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The Hindu Temple v2.c13: Appendix

The Hindu Temple v2.c13

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Appendix

v2.c13.1

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.

The Hundred-and-One Temples of the 'Viṣṇudharmottara'

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The Hindu temple had been fully given shape between the eighth and the twelfth centuries. In its leading types are compacted many forms of buildings. Each temple is an exposition of metaphysical knowledge and at the same time a potent residue of the shapes that had gone to its making. While it is the extended universe in a likeness and the form of the way that leads beyond it, it is also the collective shape of its own history.

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The residual quality of the structure has preserved many shapes of earlier temples and also of different buildings while others were by-passed or superseded. Those which became integrated were compacted, abbreviated and variously adjusted.

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Neither the temples in existence nor the groups of 20, 45 or 64 varieties of Nāgara and other temples, and of 96 Drāviḍa temples of which Vāstuvidyā treats consistently, represent all the varieties of the Hindu temple. Those preceding the beginning of the present era and the many which must have been erected in the first centuries of the first millennium, are known to some extent from their representation in—Buddhist—reliefs, etc.

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The ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’, III. chapters LXXXVI-VIII, gives a genealogical survey of the shapes of the temples at the time of its compilation, after the seventh century, at an age when the fully compacted Hindu temple emerged. The last of these chapters treats of the proportions of the general type (Sāmānya Prāsāda) of which 100 different shapes are described in chapter LXXXVI while one temple only, the Sarvatobhadra, forms the subject of chapter LXXXVII. The norm of proportionate measurement differs from those of the Nāgara temples compiled in Chart I (p. 232A), the terminology too is partly different. The hundred and one possible shapes which followed the norm, are described vividly and grouped morphologically in eight main families.

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The Sāmānya Prāsāda (Ch. LXXXVIII) is divided in three equal parts, in its vertical section. They are : Jagatī (Vasudhā), the socle or platform; Kaṭi, the wall, and Mañjarī, the superstructure. Other names of the third and topmost part of the temple in the V. Dh. are : Talpa, Kūṭa, Śṛṅga, Valabhī and Śikhara. But for the last term, the various names refer to temples forming the first and the second group within the 100 temples.

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The Sāmānya-Prāsāda is set up on a square of 64 parts. On this Vāstumaṇḍala the several zones of the plan of the Prāsāda are apportioned according to a module which is given by the height of the door. The width of the Garbha is 9/8ths of this, which is also the height of the Kaṭi. The Jagatī (Vasudhā) projects from the Kaṭi by half its height (9/16ths of the height of the door). The Vāstumaṇḍala is thus not divided according to the number of its parts. These give only the frame in which the plan of the Prāsāda is laid out. A considerable margin, it seems, was provided by this apportionment, for it is enjoined that the Jagatī should neither be too narrow nor too wide (verse 9).

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Seven-eights of the height of the door is the height of the image. Two-thirds of it are assigned to the image proper and one-third to its pedestal. These proportions are identical to those of the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’. The triple division of the total height of the temple had also been incorporated in Varāhamihira’s Norm. This does not imply that the V. Dh. precedes the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’. Its standard norm however was known to Varāhamihira. It is clothed in the ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’ in a great variety of shapes (cf. ‘Bhaviṣya Purāṇa’, I. CXXX. 18).

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The height of the door, it is repeatedly stated in the V. Dh., is double its width.¹ This too is in agreement with the norms of Chart I. The height of the door however as module of the building was not generally accepted in those Śāstras. Excepting the ‘Garuḍa Purāṇa’, I. XLVII. 14-16, it is not included in their several norms of the 20 Temples.²

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¹ The height of the 3 doors of the temple Triguṇa is however three times the width of each (LXXXVI. 32-33).

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² ‘Dvāramāna’, the measure of the door as module of the temple, has therefore not been included in Chart I.

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The correspondences of the proportions in the plan, to those of the vertical section of the temple, are also given differently. Several possible proportions of the door and the temple are indicated. The door which measures ¼ of the Garbha is said to be auspicious and also the door whose height is ¼ of the height of the Prāsāda.

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Amongst extant buildings, few seem to conform with the threefold division of the height and those that do belong to two widely distant countries; the temples of Kashmir, of the eighth and ninth centuries, are relatively nearest to it; a high socle, the walls and the superstructure are the main parts of these temples, which, moreover, have four doors. Another group of temples, in Mysore, is known as Hoysala and is about three centuries later.

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THE FIRST GROUP. The several groups of temple shapes built on the basis of this norm are headed, in the first group (LXXXVI. 1-14), by the temple Himavān. Its superstructure, corresponding to the Mañjarī, the ‘shoot’, is spoken of as Talpa or Kūṭa; its tapering shape has three storeys (bhūmikā); they are separated from each other by recesses (uccheda), wherein are placed, presumably at the quoins, square Āmalakas. Each recess has for its enrichment a garland of lions (Siṃha-mālā). The Bhūmikās have the shape of Bhadrapīṭhas; they have several mouldings or courses. The temple has 4 doors, steps leading up to each. The gate house (dvāraśobhā) of the temple Himavān had also a Kūṭa; Āmalakas were placed in its first recess.

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If the Kūṭa has only two storeys, the temple being in other respects similar to Himavān, its name is Mālyavān.

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If the Kūṭa is without any recess and ascends in an unbroken line, it is called Śṛṅga; a temple having this kind of superstructure is called Śṛṅgavān.

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This first group of temples is differentiated according to its superstructure. It has three or two Bhūmis or none; in the last instance its ascent is unbroken. This tapering superstructure is called Śṛṅga, in the ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’.

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THE SECOND GROUP. The temples of the second group (verses 14-20) have each a Śṛṅga for their superstructure; they are like the temple Śṛṅgavān but are distinguished by having one or two Mekhalās, each. Mekhalā is a ‘zone’; its particular connotation here is not given. The distance of the Mekhalā, its ‘gati’, from the walls of the shrine is however one-eighth of the Prāsāda (verse 24). This is considerably less than the Jagaṭī. The width of the Mekhalā—in ch. LXXXVII—is one-third of the stair, i.e., a twenty-fourth part of the total width of the building. Mekhalā is thus a zone of varying width surrounding the Kaṭi. Two Mekhalās may mean that the Jagaṭī is built in two steps so that one zone surrounds the body of the temple at a lower level than the other. A Prākāra or enclosure wall may be placed as a Mekhalā (LXXXVII. 3).³ Niṣadha and Vindhya are amongst the names of these temples and also Gṛha. The latter has one Śṛṅga and one Mekhalā.

