The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c8.74

v1.c8.74

**Season for Building** : Some of the Purāṇas, as also the *Mānasāra*, give detailed descriptions of various kinds of wood adapted for use in making dwellings, the seasons when the trees which yield them should be felled, their respective values for different purposes, the ceremonies to be observed when proceeding to fell trees for obtaining supplies of timber, the mode of seasoning them, &c. ; but as wood occurs but very sparingly in the buildings which form the subjects of this work, it is not necessary to notice them at length. The former, likewise, afford directions regarding the seasons and stellar conjunctions most favourable for commencing the building of temples and houses, and the ceremonies to be observed on such occasions. Thus the *Matsya Purāṇa* : "The man who commences a building in the month of Caitra, earns ill-health ; he who does so in Vaiśākha gains wealth and jewels, but in Jaiṣṭha, he encounters death. Should he begin it in the month of Āṣāḍha, he will obtain slaves, jewels, cattle, and a good complexion. In Śrāvaṇa he will secure friends, and in Bhādra lose them. A house begun in Āśvina brings in the death of one's wife, in Kārtika, the gain of wealth and corn, in Mārgaśīrṣa, abundance of food, and in Pauṣa, the fear of thieves. It is ordained that the month of Māgha ensures gain and learning, but it also brings on fire ; while Phālguna gives offspring, and gold. Such are the effects of seasons".²⁴ Of lunar constellations the following are described as the most appropriate, viz., Aśvinī, Rohiṇī, Mūlā, Uttarā Āṣāḍhā, Uttara Bhādrapada, Uttara Phalguni, Mṛga-śirā, Svāti, Hastā, and Anurādhā.²⁵ Of the days of the week, Sundays and Tuesdays are injurious, the rest are appropriate.²⁶ Much weight is also laid on particular conjunctions, but as these cannot be made intelligible to European readers without entering into tedious details, I shall not quote them here. The *Hayaśīrṣa Pañcarātra*, a Tantra of the Vaiṣṇavite class, has also some rules on the subject; but they are scarcely worth noticing. According to it the rainy season is the most inappropriate, and no building should be commenced in it. The first ten days of the wane, the second five days of the waxing moon, the 4th, the 9th, and the 14th of both the wane and the waxing moon, are also said to be reprehensible.²⁷ It differs from the last authority, however, in rejecting only the Sunday, and not also Tuesday, and approving of some of the Nakṣatras which the former condemns.