guide for faith and practice. This led to the formation of the New Testament canon, a process that took several centuries to complete.

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The first step in this process was the collection of the letters of Paul, which were widely circulated among the churches. Then came the four Gospels, which were accepted as the authoritative accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus. The Acts of the Apostles and the other epistles were gradually added, and finally the Book of Revelation.

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By the end of the second century, the core of the New Testament was generally accepted by the Church. The process of canonization was not a formal act of a council, but rather a gradual recognition by the churches of the writings that were most valuable for their life and worship. It was only in the fourth century that the canon was formally closed by the councils of the Church.

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The formation of the New Testament canon was a crucial event in the history of the Church. It provided a standard of faith and practice that helped to unify the Church and to protect it from the influence of heretical sects. It also ensured that the teachings of Jesus and the apostles would be preserved for future generations.

Cites (14)