Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c74.s2.84

v2.c74.s2.84

The iconometrical measurements as laid down in the ancient text like Mārīcī’s Vaikhānasāgama (P. L. p. 15) are sixfold: *Māna*, *Pramāṇa*, *Unmāna*, *Parimāṇa*, *Upamāna* and *Lambamāna*. “Māna is the measurement of the length of a body; pramāna is that of the breadth, that is a linear measurement taken at right angles to and in the same plane as the māna; measurements taken at right angles to the plane, in which the māna and pramāna measures have been noted, are called unmāna, which obiviously means the measure of thickness; pramāṇa is the measurement of girtha or periptery of images; upamāna refers to the measurements of inter-spaces, such as, for instance, that between the two feet of an image; and lastly lambamāna is the name given to measurements taken along plumb lines.”