Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c74.s7.4

v2.c74.s7.4

We have taken Āsana so far only in one sense (some of them however, illustrate both the senses). In another sense, the word Āsana can also mean a seat or even a pedestal. For the pedestal, however, the word Pīṭha is frequently used. T. A. Gopinath Rao refers to five different kinds of seats as mentioned in the Suprabhedāgama viz. Anantāsana, Simhāsana, Yogāsana, Padmāsana, and Vimalāsana. According to Chandra Jñāna, Anantāsana is a triangular seat, Simhāsana is rectangular, Vimalāsana hexagonal, Yogāsana octagonal, and Padmāsana circular'. According to Sri Bannerjea, these are the detached pīṭhas which were used on particular occasions for seating the images, *e. g.* worship, offering, witnessing amusements or invocations.