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Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c77: Chapter V: The Aṇḍaka Measurements & the Proportionate Measurements

Vāstu-śāstra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c77

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English

Chapter V: The Aṇḍaka Measurements & the Proportionate Measurements

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The 74th Chapter of the S.S. entitled "Aṇḍaka-pramāṇam" is unique in the respect that it has practically exhausted all the possible scope of the Aṇḍaka-measurements, which in its turn represents the scope of the painting itself (vide II Chap.). Further more these prescriptions of the Aṇḍaka-measurements are a unique feature of this text. Such an elaboration in any treatise on the paintings (including Viṣṇudharmottara) is not to be found. Further again all these Aṇḍaka-measurements are characteristic of pictorial images and, therefore, they are unique for their innovations in relation to existing canons of paintings. Again it may be noted that the very first line of this chapter (74th) promises us body-dimensions—Kāyapramāṇa also, which are described in the subsequent chapter entitled "Mānotpatti" (the 75th) and hence both these chapters read together, give all the required proportions. (cf. also Cit. Laks. p. 16)

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Now the question is: What does this aṇḍaka mean? Its architectural meaning is cupola. This I have already indicated (vide Temple Architecture). Its meaning in Iconography, i. e. painting, in my opinion, is the model, a bare outline, a mark, as it were. Before a picture is painted on any background, it must have an outline. Or Aṇḍaka is the same as is now called 'Badāma' in shape of the dry fruit (?). As the aṇḍaka of a temple indicates its character (very important element of Architecture) so the aṇḍaka in Painting is also its index of the picture to be painted.

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Various kinds of aṇḍakas are described. The author first takes the Mukhāṇḍaka and Vṛttāṇḍaka and then proceeds with other aṇḍakas Alasāṇḍaka etc. The first 4 lines being corrupt, it is difficult to reconstruct the authentic measurements of the Mukhāṇḍaka. Regarding the Vṛttāṇḍaka, the text lays down its proportions as consisting of Trikoṭi and its shape to be oval as its very name indicates and the Alasāṇḍaka in proportion of only half of the Golaka. The following table will show at a glance the respective sizes of the aṇḍakas in relation to the different species of the beings, men, women, children, gods and demi-gods.

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Sl. No. A—Aṇḍaka Pramāṇa

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| Species | Length | Breadth | Descriptions |
| 1. Men .. | 6 | 5 | .. |
| 2. Women .. | ... | .. | In likeness of a coconut (fruit) |
| 3. Children .. | 5 | 4 | .. |
| 4. Rākṣasas .. | 7 | 6 | In the likeness of the circle of moon. |
| 5. Divine beings .. | 8 | 6 | .. |
| 6. Divya-Mānuṣa .. | 6½ | 5½ | Half of the Golakas in excess to the proportion of the Mānuṣāṇḍaka. |
| 7. Pramathas .. | 5 | 4 | In the proportion of the children's Aṇḍaka. |
| 8. Yātudhānas .. | 7 | 6 | (cf. Rākṣas). |
| 9. Dānavas .. | 8 | 6 | (cf. Divine beings). |
| 10. Gandharvas .. | 8 | 6 | .. |
| 11. Nāgas .. | 8 | 6 | .. |
| 12. Yakṣas .. | 8 | 6 | .. |
| 13. Vidyādharas .. | 6½ | 5½ | (cf. (6) above). |

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It may be further pointed out that all these individuals can have for their respective Aṇḍaka measurements all the principal three categories of Aṇḍakas, namely Mukhāṇḍaka, Vṛttāṇḍaka and Alasāṇḍaka. As the text has not given these absolute proportions in every case, I have left them out for the fear of an incoherent picture (likely to emerge).

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Now the body-dimensions (Kāyā-Pramāṇas), already referred to in the introductory para of this chapter, may be taken up.