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³ Mekhalā in the ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’ denotes a moulding of the Vedibandha; and also above the Jaṅghā (LVII. 26-7; 65, etc.; XLIX. 18). Kapotālī and Mekhalā are synonyms (cf. 64 and 26, etc.). XLIX. 18, speaks of the Mekhalā between Mañjarī and Stambha, i.e., between the pilasters and the superstructure. It has windows; or the Mekhalā is in the Vedibandha and is described as decorated with dormer windows (candraśālā . LVII. 688).

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THE THIRD GROUP. The third family of temples (verses 21-46) adheres to the triple division in the vertical. The Kaṭi retains its name and position. Instead of the Jagaṭī however it is now the Mekhalā which forms the lowermost third of the structure. Another substitution is, it appears, of greater significance. The Kūṭa is replaced by a Valabhī.

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The first temple of this family is itself called Valabhī. Valabhī denotes a pitched roof having a ridge (pṛṣṭha). Its slopes are on its four sides—it is a hipped roof—or on two sides only. On the ridge, three Āmalasārakas are placed. Attic rooms (garbha) or dormer windows (candraśālā) are on either side of the ridge.

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The temple, called Valabhī, is rectangular in plan, its length being thrice its width.

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The temples of this group have each one Mekhalā, the number of their doors depending upon their lengths. The latter is not fixed; it may be as one desires. Correspondingly, one of these temples is called Yatheṣṭa, “As you like it”. There are many small chambers (garbha) in its Valabhī.

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Some of these temples have a door in each direction; others have three doors and, if the height of this particular temple is thrice its width, its name is ‘Triguṇa’.

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The description of the Valabhī temples corresponds to the well-known early relief representations in Sāñcī, etc., and also to the shape of the Bhīma Ratha in Mamallapuram. It is however not possible to ascertain whether the slope of the Valabhī of these temples was curvilinear as it is in the above reliefs, etc., or whether their slope was straight as it is in buildings of the Malabar coast.

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To this group belongs, amongst others, the temple called Śikhara. It is described as having one door, its Garbha is enclosed by walls: it has no (distinct) lateral Valabhis, all its faces are connected (saṃyukta).

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The temple Kuñjara has to be noted for its destination; it was a temple and also a residential building for Turaga Brahmacārīs.

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The temple Kuñjara, whose name is also amongst the Twenty Temples, is here described as a Valabhī structure.

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The main and primary shapes of temples are represented by the first three groups, of which the first two belong together. The one shape is that of a square temple having a one-pointed or peaked roof, while the other kind of temple has a ridged roof (Valabhī). This type of temple is not listed amongst the 20 Temples of the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’. The ‘Matsyapurāṇa’ and particularly the ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’, include it under the name Valabhīcchanda amongst the Twenty Temples. The V. P. describes it as having three Śukanāsās; the V. Dh. speaks of three Āmalasārakas. This particular temple, Valabhīcchanda, is the first of the rectangular temples in the list of the 45 temples. Incorporations and adjustments of certain types by the different schools may be seen here; a transfer of names of the temples was however, it appears, resorted to only at a later phase in the formation of the various schools of architecture.

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THE FOURTH GROUP. The fourth group of temples (verses 47-77) is more complex than any of those preceding it. These temples have a tapering superstructure in two storeys, like Mālyavān of the first group, but instead of being peaked, the roof is ridged.

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The Valabhī of group three appears placed on top of a building of group one. These buildings are related to extant temples, such as the Nava-Devī temple in Yageśvar (Almora District), the Vaitāl Deul in Bhuvaneśvar, and the Telikamandir in Gwalior. The ridge may be breadthwise (āyatā) or the Valabhī is placed at a right angle (tiryak) to the façade of the building. The former type of temple is called Bhadra, and the latter, having the entrance on its narrow side, is known as Dvārapāla. The temple Gandhamādana belongs to this group, and also the temple Guhā, which is oblong in shape.

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Two temples of this family moreover embody in their plan their iconographic function. These are the temples Kamala and Garuḍa.

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Kamala is a Trikūṭa temple, it has three Bhūmis in its superstructure—like Himavān—and an Āmalasāraka which implies that its point is peaked; its Valabhī is not mentioned.⁴ The Prāsāda Kamala has eight Garbhas and doors in the eight directions. It has one Mekhalā.

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⁴ If it had a Valabhī it might have had the shape of a dome in eight sections. The three-storeyed superstructure would have been crowned by an octagonal dome and an Āmalaka above it. Cf. the temple Triviṣṭapa, S.S. LVII. 702-706; it has eight Garbhagṛhas and four Valabhīs.

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Garuḍa is a rectangular building; it has no Valabhī in the East, its entrance side, but its shape there resembles the temple Turaga. Attached to it and raised from its high Jagatī are two small lateral shrines, having ridged roofs and facing North and South. The ridge of the main building is from East to West and that of the small wings or lateral (pārśva-Prāsāda) shrines, from North to South.

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The eight-fold and the triple temple have each their particular dedications.

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THE FIFTH GROUP. The fifth group of temples (verses 77-81) are most particularly Liṅga temples, not only because they house a Liṅga (as the temples of the second group also, verse 19) but because they themselves have the shape of a Liṅga. They would thus be circular shrines; one might think of the Maniyar Math in Rajgir. These shrines have from one to three Mekhalās, they have a ridged roof (Valabhī) and one of these temples, called Sarvakīṭa, has a Kūṭa and Valabhī.

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THE SIXTH GROUP. The sixth family of shapes (verses 82-88) is related to the third, the group Valabhī. The temple Caturasra, whose name and description—of a different kind—are given amongst those of the Twenty Temples, is here alike to the temple Valabhī, though its shape is square (caturasra); it has no Mekhalā.

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The other temples of this group are distinguished by the absence of doors and front wall; they have pillars instead; temples of this kind should have from one to three Mekhalās or none. All these temples are like assembly halls (sabhā). Temples of this type are also known from Barhut reliefs.

