The Hindu Temple v2.c11.s1.70

v2.c11.s1.70

²⁸ Each ‘proportion’, Daśatāla, etc. is subdivided into 3 varieties, uttama, madhyama and adhama; the highest, the middle and the least. 120 aṅgulas being the mean height, 124 is the highest and 116 the least height of a Daśatāla image (‘Vaikhānāśāgama’). The ‘Bṛhatsaṃhitā’, LXVIII, dividing the types of men according to their proportions into 5 classes, each ‘nyagrodhaparimaṇḍala’, assigns a height ranging from 96-108 aṅgulas (96, 99, 102, 105, 108) to the respective types of men. These would approximate to the Aṣṭa- and Nava-tāla types. Further sub-varieties are also known in South Indian Tālamāna; latitude in following the canons is given to the image maker, and this too is classified (see J. N. Banerjea, op. cit., p. 357).