Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v1.c48.s2: The Śilparatna, Re-arranged
Vāstu-śāstra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v1.c48.s2
- Language
- English
The Śilparatna, Re-arranged
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| Broad Division of the subject matter | No. of the R. A. chapters | Contents | Nos. of the original chapters |
| I Preliminaries | 1 | Maṅgala, Anukramaṇī, Acāryalakṣaṇa. and Śilpi-lakṣaṇa | 1 |
| | 2 | Māna | 2 |
| | 3 | Bhūmilakṣaṇa | 3 |
| | 4 | Śūdra-parigraha and Halakarṣaṇa | 4 |
| | 5 | Pada-vinyāsa | 6 |
| | 6 | Vāstu-marma | 13 |
| | 7 | Vāstupūjā | 7 |
| | 8 | Dik-pariccheda | 11. |
| | 9 | Āyādi-lakṣaṇa and Kāśyapakṣa | 15. |
| | 10 | Garbha-nyāsa, the Foundation | 12 |
| II Town-planning | 11 | Grāmādi-lakṣaṇa—villages, towns, capitals, garden-cities including the tanks and Vāpīs therein | 5 |
| | 12 | Gramādīnāṁ dvāravidhiḥ | 8 |
| | 13 | Gārmādiṣu devālayaniyam-vidhi—the foundation and dedication of temples | 9 |
| | 14 | Gṛhārambha (vs. 112-15) | 21 |
| III Civil planning (Residential Houses and their architecture) | 15 | Manuṣyālaya-lakṣaṇam—in details of Vedīs, Vīthīs, manifold varities of Śālabhavanas, doors etc. etc. | 31 (Pt. II) |
| | 16 | Asanādi-pricchada-lakṣaṇam—Household furniture like couches, fans, umbrelas, cots, conveyances, palanquines, chariots, boats, mañca, vetraka, pādukā ulūkhala, tulā, taila-droṇi. jala-yantra, ikṣu-yantra-nāḍī-yantra etc. etc. | 33 (Pt, II) |
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*N. B.*—As regards Temple-architecture—this text expounds this subject according to both the famous schools of Indian Architecture viz. the Nāgara and Drāviḍa. The Śilpratna, as already remarked is comparatively a modern manual, hence by its time both the styles of temple-architecture were fully developed. Naturally this subject is not very haphazardly treated. The treatement of the subjet in chapters 14-43 is alright The two chapters in the end of the 1st pt. i e. Sandhikarma and Citralakṣaṇa though apparently ill-arranged, nevertheless justify their grouping in the context of temple-architecture where Sandhikarm with esp. ref. to timber and the painting on the walls are justified.
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We have thus trodden a very long path noticing (though very briefly indeed) as many as six standard manuals of Hindu architecture. What have we gained? Firstly our architectural traditions have retained a character, a changeless back-ground, the Ādhāra and allowed a changing edifice, the Ādheva. This is truely Indian. Secondly all these texts owe their origin to a common fountain, a neo-religious upsurge as propogated by the Purāṇas and Āgamas in both the parts of our land, the North and the South. Consequently our architectural traditions are not only religious in their origin but also mystic in their evolution. This mysticism is the philosophy of architecture what is the martix of Indian architecture and its perfection as well. This is a general estimation of our architectural lore as is presented by these representative texts.
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The next question which was put in the beginning, still remains to be attempted, namely are all these texts equally representative? Yes they are all equally represnetative in the context of the different evolutions of the art. The Mānasāra. to my mind. is the earliest representative text on Drāviḍa-Vāstu-vidyā when lofty palaces served to all intents and purposes, the abodes of gods and god-like kings. This is really a very daring proposition, but it is my own thesis as per my theory that Dravidian architecture is earlier than Nāgara-architectutre or the Northern Prāsāda-architecture. Archaeological evidences may not prove this contention of mine, but cultural history of our very ancient land as per the recent finds at very ancient sites like Mohenjodaro and Harappa have proved it cf. the previous chapter 'An outline history of Hindu Architecture' (both as a science and art). The Mayamata represents a later phase when admixture of Aryan and non-Aryan traditions of the art had begun. The Śilparatna may be regarded as the consummation of this tendency when all-India-Hindu composite-architecture had taken its emergence. Similar is the story of the Northern texts, the Viśvakarmā's works, the S. S. and the A. P. and a detailed discussion may not be attempted as much has been said in the preceeding pages.
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FUNDAMENTAL CANONS OF HINDU ARCHITECTURE
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In the preceding pages we have already covered a sufficient ground to enable us to proceed now with the foundation of the edifice of the Science. The question is: What are the fundamental pillars on which this great edifice of Hindu Science of Architecture stands? We shall see (vide Pt. III House-Architecture) that the central post was the prime regulator of house-construction in India. It was as fundamental as the trunk of a tree. Tree-model was the primordial model of a house-plan (cf. the story of the birth of human home—the Śālā-house Pt. III) and the abundant application of pillars was one of the chief features of an Indian building whether a residential house or a palace, a sabhā or a temple (or more correctly a temple-pavillion, Prāsāda-maṇḍapa). Naturally you cannot say which pillar or pillars are more basic than others. But if you ponder over the problem and visualise the basic importance of the structure, you must come to the conclusion that as many as five pillars carry cardinal worth with them. These are the four cordinal and one central posts. Similarly sustaining the analogy, to my mind, there are the following five fundamental pillars of the stable edifice of our science and we can call them the fundamental canons:
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1. Diṅnirṇaya, Doctrine of Orientation.
2. Vāstu-pada-vinyāsa, the Site-planning.
3. Māna, (Hastalakṣaṇa), the proportionate measurements of a structure.
5. Āyādi-Saḍvarga, the Six Canons of Hindu Architecture.
5. Patākādi-Saṭ-Chandas—the character of the building (its aspect and prospect etc.)
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The standard manuals of Hindu Science of architecture expound a large number of canons of architecture. This we have already seen. But a selection has to be made to bring home to the readers, the unique character of our Vāstu-śāstra, which, though on par with many an ancient cognate treatises like the one attributed to Vitruvius, the great Greek-architect-writer, has its own character which gives to it a unique importance in the context of cultural content of Hindu civilization which has always been glorified (or more correctly damned) as a spiritual civilization and hence devoid of any civil sense in the matters of house-planning. We are misrepresented that we could only build great temples and there was no civil or popular or secular architecture in India. A brief exposition of all these fundamentals must dispell the darkness shrouding our vision. Let us take these one by one.