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These particular ‘hall’ temples however are not the only derivatives of the third group.

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The temple Caturasra too has the same lineage. Several of its varieties are enumerated. They form the connecting link with the following group.

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THE SEVENTH GROUP. The seventh group (verses 89-100) is of particular interest. In it occur most of the names of the temples in common to the ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’ and the lists of the Twenty Temples.

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The ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’ begins this group with the simplest type of temple, called Gṛha. It is a square, one-storeyed house (gṛha); Lakṣmī should be installed therein. The Draupadī Ratha in Mamallapuram would come near this type if its roof could be considered as one of the shapes of the Valabhī,⁵ and if the triple division of the height, in Jagatī, Kati and Talpa is not considered binding in this group. The latter indeed seems implied in the description of the following representatives of the seventh group of temples in the ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’ of which the temple “Many-storeyed” or Bahu-Bhūmika is the first. It should have as many storeys as is desired (yatheṣṭa) and is of the type of the temple Yatheṣṭa (verse 42), that is, it has a ridged roof or Valabhī.

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⁵ Cf. the temple Kamala whose crowning dome shape might have had eight sections.

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While the number of Bhūmis is left to the discretion of the builder of the temple Bahubhūmika, it is given explicitly in the temples described subsequently. They are 12 in number and their storeys are from 12 to one respectively, Meru having 12 storeys, 6 sides (asra) and 4 doors. Its description agrees with that in the lists of the Twenty Temples. It might, however, be thought of as crowned by a Valabhī.

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The names of the temples having from 11 to 1 storey only, are respectively: Śuktimān, Mandara, Pariyātra, Alaka, Vimāna, Nandana, Pañcata, Catuṣkaka, Tribhūmi, Dvibhūmi and Ekabhūmi. But for the names of Mandara, Vimāna and Nandana (see Chart II, p. 270A) where they are given in some instances the same number of storeys, the names of this series of temples are not in the lists of the Twenty Temples.

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Classification of the temples according to the number of their storeys is the rule in South Indian Vāstuśāstras. There the one storeyed temple makes the beginning. In the Nāgara schools the 12 storeyed temple heads the list which, excepting in the V. Dh., is incompletely given.⁶

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⁶ The V. Dh. assigns 12 storeys to Mandara, whereas 10 would obviously be the correct number in that list. Mandara has 10 storeys in the Br. S., and 12 in M.P.

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If a temple of this kind is circular it is called Samudra. Nandin also is a circular Prāsāda of this family. It is described as having 8 Paricchedas, which means 8 recesses in its Kūṭa, or 8 Bhūmis, each recess having Āmalakas.

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Guharāja is described as long, which may mean its plan was elliptical, and like a cave in shape.⁷

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⁷ A temple, called Guhā, belonged to the fourth group (verse 59); the temple Gṛha however is the first of the seventh group. The alternative names Guharāja (Br.S.) and Gṛharāja in the other early lists of the 20 Temples seem to go back to older classifications of which the 'Viṣṇudharmottara' has preserved some traces. Guhā, moreover, occurs more than once in the name and constitution of the temples in the V. Dh., Suguha (verse 121); and another temple possibly called, and being Triguha (verse 122). In the description of the temple Sarvatobhadra (LXXXVII. 10), the small corner shrines of the central Prāsāda are described as Garbhaguhas and Prāsādas. Similarly, the chapels of the rampart are the Garbhaguhas of the enclosure (Prākāra). Guhā thus in the V. Dh. is an equivalent of Gṛha and denotes the Garbhagṛha. Its meaning as Cave is implied in this identity. It might, besides, in the V. Dh. have connoted an oblong shape. Kuhara, which means a cavity, may denote an interior opening or also its demarcation on the outside of the temple. The inner hollow of the Śukanāsā, the round niche in which an image is carved, is a Kuhara.

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Vṛṣa is a circular temple of this group with one unbroken, tapering superstructure (śṛṅga). It has two Mekhalās. Similar to Vṛṣa, but of different shape (ākāra) are the temples Hamsa, Ghaṭa, Siṃha and Maṇḍapa; their names indicate their respective shapes of swan, pot, lion and hall. Whatever these may have been, by name, at least, the temples of the seventh group are represented in good number amongst the Twenty Temples (Chart II).

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The temples of the seventh group are introduced by the temple Gṛha, the house shape, which has a ridged roof or Valabhī. Gṛha, however is also the name of another kind of temple (verse 15) whose roof is a Śṛṅga. These two prototypal temples, called 'houses' seem to have had the one a peaked roof and the other a ridged roof.

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The V. Dh. does not say whether the tapering superstructures of the temples of these seven groups were rectilinear or curvilinear. Its Bhūmis were divided by recesses and Āmalakas were placed there. These temples thus would conform with Type IA or also with Type II. The Bhūmis however are nowhere described as actual storeys, or as having their shape. They are not those of Drāviḍa temples.

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THE EIGHTH GROUP. The eighth group (verses 101-111) comprises temples whose Maṇḍapas are essentially part of their plan. The temple Kailāsa heads the list. It has 5 Śikharas, 4 Maṇḍapas and 4 doors. The Maṇḍapas being in the four directions, the entrances at the cardinal points, this cross shaped temple would have one central Śikhara and each Maṇḍapa would have a lesser Śikhara of its own. The shapes of these Śikharas are not given.⁸

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⁸ The term Śikhara, denoting the superstructure, does not occur in the seven preceding groups. A temple, called Śikhara, belongs to the third group.

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A temple Trikūṭa (see the first group) however also figures in this list and the temple Saumya which has one Śṛṅga.

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The main temple of the eighth group is the temple Rājarāja. It has one lower and wider Jagaṭī which is as high as the knee, below, and in addition to, the Jagaṭī proper, whose height is one-third of the Prāsāda. This is, as usual, also the height of the Kaṭi. The Śikhara is described as having a Kuhara, the ‘cave’ or niche of the Śukanāsa. Connected with this temple and forming one consistent plan, is its Maṇḍapa. Similar small temples are attached in the four corners to the main temple. They too, have each a Maṇḍapa. All these temples are supported by the high Jagaṭī; steps lead up to it.

