Elements of Hindu Iconography v1.c8.179

v1.c8.179

makuṭa is included. “The *uṣṇīṣa-bhūṣaṇa** should be made so as to be of three *aṅgulas* in height. On its four sides there must be four *pūris*. In the middle of the *uṣṇīṣa* there must be a *makarakūṭa* with seven holes. On each side there has to be a *patra-kūṭa* and on the back, a *ratna-kūṭa*. The breadth of the *uṣṇīṣa* must be ten *aṅgulas* at the top, while at the base it has to be the same as that of the face of the wearer. A crescent of the moon has, in the case of the image of Śiva, to be attached to it either on the left or on the right side, and there is to be a cobra on the left side. The *jaṭā-makuṭa* is in fact as described below: five *jaṭās* or braids of matted hair are taken and tied into a knot three inches in height by coiling them into one or three loops, the remaining braids being bound and