Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus c4.s3.2

c4.s3.2

Various names are given to pillars, by way of distinction, with regard to their forms: "A square pillar is called *brahmacánta*; an octangular one, *vishnucánta*; that which is circular or has sixteen sides, *rudracánta*; that which has five sides, *sivacánta*; and that which has six sides, *s'chanda-cánta*." The whole shaft may be of the same form, or in pillars of other forms, than square; the bottom, middle, and top may be quadrangular, and the intermediate spaces of other forms. "If the whole shaft from bottom to top be uniformly cylindrical and devoid of ornament, it is called *chandracánta*.