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Further combinations of shrines and Maṇḍapas have each their specific name. The variations are given by the presence or absence of Maṇḍapas in the four directions, by the presence or absence of Śikharas on the Maṇḍapas and by the number of Maṇḍapas or shrines at the bottom of the steps.

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The temple Surarāṭ for example has 4 shrines in the intermediate directions and 4 Maṇḍapas in the main directions, each of these has a Śikhara; the central Prāsāda has a Mañjarī.

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These combined and centrally planned temples would correspond to certain Jain temples on the one hand and to the Hoysala Temples of Mysore on the other, both of which date from c. 1100 A.D. onward. The V. Dh. appears to describe some of their ancestral plans; the height of the Jagaṭī, the existence of two Jagaṭīs, the shrines on either side of the steps, an approximation to the triple division of the height of the temple, all these belong to the temples of the Hoysalas.

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Further shapes of temples are specified (verses 111-123). Following the eighth group, they do not form a particular group. The temple Sāmānya is conspicuous by its name. It has one Śikhara. Another temple is Suguha; it has a Guhā at its back. It is followed (verse 122) by the Prāsāda Triguṇa (cf. verse 33) which may be a misnomer for Triguha : it has three Guṇas (Guhās?). Further combinations of the various constituent elements are given each their own names: a pillared Himavān is called Nandaka (verse 123), etc.

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Chapter LXXXVI of the ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’ gives a genealogy and morphology of the temples in which the main now extant types are not included. It begins with simple shapes and their combination; certain ancient forms of buildings are recognizable.

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These form the first, second and third group. There the triple division in the vertical is firmly adhered to. The door, it appears, is an ancient module, and was superseded in the temples by the main norms (Chart I) which are based on the width of the temple or on the height of the image or Liṅga. It may be surmised that the door as module had played its part in the construction of houses.

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The transformation of house shapes into those of temples can be followed, specially in the third group. The temples are however not 'derived' from the shapes of houses; they are on the contrary employed for the purpose of the temple so that by looking at the temple man may be liberated from all his shortcomings and attain release (LXXXVII. 63).

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In their elevation, the complex shapes of the fourth and the following groups show combinations of peaked roofs and ridged roofs. They form the tapering superstructure. The ridged roof (Valabhī) however is absent from the eighth group which is representative of the temples which are particularly those of the 'Viṣṇudharmottara'. A whole chapter (LXXXVII) treats of one temple which conforms with the main characteristics of the eighth group but is of greater importance even than the temple Rājarāja. It is complete in its parts and is the architectural shape of its iconography. In this respect the temples Garuḍa and Kamala preceded it genealogically.

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Sketch of the plan of the temple Sarvatobhadra (V. Dh. III. LXXXVII)

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SARVATOBHADRA. The temple Sarvatobhadra (proportions not given) is raised on a broad, square terrace (jagati). It is enclosed by a rampart (prākāra) of chapels, a cloister of twenty-four Garbha-guhas (verse 42). It is approached on the four sides by stairs flanked by two small shrines. Similar in shape to these Damṣṭras or Devakulas are 4 chapels (devakula) in the corners of the terrace.

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Each flight of steps terminates with a gate-house. Immediately behind the Eastern gate-house is a Sāmānya temple; a Garbha-Mandira, it has no Maṇḍapas but is flanked by two Himavān temples. By its position the East-West axis of the plan is given special importance. But for it the temple Sarvatobhadra and those of the eighth group are central in plan. The main temple which occupies the central position, the Sarvatobhadra temple proper, has its square Garbhagṛha surrounded in the four directions by Maṇḍapas. Each of these has four doors. In the corners of the Garbhagṛha 4 small Garbhagṛhas are inserted and correspondingly, 4 small shrines are placed in the corners between the Maṇḍapas. This cross shaped, central and radiating building is surmounted by a cluster of nine Śikharas corresponding to the four Maṇḍapas, the four small corner Prāsādas and the central Grabhagṛha. The central Śikhara is higher and dominates the eight surrounding Śikharas. The 8 Śikharas have Kuharas, or Śukanāsās in the eight directions; all the Śikharas are rich in Āmalasārakas, Jālas, Gavākṣas, (lesser) Kuharas; Cakras (wheels) and flags complete the crowning glory of this temple. Around the central shrine beautiful tanks are laid out on the terrace.

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The temple Sarvatobhadra of the V. Dh. is the foremost of its "Maṇḍapa-temples". In this type of the temple, a central disposition shows welded in one plan the Garbhagṛhas and the Maṇḍapas.

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The Maṇḍapa originally was a separate structure, of which twenty-seven varieties are known to the ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’ (VI. 124-37) and the M. P. The Maṇḍapas have from 12 to 64 pillars, the plan of the Maṇḍapas is three sided, 8 or 16 sided or circular. By a slow process, Prāsāda and Maṇḍapa became united in the temples whose axial plan is bilaterally symmetrical (pp. 255-57). The central symmetry of several Maṇḍapas grouped around a Prāsāda or a cluster of Prāsādas had acquired several shapes which seem to represent the flower on the ancestral tree of the temples of the ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’.

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There are 10 descriptions at least of the Sarvatobhadra in the various Śāstras. The ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’, VI. 88-89, and the ‘Matsya Purāṇa’ speak of its 16 sides (asra) and the large number of Śikharas. This laconic account suggests a central projection (bhadra) on each of the four sides, which would have three sections, each less wide than the preceding. The ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’ explicitly describes the central projection having such sections (SS. LVI. 131-32. LVII. 783-86).

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The ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’ LV. 27, gives the width of the square temple Sarvatobhadra as 26 Hastas. It has four doors in the four directions, a large number of Śikharas, a large number of Candraśālās and 5 storeys.⁹

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⁹ Sarvatobhadra is not only the name of several varieties of the temple in the Śāstras, it is also the first of the ‘4 room’ buildings i.e., having 4 wings (Catuśśālā-Gṛha), described in the ‘Bṛhat-Saṃhitā’, LII. 31, Nandyāvarta, Vardhamāna, Svastika and Rucaka, being the others. It is fit for ‘kings and gods’.

