The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c7.381

v1.c7.381

Rām Rāz's description of the second corresponds very closely with the Tanjore text, which bears the name of *Maya Śilpa*, alias *Maya-mata*, alias *Vāstuśāstra*, alias *Pritiṣṭhāna Tantra*. It is written in the Tāntric style and evidently belongs to a much later age than that of the Pāṇḍus for whom its reputed author, Maya,⁵³ built a palace, or that of Daśaratha for whom, according to Rām Rāz, he is likewise said to have built a royal residence. The MS. is incomplete and corrupt. It is written in verse, and extends to nineteen hundred verses, divided into twenty-six chapters as follows : 1. Architecture defined ; 2-3. Examination and purification of the grounds intended to be built upon ; 4. Measurement of land ; 5. Ascertainment of the points of the compass ; 6. Fixing of pegs to demarcate the spots for building ; 7. Offerings to gods ; 8-9. Measures for villages and rules for laying out towns and villages ; 10. Direction for laying out squares, octagons, &c. ; 11. Laying the foundation of a house, and the ceremonies to be observed on the occasion ; 12. Plinths ; 13. Bases ; 14. Pillars ; 15. Stone work ; 16. Joining and cementation ; 17. Spires or tops of houses ; 18. One-storeyed houses ; 19. Two-storeyed houses ; 20-21. Three, four, &c, storeyed houses ; 22. *Gopuras* or gates ; 23. *Maṇḍapas* ; 24. Out-offices, barns, treasuries, &c. ; 25. Open courts or *choultrees* ; 26. Linear measure. On the whole the work sticks pretty closely to architecture, and indulges very little in astrological vagaries, which prevail so greatly in the other works.