Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus c4.s3.1

c4.s3.1

The fifteenth chapter of the *Mánasára* treats of the several sorts of pillars, their various dimensions, forms, and ornaments, as does likewise the ninth section of the *Cásyapa*: the two together seem to afford all the requisite information on this head. "The height of a pillar," says *Mánasára*, "when placed on a base only, or both on a base and pedestal, is measured from the plinth (of the former) up to the lowest part of the entablature," that is, from the base to the capital inclusive. A passage in the *Cásyapa* states, that the measurement may also be taken from the cimbia of the shaft, exclusive of the base. "Let the height of the pillar," continues the first-mentioned author, "be divided into twelve, eleven, ten, nine, or eight parts, and one be taken for the breadth of the foot of the shaft; and the same being divided again by the number of parts of which the height of the pillar may consist, let the upper extremity of it be diminished by one of those parts respectively." "The height of the pillar," says *Cásyapa*, "may be three times that of the base, or six or eight times that of the pedestal; the breadth of the pillar may be a sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, or tenth part of its height; if it be made of wood or stone, one-third, or one-fourth, or one-sixth of the height if it be a pilaster joined to a wall, (*cudyastambha*)."