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The ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’ has much to say about various kinds of the Sarvatobhadra. In chapter XLIX. 107, the plan of this building has a certain affinity with the Sarvatobhadra of the V. Dh. for it includes Prāsādas in the corners (Karṇa-prāsāda) whereas the earlier texts seem to refer to one building only without the addition of subservient structures. The Sarvatobhadra of SS. XLIX, however, has no further resemblance to that of the V. Dh. It is like the other temples of that chapter, a ‘hall temple’ consisting of a small centre (devakoṣṭha) over four parts out of the 100 parts of the square field (kṣetra) of its total extent which is occupied by three concentric Ālindas with their pillars, etc., and Prāggrivas of the façades. The Prāsādas of chapter XLIX are not exclusively temples. They form part of royal establishments where their plan is adopted to various uses which are described in chapter LI.

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Sarvatobhadra, however is one of the eight temples (chapter LII) to which a Śikhara was superadded (p. 284). The Sarvatobhadra of SS. XLIX has a different structure than the temple of that name in V.P., M.P., and Br. S. In S.S. LII. it is assimilated to them, and also further assimilated to the Sarvatobhadra of the V. Dh.

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The Kṣetra of 100 parts however is occupied also by other varieties of the Sarvatobhadra, in the S.S. In each of these the Garbhagṛha extends over 16 squares out of its 100 squares (LV. 23-31); certain kinds of the Sarvatobhadra are Sāndhāra temples, the width of their inner ambulatory, of their inner and outer walls being equal to the side of the square (i.e., the side of the Kṣetra being 10, that of the Garbhagṛha is 4, and 1, 1 and 1 respectively, are the Bhitti, Andhakārikā and Bāhyabhitti; LVI. 123-40; LVII. 781-99; LIX. 28-40; LX. 59-66).

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In this Talacchanda, however, there are slight variations in the rhythms on the Vinyāsa and Paryanta Sūtras: The Bhadra, the central projection is 6 parts out of the 10 in width, and projects only to half a part (LV. 1. c.); whereas in LVI, its width is 5, its projection 2 parts at the centre and at each side it extends over ½ part; its projection there is correspondingly less. In LVII, the pillared Bhadra is 6 parts wide and projects 1½ parts; or, there are 2 Bhadras, one in front of the other.

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The variations in the plan are accompanied by variations of the vertical proportions. These are given most completely in LVII; the width of the Kṣetra being 10, the socle, Pīṭha, has 2½ parts; the lower part of the wall, Vedibandha, has 2¼ parts of which the mouldings, etc., are allotted: Kumbhaka 1, Masūraka ½, Antarapatra ¼ and Mekhalā ½ part; the Jaṅghā here is assigned only 4 parts, the Śikhara 7, Grīvā ½, Āmalaka (Aṇḍaka) 1, Padmaśīrṣa (Candrikā) ½, and Kalaśa (or Kumbha with Uṣṇīṣa) 1½. The total height is more than double the width of this Sarvatobhadra temple. It has Candrāvalokanas in its Bhadras. This temple belongs to a list beginning with Meru; also the Sarvatobhadra of ch. LV, whose proportions are not completely given; but for the Jaṅghā which is assigned 5 parts, they are nearly the same, Mekhalā-Antarapatra having each ½ part.

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The Sarvatobhadra of ch. LVI, belongs to the series of temples beginning with Kesari; it stands on a Jagaṭī-pīṭha which is half the width of the temple high; the width of the Jagaṭī is twice that of the Prāsāda. The wall of this imposing structure is similarly proportioned to that of other Sarvatobhadra temples. The Jaṅghā is assigned 5 parts (as also in LV) and, above it, the Mekhalā ½ and the Antarapatra ½ part. This temple has 8 storeys (bhūmi). It can be built in 3 sizes of which the least has a width of 15 Hastas, the middle c. 27 and the largest 37 Hastas.

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Second in a series, headed by ‘Vimāna’, is the Sarvatobhadra of ch. LIX, the height of whose shoulder course (skandha) is 20 parts, the width of the temple being 10; it has 9 Bhūmis.

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In chapter LX, which treats of Nāgarakriya Prāsādas, the 3 sizes (jyeṣṭha, madhyama and kaniṣṭha) are 26, 18 and 10 Hastas respectively, and in ch. LXIII, the description is similar to that of the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’; 5 storeys, many Śikharas and Aṇḍakas, and Bhadraśālā are mentioned there.

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Besides these, ch. LVI. 105, shortly describes another Sarvatobhadra temple, of a ‘mixed’ type (Miśraka Prāsāda) whereas in ch. LXI, 56-61, Sarvatobhadra is one of the ‘rhythms of the floor’ (talacchanda), one of the ground plans of a Drāviḍa temple, whose walls, divided into 28 parts have a Śālā of eight parts in the centre, on each of its two sides are two Kūṭas, each of three parts, and between each two projections is a recess (salilāntara) of two parts. This applies to a temple without inner ambulatory (Nirandhāra); the proportions of the Sāndhāra-talacchanda are not specified in ch. LXI.

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All these temples are Sarvatobhadra, for they have not only a ‘bhadra’ on each of their four sides, but it has a relatively great width, or projection, or both.

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The Sarvatobhadra is the one hundred and first, the temple of temples of the ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’; the description of 100 temples precedes it. Sum total of the groups that had gone to its making, it is closely allied in plan to temples in Kashmir (Avantisvāmī Temple) and Mysore (Keśava T., Somnathpur).¹⁰ The Alaṃkāras or adornments of its superstructure however, the Āmalakas, Gavākṣas, Jālas, etc., are not seen on the temples of Mysore and, excepting the Āmalaka and a modification of the Gavākṣa, they are absent from the temples of Kashmir. Where in reality the Sarvatobhadra of the ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’ was built and when, cannot be said as yet.

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¹⁰ Amongst the Cauṅsath Yoginī types of temples, the one in Mitavli, Gwalior, c. 11th. century (ASIAR. 1915-16, Pt. I. p. 18) consisting of 65 (!) cells in its round enclosure and a circular central temple having a Maṇḍapa, would correspond to the Sarvatobhadra more closely than the other hypæthral temples of this kind.