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There are two different kinds of units of measuremrnts, namely the absolute and the relative. "Of these the first is based upon the length of certain natural objects, while the second is obtained from the length of a particular part or limb of the person whose measurement is under consideration. The following table gives relation between the quantities used in the absolute system:—

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| 8 | Paramāṇus | make | 1 | Raja | 8 | Yūkās | make | 1 | Yava |
| 8 | Rajas | „ | 1 | Roma | 8 | Yavas | „ | 1 | Aṅgula |
| 8 | Romas | „ | 1 | Likṣā | 2 | Aṅgulas | „ | 1 | Golaka or kalā |
| 8 | Likṣās | „ | 1 | Yūkā | 2 | Golakas or kalās. | „ | 1 | Bhāga. |

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(S.S. 45. 1—3).

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With this table of units of measurements, the following table will give at a glance the respective bodily proportions in relation to the different beings:—

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B—Kaya Pramana.

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| Individuals | | Proportions Length | Proportions Breadth | Remarks |
| 1. Devas | .. | 30 | 8 | |
| 2. Asuras | .. | 29 | 7½ | |
| 3. Rākṣasas | .. | 27 | 7 | |
| 4. Divyamānuṣa | .. | .. | .. | |
| 5. Men | | | | |
| (*a*) Puruṣottama (superior) | .. | 24½ | 6 | |
| (*b*) Madhyama (Middle) | .. | 23 | 5½ | |
| (*c*) Kanīya (Inferior) | .. | 22 | 5 | |
| 6. Kubjas (Humpbacked). | .. | 14 | 5 | |
| 7. Vāmana (Dwarf) | .. | 7½ | 5 | |
| 8. Kinnaras | .. | 7½ | 5 | |
| 9. Pramathas | .. | 6 | 4 | |

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Another unique feature of this text in this connection is the prescriptions of the various forms in relation to all the kingdoms, divine, mortal and animal. A few of these specimens are tabulated as hereunder:- -

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C—The Different Forms, *i. e.* Rupa

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| Species | No. of forms | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Remarks. |
| 1. Gods | 3 | Sūraja | Kumbhaka | | .. | missing |
| 2. Divyamānuṣa | 1 | Divyə nānusa | .. | | .. | |
| 3. Asura | 3 | Cakra | Mut | Tīrṇaka | | |
| 4. Rākṣasa | 2 | Durdara | Śakaṭa | Kūrma | | |
| 5. Men | 5 | Hamśa | Śaśa | Rucaka | Bhadra | Mālavya |
| 6. ? | 2 | Meṣa | Vṛttākara | .. | .. | |
| 7. Vāmana (dwarf) | 3 | Piṇḍa | Sthāna | Padmaka | .. | |
| 8. Pramatha | 3 | Kūṣmāṇḍaka | Karvaṭa | Tiryak | .. | Missing |
| 9. Kinnara | 3 | Mayūra | Kurvaṭa | Kaśa | .. | |
| 10. Women | 5 | Balākā | Pauruṣī | Vṛttā | Daṇḍā | |

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11. (*a*) Elephant (in relation to the place of birth). 4 Bhadra Manda Mṛga Miśra (*b*) Elephant 3 Hilly Riverine Belonging to desert.
12. Horses (Rathyā) *i. e* Vehicular. 2 Pārasa Uttara .. ..
13. Lion 4 Śikharāśraya (belonging to the peaks of the mountains). Bilāśraya (belonging to caves), Gulmāśraya (belonging to thickets of the forest). Tṛṇāśraya (belonging to forest proper).
14. Vyāla 16 (varieties)

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1. Hariṇa (Deer)
2. Gṛdhraka (Vulture)
3. Śuka (Parrot)
4. Kukkuṭa (Hen)
5. Siṁha (Lion)
6. Śārdūla (Tiger)
7. Vṛka (Wolf)
8. Aja (Goat)
9. Gaṇḍaka (Rhinoceros)
10. Gaja (Elephant)
11. Kroḍa (Hog)
12. Aśva (Horse)
13. Mahiṣa (Buffalo)
14. Śvāna (Dog)
15. Markaṭa (Monkey)
16. Khara (Ass).

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*N. B.*—In the Viṣṇudharmottara also, these different motifs of gods, demons, men and animals are a common property, but they are only hinted at and not elaborated there.

