Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c74.16

v2.c74.16

Let us now come to the Pratimā-lakṣaṇas. It is for the first time that necessary information on this very vast subject has been sorted out and gathered together in single chapters, devoted to the three principal iconic cults, the Brahmanism, Buddhism and Jainism. The interpretation of the Pratimā-lakṣaṇas of a particular deity in a critical and comparative estimation, is one of the special features of the treatment of the Brahmanical Images. Besides to avoid unwieldy lakṣaṇas, only tabulations are given of the sub-varieties of different categories of icons. Another feature of the Pratimā-lakṣaṇa is an appendage of an anthology of Pratimā-lakṣaṇa in one of the appendices in the end.