The Iconography of the Temples of the Viṣṇudharmottara

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The iconography of the Viṣṇu temple Sarvatobhadra is given by its plan. In the main Garbhagṛha, facing the main directions, are the four aspects of Viṣṇu; their 8 Śaktis are assigned to the Garbhagṛhas at the corners of the main Garbhagṛha. Four of the Avatāras of Viṣṇu occupy the small temples in the corners of the Jagaṭī. 24 gods are stationed in the cloister. Two groups of them are given : the one, headed by Garuḍa comprises the weapon-divinities or Āyudhapuruṣas of the respective forms of Viṣṇu. Ananta, Makara, and the Kaustubha Jewel are also amongst these gods. The other series of divinities does not comprise the properties and faculties of Viṣṇu but surrounds his presence with all the powers of knowledge embodied, from the Gāyatrī and the Four Vedas, to Sāṃkhya and Yoga, Pāñcarātra and Pāśupata, and includes the 5 Mahābhūtas.

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In the 8 small shrines below the high platform, at the side of the steps are the Pratihāras, the door keepers of Viṣṇu, or the 8 Planets are installed there or the Guardians of the eight regions. The V. Dh. gives preference to the Pratihāras for "they are the Dikpālas and Planets" (LXXXVII. 37). A similar identification, that of the stars and the Pada-devatās of the Vāstumaṇḍala is also given in the V. Dh. (p. 32). The gods of the Vāstumaṇḍala have their images or those of their lieutenants set up in the temple, at their proper place. The re-duction of the iconography of this Viṣṇu temple to that of the Vāstupuruṣamaṇḍala may be seen not only in the presence of the 8 Dikpālas or their substitutes but also in the number of the divinities which, counting the 4 central images as aspects of the one Viṣṇu—is 45, the number of the Vedic gods of the Vāstumaṇḍala.¹¹

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¹¹ No divinities are assigned to the Garbhamandira and its lateral Himavān shrines.

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Any temple, however, of any shape, planned according to the Vāstumaṇḍala, incorporates in its shrines and innermost sanctuaries,—or in its walls around the one and only Garbhagṛha—the eight directions of space and their presiding principles; it is a place of manifestation of the various forms of the eightfold principle such as the Aṣṭa-mūrti of Śiva, in the temple Kamala.

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Equally significant however with this reduction of a specific iconography, and its architectural plan to that of the underlying Vāstumaṇḍala, are specific shapes of temples which belong to definite divinities. The Śiva temples, housing a Liṅga (the fifth group of temples) are foremost amongst them. Nonetheless, the second group, the Śṛṅga temples, small square shrines having a peaked roof were also Liṅga shrines (verse 19), though not exclusively as they could be dedicated also to all the other gods (verse 17).

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The Valabhī temples, on the other hand, had a more spacious interior, those forming the sixth group were supported by pillars, and had an open front. The temple Valabhī itself, thrice as long as it was wide, had three Āmalakas on its roof. They were made to correspond to the presence of a ternary of gods in the interior; Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, or Viṣṇu, between Sun and Moon, were thus installed. The Valabhī building, however, by its very shape, is accommodating; more than a ternary of images or also but one image can be housed there. Thus other Valabhī temples are described as housing groups of gods, the Mothers, Planets, Stars, all the 12 Suns, 11 Rudras, 8 Vasus, 8 Dikpālas, etc. The Valabhī temples were adjustments of actual houses or of halls (sabhā); they left no lasting mark on the Hindu temple.¹² Their roof however, as it were, was lifted from them and raised to the third, fourth and twelfth storey on the temples of group seven; this position the Valabhī holds to this day also on South Indian Gopuras.

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¹² Valabhī, cf. also S.S. XLIX. 132-34.

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A specific shape of the temple, as closely connected with the shape and name of its deity as are the Liṅga temples, is the temple Garuḍa. It resembles the bird Garuḍa having two wings: these have the shape of attached shrines; the main building of the temple forms the body of Garuḍa, the Sun-bird, who carries Sūrya, the Sun. The temple here has the shape of the Vāhana and thus is similar in its function of conveying divinity to those temples which were built in the likeness of the chariots of the gods.

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The Sun temple Garuḍa houses the image of Sūrya, in the central building. It is flanked in the lateral shrines by Daṇḍa and Piṅgala or by Saturn and Yama or by Keśava (Viṣṇu) and Śiva. This is its primary destination. In it however other gods too were enshrined and their ‘lateral’ divinities. They are : Candra the Moon, Kāma, Indra, Yama, Varuṇa and Kuvera. They are connected with and thus are substituted for Sūrya. Garuḍa himself, the Bird form and Vāhana of the Sun, has also his image enshrined as the main divinity; he is flanked by Kāśyapa and Vinatā.

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Sūrya and his attendants are substituted not only by gods of the family of the Sun but by one of the three great gods, Brahmā, Śiva or Vāsudeva and their lateral divinities. Vāsudeva may be accompanied by Rudra (Śiva) and Brahmā or also by Garuḍa and Ananta or also by Garuḍa and Aruṇa, the Vāhana and the Charioteer of Sūrya.

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To whichever god the temple Garuḍa is dedicated, it is a temple of Sūrya who shines in all these images. Dharma in the main temple and Artha and Kāma in its wings may also be worshipped in this temple the purpose of whose construction like that of any temple is to attain Mokṣa (‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’, VI. 10).

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The relation of the shape of the temples and their dedication at the age of the ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’,—at a date from the seventh century but prior to the ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’, are manifold. Specific shapes of the temple were dedicated to specific gods : the Śiva Liṅga temples of the fifth group and the Lakṣmī shrine Gṛha of the seventh group. Shapes specifically designed for a particular god were also used for other deities : the temple Garuḍa. House or hall shapes were used as places of image worship : the ‘sabhā’-shaped temples of group three and the sixth group. The temples were laid out in conformity with the Vāstupuruṣamaṇḍala and were thus suited for dedication to one particular deity and his aspects : the Viṣṇu temple Sarvatobhadra, or to different gods and their aspects : the temple Kamala.

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Several traditions are represented in the V. Dh. Some of them are also embodied in other accounts. The 20 temples of the ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’ were destined to enshrine a Liṅga (VI. 106-7). They have the same purpose in the ‘Matsyapurāṇa’ which however adds—from another tradition—3 further names to the 20 temples. Two of them, Valabhicchanda and Gṛha—both of them described in the V. Dh. are temples of Gaurī, in the M.P.¹³ The selfsame 20 temples in the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’ however house an image (pratimā, LV. 16).