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Now with this presentation of the Aṇḍaka measurements, as regards the other proportionate measurements, it may be pointed out, at the very outset that these are really a common property both of the pictorial art and sculptural one. A detailed exposition of this theme has already been made before vide ‘Iconoplanning and Iconometry’ Pt. I Chap. III and therefore they need not be taken up at all here.

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From the point of view of the picture-drawing, however, there are certain convention in the proportionate measurements which have to be observed. These are very brilliantly presented in the pages of the V. D,.

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and I am taking liberty to use Prof. Kramrish translation of these passagcs of the text. (cf. also Cit. laks p. 19-21):

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“All kings should be (made) endowed wtth the marks of mahāpurushas and all sovereign rulers should be (made) with webbed hands and feet. And a circle of hair should be drawn auspiciously between their eyebrows. On the hands of kings should certainly be drawn three beautiful auspicious lines slenderly curving and resembling the scratches (made) by a hare.

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The hair should be represented auspicious, fine, resembling the deep blue sapphire, adorned by its own greasiness and with the undulation of that essential requisite. (The different) classes of hair are the following: (1) Kuntala, (loose) hair, (2) Dakṣiṇāvarta, curled towards the right, (3) Taraṅga (wavy), (4) Siṁhakeśara (mane-like), (5) Vardhara (parted), and (6) Jaṭatasara (matted).

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An eye should be of the form of a bow or (like) the abdomen of a fish, or like a petal of the blue lotus (utpala), or of the white lotus (padma), a fifth, (oh) great king, is said to be of the form of a grindstone. An eye of the form of a bow should belong to women (in general). An eye of 4 *yavas* (in width) is called by the naine of fish-abdomen. A blue-lotus-petal-eye is traditionally said to be 6 *yavas* and a red- or white-lotus-petal eye is 9 *yavas* in measurement. So an eye of the shape of a grind stone should be 10 *yavas*. The measure of a *yava* should be calculated proportionate to the ineasurement of an *angula*, which has its own standard.

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The eye assumes the shape of a bow when looking at the ground in meditation. (An eye) of the form of a fish-abdomen should be painted (in the case) of women and lovers. An eye of the shape of the blue-lotus-petal is said to be of the ever-calm. An eye of the lotus-petal shape befits the frightened and crying. An eye of grind-stone shape is in its place with the angry and woe-stricken.

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Sages, ancestors (*i. e.*, manes) and gods, (oh) lord of men, should be made glowing and with ornaments consistent with their own colour and outshining (*lit.* robbing the splendour of others who are lustrous). (Oh) best of kings, that is verily beautiful and devoid of crooked lines (which is) done as aforesaid with these measurements, suitable, unreproachable, in positions with various rays of light (स्थानैरनेककिरणै:) on them, within (appropriate) surroundings (*lit*; fixed grounds, (स्थिरभूमिलम्भ:) by the excrtion of (the artist's) own intellect, after he has carefully considered (everything).

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Mārkaṇḍeya said: The eye (becomes) charming (when it is) like the blue-lotus-petal (utpalapatrābha), red at the corners and with black pupils, smiling, gentle and ending in long eye-lashes, (oh) best of men. The hands of gods, (oh) king, should be conducive to the welfare of the people (*i. e.*, represented in a benevolent attitude). The eyes (should be) wide, with black pupils, adding beauty to the divine face, beautiful to look at, charming to the mind, smiling and with ends like those of blue-lotus petals, with eye-lashes bent at the ends, of equal size, gentle and (with the white) of the colour of cow's milk.

