Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v1.c31: Chapter LI.

Vāstu-śāstra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v1.c31

Language: English

Chapter LI.

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Brahmā, the first Lord, Vairāja the first chariot and so Vairāja was the first Prāsāda.

The sublimest praise of this primordial type connected with the Primordial Creator Himself hints at the Brāhmanic conception of the Hindu Temple in unmistakable sense, a notice of which is taken in the Study Proper (vide Denotation and Connotation of the Prāsāda and Planning of the Prāsāda (chap. II and X). The text has bestowed upon this first type of the Hindu temple all the ornamentation and decorative elements of Hindu Architecture (S. S. 52. 79).

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Next follow the series of temple-types springing from the Vairāja, the primordial type in the following succession :—

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3rd Series

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| 1. | Svastika | gave | rise | to | Rucaka |
| 2. | Śrītaru | ,, | ,, | ,, | Siṁhapañjara |
| 3. | Kṣitibhūṣaṇa | ,, | ,, | ,, | Śāla |
| 4. | Bhujaya | ,, | ,, | ,, | Gajāyūthapa |
| 5. | Vijaya | ,, | ,, | ,, | Avataṁśa |
| 6. | Bhadra | ,, | ,, | ,, | Nandī |
| 7. | Śrīkūṭa | ,, | ,, | ,, | Citrakūṭa |
| 8. | Uṣṇīṣa | ,, | ,, | ,, | Pramadāpriya |
| 9. | Nandyāvarta | ,, | ,, | ,, | Vyāmiśra |
| 10. | Vimāna | ,, | ,, | ,, | Hastijātika |
| 11. | Sarvatobhadra | ,, | ,, | ,, | Kubera |
| 12. | Muktakoṇa | ,, | ,, | ,, | Dharādhara |
| | or (Vimuktakoṇa) | | | | |

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All these varieties can be multiplied in the superior, middle a inferior types. Another special variety born of the Vairāja is eightfold Śikharottama Prāsādas (having the super-structure or the Śikhara, the characteristic feature of the Nāgara temples in monuments, the specimen of which are found in Khajuraho, Bhuvaneśvara and in so many other parts of Northern India). They are Rucaka, Vardhamānaka, Avataṁsa, Bhadra, Sarvatobhadra, Muktakoṇaka, Meru and Mandara. These are all Brahmajātikas and belonging to one and the same family and are highly extolled—the superior most types of the temple types. They should be planned likewise. From these are born their sons and grand sons keeping their blood unmixed, multiplying their names and these temples are very auspicious bestowers of prosperity and fulfillers of desires. They should not be contaminated with the mixture of other family and if it is done, it is an augury of bad days. CHAPTER LII Prāsāda-Dvāramānādi CHAPTER LIII Jaghanya-Vāstu-Dvāra. CHAPTER LIV Prāsāda-Śubhāśubha-Lakṣaṇa.

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The first chapter deals with the different and manifold elements of the temple architecture along with the component parts of a temple, a detailed tabulation of all these will be found in the study proper.

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The second chapter has the similar theme. It gives the proportionate measurements of the principal parts of a Nirandhāra Prāsāda having Jaghanya-Vāstu (Tirgāyata) more especially of the door.

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The third chapter in this series enumerates structural merits and demerits of the Prāsāda a tabulation of which can be seen elsewhere.

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II. Second Type.

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CHAPTER LV. Rucakādi-Prāsādas—Rucaka etc. 65 Temples.

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"From now onward, I shall be describing the sixty-four temples, Rucaka etc. having the super-structure of Śikhara, with the details of names and designations in succession. From the five Vimānas formerly described, all the twenty-four Prāsādas took their shapes. The Śikharas of manifold shapes are their principal characteristic features. Another feature is that some are decorated with only one Aṇḍa, some with three and others with five with the slight difference, all these varieties are virtuous and bestowers of all desires. When made in gold or silver and studded with jewels—maṇi, muktā, prabāla etc. and decorated with ornaments, they are the favourite ones to the gods and they are free to move anywhere they like, when they are otherwise good but made of brass, copper, etc. they belong to Piśācas, Nāgas and Rākṣasas. Both these varieties are called 'Devalokas'. When they are otherwise good but made of stone (obtained from Sphaṭika Śilā), they are appropriate to denizens of the Pātāla; but when made in burnt brick, wood and stone, they please and bestow happiness both on the architect, the builder and the Yajamāna, the patron—they are the ornaments of the town and bestowers of prosperity, earthly and spiritual and these in their designation and other details are now being described".

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These 64 Prāsādas are described in detail under the three classifications:—

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| 1. Lalita-Prāsādas | 25 | \multirow{*}{} All these are tabulated with names and shapes and other characteristics in a chart (see Part V).} |
| 2. Sāndhāra Prāsādas | 25 | |
| 3. Miśraka Prāsādas | 14 | |
| (including Nigūḍha) | | |
| \multicolumn{r}{Total} | 64 | |

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A special feature of these temples is their Aṇḍaka-vartanā, the employment of spires from one to one hundred one—the latter being bestowed upon the Prāsādaraja Meru—so much eulogised in both these chapters (55, 56). Another architectural characteristic is the excessive employment of the Rathikās, the buttresses, in super-structure. Another point to note in connection with the construction of this temple Meru is that the canons of its architect, the Sthapati and the builder, the Yajamāna are assigned castewise. Only a Kṣatriya can be its builder, only a Vaiśya its master architect and if this rule is violated, misfortunes may befall them (see lines 36-43/56). In the end, the Parivāradevatās in these temples and the gods so enumerated have an iconographical interest.

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III. Type.

Cites (3)

Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra — Bhoja, Sanskrit
Khajuraho
Sarvatobhadra (Mīṭhālāla Aṭaladāsa Vyāsa) — Mīṭhālāla Aṭaladāsa Vyāsa, Sanskrit