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¹³ The ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’ does not include these names in its enumeration but adds the description of Valabhicchanda and Śrīvṛkṣa (VI. 90 and 106). Gṛha and Valabhicchanda are temples of the Goddess, also in the V.Dh., either of them is dedicated to Lakṣmī; Valabhicchanda is also dedicated to Durgā as well as to Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, etc., etc.

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The V. Dh. does not, as a rule, give the dedication of those of the twenty temples which it describes.

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The shapes of the 20 temples in the ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’ are composite and complex; they do not convey any definite dedication and were used as Śiva temples, or images were enshrined in them, according to the various needs of devotion.

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Thus, concluding its chapter on the temples, the ‘Garuḍa Purāṇa’, I. XLVII. 35 f, sums up the position : “All these temples are different from each other in construction, shape and measurement; some have a socle, others are without it. The temples are built according to the different images. Due to different traditions ('samskāra', in which are comprised the schools of architecture and the influences that acted on them) and on account of the differences in shape and name there exist many different Prāsādas of the Gods''.¹⁴

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¹⁴ The margin for differences in the dedication is wider even than that for the orientation of the temples (p. 233). While the underlying principles of the latter are recognizable in most of the texts—the ‘Agni Purāṇa’, XXXIX. of. being in agreement with S.S. and I.P.—, the ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’, VII. 107-10, and the ‘Matsya Purāṇa’, CCLXX. 31-4, amongst the early sources, assign Viṣṇu Jalaśāyin to the North-East and Śrīnivāsa (Lakṣmī) to the West. Nandin however is in front of the temple, or in the East, and as these texts treat of Śiva temples exclusively, the usual position of Śiva is ceded to Viṣṇu, and his place in the West is occupied by Lakṣmī.

The Position of the Viṣṇudharmottara in Vāstuśāstra

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These differences constitute the wealth of the form of the temples and are its resources. Heterogeneous and many as they are the knowledge of their use, the science of architecture, has but one source. It is in God who reveals it to a Sage and who transmits it to his successor. Śiva is the fountain and origin of the science of architecture, or Brahmā or Viṣṇu. This is how Āgamas, Purāṇas and Vāstuśāstras tell of Vāstuvidyā, which, being auxiliary to the Veda, is part of the primordial Knowledge. The sequences of the preceptors and the schools which they represent lead each on the one end into a particular province and phase of temple building activity, while by the other end they converge in the primordial Knowledge and in God for whom the temples are raised on firm ground.

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In the majority of the Vāstuśāstras, Śiva who has also taught the 64 arts to Garga (p. 48)—is the source whence Vāstuvidyā, the science of architecture, is revealed, as in the ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’, I. 3-4; ‘Agnipurāṇa’, chapters XCIX f; in the ‘Mayamata’, ‘Kāśyapaśilpa’ and ‘Mānasāra’, whereas it is Brahmā in the selfsame ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’, XIII, 108 f, in the ‘Bṛhatsaṃhitā’ and the ‘Īśāna-śivagurudevapaddhati’.

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Viṣṇu, in his Matsya Avatār, imparted the science to Manu. The names of its 18 preceptors (p. 141) are given in the same passage of the ‘Matsyapurāṇa’ (CCLII. 2 f.).¹⁵ In Viṣṇu (Hayagrīva) the ‘Hayaśīrṣapañcarātra’, has its origin and also the earlier chapters of the ‘Agnipurāṇa’ (XXXIX f). They begin with the words : ‘‘Hayagrīva said.’’

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¹⁵ The following names of the eighteen Preceptors are associated with extant treatises: Atri: ‘Samūrtārcanādhikaraṇa’ or ‘Ātreya Tantra’. Viśvakarman: ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’; cf. also M.S. (RASB. No. 7845); ‘Vāstuprakaraṇam’ (Viśvabharati Library, Shantiniketan; cf. Ph. N. Bose, ‘Śilpa Śāstram’, Punjab Oriental Series, vol. XVII; introduction). Cf also Acharya, ‘Dictionary’, s.v.—‘Aparājitapṛabhā’, Ms., RASB. III. I. 63. Maya: ‘Mayamata’, etc. cf Acharya, op. cit. Nārada: ‘Vāstuvidhāna’, ‘Nāradaśilpaśāstra’ (Adyar, IX. J. 33). Śukra: ‘Śukranītisāra’. The names moreover of the following preceptors out of the eighteen names in the ‘Matsyapurāṇa’ are referred to in extant Vāstuśāstras as authorities on which the respective treatises are based: Bhṛgu: ‘Hayaśīrṣapañcarātra’, I. 3-4. Atri (Ātreya): ‘Agni Purāṇa’; ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’, Commentary.

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The ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’ thus represents two traditions, the one (I. 3-4), originated in Śiva and transmitted to Parāśara, Bṛhadratha, Viśvakarman and to his pupil, who compiled the V.P., and the other (XIII, 108 f), originated in Brahmā and imparted to Garga who transmitted the knowledge to Parāśara.

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Within the second tradition is, in the main, Varāhamihira’s summary in the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’. His account is based on Garga (LV. 31), but also on Manu.

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To Manu, in the ‘Matsyapurāṇa’ the science was imparted by Viṣṇu; it is in almost complete agreement with the ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’ and, though uttered by Viṣṇu pertains exclusively to Śiva temples.

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The manifold interconnections within these texts are shown as much by their statements as by the names of those to whom they are attributed.

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In the ‘Viṣṇudharmottara’, III, chapters LXXXVI-VIII, it is Mārkaṇḍeya, who instructs King Vajra in the science of architecture.¹⁶ Mārkaṇḍeya, according to the ‘Hayaśīrṣapañcarātra’ I. 1-7, had received the science from Bhṛgu to whom it had been transmitted by Maheśvara (Śiva). Maheśvara had received it from Brahmā, and Brahmā from Viṣṇu as Hayaśīrṣa.

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¹⁶ In part II. ch. XXIX, Puṣkara (Śiva ?) instructs Bhārgava Rāma. ‘Pauṣkara’ is one of the 25 Tantras of the ‘Agnipurāṇa’, XXXIX. It is not known to which dynasty King Vajra belonged. If the name Bṛhadratha, in the ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’ could be taken to refer to the last Maurya King of that name, the ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’ would thereby show its teaching established in Eastern India before 184 B.C.