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The face beautiful all over should be fully developed : (it should be) well finished, benignant, marked with all the auspicious marks, not triangular and not crooked. One who wishes good to the people should discard (a too profuse employment of) large circles, triangles and other (geometrical shapes) when representing gods. (Oh) perpetuator of the Yadu race, the gods should be represented according to the Hamsa-measure. They should have hairs on their eye-lashes and eye-brows only; their body (however) should be entirely devoid of hairs. Those who live in heaven have always smiling faces and eyes, and look like (youths) of the age of sixteen. They should be drawn wearing auspicious strings of garlands and ornamented by crowns, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, ornaments of the upper arm, long girdles reaching up to the ornaments on the feet, and sacred threads with ornaments for the head. Their shoulders should be broad. (Oh) tiger among men, they should be represented with beautiful loin-coth on the left, reaching below the knee; the right knee (however) should be shown. The linen scarf which the gods wear round the upper part of their body should (also) be executed beautifully. The halo should be drawn round their heads, proportionate to the measurement of the head and the colour of the halo-circle, (oh) great king, should resemble the colour of the deity. In their case, all upward look, a downward look and also a sideward look should be discarded. The same applies to a too small, to a too big, to a depressed (looking), to an angry and to a harsh eye. It is said that upward look causes death, downward look causes sorrow, sideward look causes loss of wealth, too small eyes cause death, too large eyes cause sorrow and so do the depressed (looking) eyes, (oh) best of kings. A harsh look causes loss of wealth and an angry look causes tear. (The image of a deity) should not be done with either shrunk or inflated abdomen or with wounds (on the body, oh) perpetuator of the Yadu race. (It should not be) bent, of a rough colour, with an open mouth, or with limbs short of or exceeding (appropriate) measurement, (oh) descendant of the Yadus. (It should not fall) short of or exceed (the prescribed) measurement, (oh) ruler of the earth. A shrunk abdomen is conducive only to starvation and fear, and inflated abdomen causes death. A body with wounds causes death, one that is too short brings about loss of wealth, one too long creates sorrow, and one with rough colour induces fear. A halo in the east causes loss of wealth, in the south death, in the west destruction of sons, and in the north fear (*i.e.*, it ought to be behind and round the head). A nimbus short of measurement leads to destruction and one exceeding the appropriate measurement bespeaks ruin to the country. A rough (image) is said to cause death and an angry (one) destroys beauty. Even when (duly) invoked by the best of Brahmins, the gods never enter images short of (Sāstric) measurements and devoid of the marks (lakṣaṇas of divine form); (but) demons, ghosts and hobgoblins always enter into them, and so a great care should be taken to avoid shortness of measurements, (An image) possessed of all the beautiful marks is said to be excellent from every point of view. It adds to wealth, crops, fame and the length of life, yet when devoid of (those) marks, it destroys wealth and crops, (oh) best of kings; the gods always should be made beautiful, having gaits (like one of the following) animals, (*viz.*,) the lion, the bull, the elephant and the swan. Blessed is a work of art (endowed) with all (the Sāstric) marks, (as it brings luck) to the country, to the king and the maker, (and is as the gods) long for it. An image, therefore, should be properly made by all men with great care, (endowed) with all (the Sāstric) marks"—pp. 40-42.

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In the end a very important thing in relation to the iconometry of painting, is a detailed code as given in the Mānasollāsa which is very ably worked out by G. K. Shrigondekar, the editor of the text—vide Introduction p. 7-10—and it is being reproduced to complete this topic with fuller details and better material:

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**Pictorial Iconometry.**—"In the Mänasollāsa, very interesting details are given on portrait painting, which is dependent in the first place on the three principal lines, called the plumb lines here named as the Brahmasūtra and the two Pakṣasūtras. The Brahmasūtra is the line which begins from the Keśānta (forehead where the line of hair begins) and passes through the middle of the eyebrow, the tip of the nose, chin, chest and navel to the middle of the two feet. This line, therefore, marks the centre of the body from head to foot.

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The two Pakṣasūtras are usually six angulas away from the Brahmasūtra on either side. They start from the Karṇānta (the top of the ear) and pass through the chin, the middle part of the knees, the outside skin and the second finger near the toe to the ground.

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**The five attitudes.**—With the variation of the distance between the central and side lines five different positions of the subject are obtained, in the same manner as the front, profile and three quarter positions are obtained in Western Art. The five positions are named in the Mānasollāsa as Ṛju, Ardharju, Sācī, Ardhākṣī and Bhittika. Ṛjusthāna is the front position in which the distance between the central plumb line (Brahmasūtra) and the two Pakṣasūtras, *i. e.* side lines, is six aṅgulas on both the sides. Ardharjukasthāna is that in which the distance from the Brahmasūtra to one Pakṣasūtra is eight aṅgulas on one side and four aṅgulas on the other. The Sācīsthāna is that in which the distance from the Brahmasūtra to one Pakṣasūtra is ten aṅgulas on one side and two aṅgulas on the other. The Ardhākṣikasthāna is that in which the distance from the Brahmasūtra to one Pakṣasūtra is eleven aṅgulas on one side and one aṅgula on the other. Bhittikasthāna is that in which only the Pakṣasūtras are seen while the Brahmasūtra disappears.

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Later the table for measuring lengths is given (with some additions cf. those given before Pt. II) :—

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| 8 परमाणुs = 1 त्रसरेणु | | 8 यवs = 1 अङ्गुल or मात्रा |
| 8 त्रसरेणुs = 1 बालाग्र | | 2 मात्राs = 1 गोलक or कला |
| 8 बालाग्रs = 1 लिक्षा | | 3 मात्राs = 1 अध्यर्धकला |
| 8 लिक्षाs = 1 यूका | | 4 मात्राs = 1 भाग |
| 8 यूकाs = 1 यव | | 3 भागs = 1 वितस्ति or ताल. |

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The whole body from head to foot is nine Tālas in height. The face from Keśānta to Hanu = 1 ताल.

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| ग्रीवा = 4 अङ्गुलs | ग्रीवा to हृदय = 1 ताल |
| हृदय to नाभि = 1 ताल | नाभि to मेढ्र = 1 ताल |
| ऊरु = 2 तालs | जानु = 4 अङ्गुलs |
| जङ्घा = 2 तालs | चरण = 2 अङ्गुलs |

v2.c77.38

Thus according to Brahmasūtra the height of the body is 9 Tālas, the Mauli (crown of the head) is 4 aṅgulas from the Keśānta ; thus the real height is 9 Tālas and 4 aṅgulas, *i. e.* 9⅓ Tālas.

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**Vertical measurements**—Next come the delails of vertical measurements:—

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1. First is the Mastaka-sūtra, *i. e.* the line of the crown.
2. Four aṅgulas below is the Keśānta (end of the front hair) sūtra. This goes round the head three aṅgulas above the Karṇāgra.

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3. Two aṅgulas below is the Tapanoddeśa-sūtra. This goes through the Śaṅkhamadhya, one aṅgula above the Karṇāgra and one aṅgula above the occiput.

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4. One aṅgula below is the Kacotsaṅga-sūtra which goes from near the eyebrows, the upper end of the ear to the Śīrṣakūrma (occiput).

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5. One aṅgula below is the Kanīnikā-sūtra which goes by the Apāṅga, the upper end of the Pippalī and above the pit of the back of the head.

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6. Two aṅgulas below is the Nāsāmadhya-sūtra. It goes through the high portion of the cheeks to the middle of the ear.

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7. Two aṅgulas below is the Nāsāgrasūtra. It goes through the cheeks, the root of the ear, the Keśotpatti-pradeśa and the back.

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8. Half an aṅgula below is the Vaktramadhya-sūtra. It goes by the Spṛkkā or Kṛkāṭikā.

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9. Half an aṅgula below is the Adharoṣṭha-sūtra. It goes by the joint of the chin to the back of the neck.

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10. Two aṅgulas below is the Hanvagra-sūtra. It goes by the neck to the joint of the shoulder.

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11. Four aṅgulas below is the Hikkā-sūtra. It goes from below the shoulders and the tops of the hands.

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12. Seven aṅgulas below is the Vakṣaḥsthala-sūtra. It goes by the red part of the nipples and the arm-pit joints to the back-bone.

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13. Five aṅgulas below is the Vibhramasaṅga-sūtra. It goes below the nipples, the part between the breast and the back-bone, the upper part of the elbow joint to the middle of the back

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14. Six aṅgulas below is the Jaṭharamadhya-sūtra. It goes by the end of the biceps to the back.

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15. Six aṅgulas below is the Nābhi-sūtra. It goes by the loins to the top of the Kakundaras (buttocks).

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16. Four aṅgulas below is the Pakvāśayasūtra. It goes by the middle of the Nitamba (hips) above the Sphiks *i. e.* fleshy part of the buttocks.

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17. Four aṅgulas below is the Kāñcīpada-sūtra. It goes by the middle of the buttocks.