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Vasiṣṭha : Br. S. Comm.; ‘Agni Purāṇa’; ‘Devī Purāṇa’, LXXII. 1-4. Viśvakarman : ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’, ‘Agni Purāṇa’. Maya : ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’ ; ‘Īśānaśivagurudevapaddhati’. Nārada : ‘Agni Purāṇa’; ‘Mānasāra’. Nagnajit : ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’; ‘Citralakṣaṇa’. Nandīśa (Nandin) : Br. S. Comm. Śukra : Br. S. Comm. ; ‘Nāradaśilpaśāstra’. Bṛhaspati : Br. S. Comm. ; ‘Nāradaśilpaśāstra’, ‘Devī Purāṇa’; ‘Mānasāra’.

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In addition to the eighteen Preceptors of the ‘Matsya Purāṇa’, the ‘Agni Purāṇa’, XXXIX. 1-6, gives the names of 25 Tantras amongst which six of the names of the ‘Matsyapurāṇa’ are included as ‘authors’ and also the ‘Hayaśīrṣapañcarātra’ as ‘Hayaśīrṣa-tantra’. The 25 Tantras, most of which are known as yet by their names only, appear to have belonged to Madhyadeśa (A.P. XXXIX. 6.).

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Of the many preceptors and authorities whose names are not included in the “Eighteen”, the following have been referred to in the present context : Parāśara : ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’; Br. S. Comm. ; ‘Manuṣyālayacandrikā’. Mārkaṇḍeya : ‘Mārkaṇḍeya-vāstuśāstra’, cf. Ph. N. Bose, ‘Principles of Indian Śilpaśāstra’, (Punjab Oriental Series, vol. XII. p. 12). Two works by Mārkaṇḍeya are referred to in the ‘Manuṣyālayacandrikā’, I. 7-9. Aparājita, a mind-born son of Viśvakarman : ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’ II. I. The ‘Aparājitapṛcchā’, ‘Aparājitaprabhā’ and the ‘Aparājitasūtra’ of the ‘Bṛhacchilpaśāstra’ bear his name. Marīci, the author of the ‘Vaikhānāsāgama’ is referred to in the ‘Nāradaśilpaśāstra’. Further authorities referred to in the Commentary of the ‘Bṛhat Saṃhitā’ include Kāśyapa to whom might be traced back the prototype of the ‘Kāśyapaśilpa’. Śrī Kumāra, the author of the ‘Śilparatna’ may have his place in the tradition as a successor of the Preceptor Kumāra (Svāmikārttika) of the ‘Matsyapurāṇa’.

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The continuity of the tradition is given not only by the contents but frequently also by the names of the Śāstras and those who compiled them. The ‘Viśvakarmaprakāśa’ for example is the work of a disciple of Viśvakarmā. Originally, the name Viśvakarmā is that of the working aspect of the Supreme Principle, Brahmā being its thinking aspect. Thus Viśvakarmā is a proper name not only of a great architect, but every Sthapati is descended from Viśvakarmā. Correspondingly, the other three classes of craftsmen are born of Maya, Tvaṣṭr and Manu, respectively, (‘Mānasāra’, II). Thus is undone ontologically the fall of the architect and the craftsmen (those who are Vaiśyas and Śūdras, cf. ‘Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra’ VII. 14-17) as narrated in the ‘Brahmavaivarta Purāṇa’.

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The wealth and contingencies which time, place and the ethnical carriers have brought to the structure of the temple are comprehended in Vāstuśāstra. Their minutiae are measured against abiding principles. All the time the architect carries within him the knowledge and responsibility of his descent which is confirmed,—or of his fall—which is redeemed, by his work which implies a realisation of its origin and purpose.

॥ नारदोर्यं वास्तुपुरुषविधानम् ॥

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अथ अष्टमोऽध्यायः

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अथातः सम्प्रवक्ष्यामि वास्तुचक्रस्य लक्षणम् । दशोर्ध्वरेखां १ विन्यस्य तिर्यग्रेखा दशस्तथा ॥१॥ तद्व्रखान्तं त्रिशूलं च तत्सन्धौ बीजमेव च । कोणाम्रे दण्डरेखां च पार्श्वे...२ विनिक्षिपेत् ॥२॥ एवं कृते भवेच्चक्रं वास्तुचक्रं प्रकीर्तितम् । वास्तुचक्रे वास्तुदेवं शयानं वामभागतः ॥३॥ वामादि (पादादि) केशपर्यन्तं वामाङ्गादक्षिणङ्गतः । उत्तमाङ्गे त्रिकोणं स्याल्ललाटे द्विपदं तथा ॥४॥ कर्णयोः षट्पदं चैव नेत्रे द्विपदमेव च । चिबुकैकपदं प्रोक्तं कण्ठे त्वेकपदं तथा ॥५॥ बाहुमूले द्विरेखा स्यादुरसि साधष्टपदम् । भुजस्थाने तु षट्कोणं अङ्गुल्यासुतकोणकम् ॥६॥ कुक्षौ तु रामकोणं स्यात्कठ्यां षट्कोणमेव च । गुदे त्रिकोणं सौर्यं स्यादण्डे रेखाद्वयं तथा ॥७॥ ऊरुदेशे चतुष्कोणं ३ जानुदेशे त्रिकोणकम् । जङ्घे तु भूतकोणं स्यात्पदे कोणद्वयं तथा ॥८॥ कटिञ्च ४ त्रिकोणं स्यादङ्गुल्यां सम रेखिकाः । शेषास्त्वर्धषः कोणा अनुक्ताङ्गे नियोजिताः ॥९॥ तत्तदङ्गे वदान्यत्र ५ सावशेषेण संयुतम् । ऐशानं शिरोमूलं नैष (नैर्ऋतं) म्यादपमूलतः ॥१०॥ नक्षत्रपादपर्यन्तं बाहुस्थानं प्रकीर्तितम् । कर्णस्थानं नगपदः इन्द्रकोणं कटिर्भवेत् ॥११॥ अङ्गुलिनिर्देशमारभ्य ऊरुदेशावधिस्तथा । पुराणसंख्याकोणं स्याज्जानुदेशं द्विपञ्चकम् ॥१२॥

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