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18. Four aṅgulas below is the Liṅgaśiraḥ-sūtra. It runs by the root of the thighs to the expanse or curving of the buttocks.

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19. Five aṅgulas below is the Liṅgāgra-sūtra. It goes from below the buttocks and enters the fold of the buttocks.
20. Eight aṅgulas below is the Ūru-sūtra.
21. Four aṅgulas below is the Mānasūtra, *i. e.* Ūrumadhya-sūtra.
22. Four aṅgulas below is the Janumūrdha-sūtra. These three sūtras should go round both the thighs.
23. Four aṅgulas below is the Jānvadhah-sūtra. This also should go round the knee.
24. Twelve aṅgulas (one Tāla) below is the Śakrabasti-sūtra.
25. Ten aṅgulas below is the Nalakāntaga-sūtra. It runs from the top of the ankle to the top of the heel.
26. Two aṅgulas below is the Gulphānta-sūtra.
27. Four aṅgulas below is the Bhūmi-sūtra.

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The total length of the Brahma-sūtra amounts thus to 108 aṅgulas. The author next gives elaborate iconometrical details of the different parts of the body for all the five (ṛju, etc.) attitudes of images".

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As regards the rules for painting on walls, the Mānasollāsa gives them in the first four Sthānas, omitting the last or the Bhittikasthāna as no part of the face is visible there on the Bhitti (wall). Further this text does not recognise any other Sthāna besides these five.

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PLASTERS AND OINTMENTS

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At the very outset it may be pointed out that plasters and ointments are quite a different material in painting from colours and paints. The former are related to the preparation of the background where Vartikā is employed as an accessory implement (i.e. brush-like), the latter is an ally in drawing out the picture.

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Art is nothing but a great technique not only to represent nature in life movements but also to tap its resources for its own benefit. Natural resources when tapped and fashioned in an art-craftsmanship, give birth to Fine Arts like painting, architecture and sculpture.

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The art of painting not only draws its inspiration from nature but is dependent on it for its materials. The naked backgrounds, bare surfaces of walls, the rough boards and the like, unless decorated, plastered and painted, can neither arouse our sensibility for appreciation, nor enkindle our aestheticity for any sentimental outbursts.

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Hence in the technique of painting, the plasters and ointments together with the delineations of colours and shades have a fundemental importance. In the remote times, the arts like painting had much of their charm in objective presentations rather than in the subjective representations—their counterparts in the modern paintings. For every detail—the preparation of the background, the preparation of the plasters and ointments—they had to struggle hard before they could fit with a canvas so laboriously prepared and with a brush so difficult to be shaped into one. In the S. S. in the Chap. entitled “Lepyarkarma”, the 73rd, is elaborated another set of the essentials of painting—namely the preparation of the clay suitable in the plaster and ointment and the process of their preparation together with the varieties of the brushes and their use in the delineation of the details of the pictorial art.

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Plasters and ointments, really should have been taken up, with the backgrounds (cf. chapter III ‘Vartikā and Backgrounds’) as it is for their preparation that plasters and ointments were used in ancient India, but the reason, why they are separately taken here in this chapter, is the fact of giving an individual entity or character and importance to them as they form an essential constituent being one of the eight-fold limbs of Painting, i.e. 3rd one—it should be read ‘lepya’ and not ‘lekhya’ as 'lekhana' is the 7th limb of painting—vide the S. S. 71.15. (cf. also the 3rd chapter 'Elements, Constituents and Types of Painting)'.

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**Brick-plaster**—In the V. D. (Pt. III Chapter 40 verses 1-10, also Cit. Laks. p. 13) brick-plaster is preferred to Clay-plaster of the S. S. (to be taken notice of, ahead). "Brick powder of three kinds has to be mixed with clay, one-third part (in amount of the brick powder). Having mixed safforn with oil, (one) should mix (lit. place) (with it) gum resin bees' wax, liquorice, molasses and mudga preparation in equal parts. One-third part of burnt yellow-myrobalan should be added therein. Finally the astringent made of the Bel-tree (Feronia elephantum), destructive (of all injurious agents) mixed in proportion of two to one should be added by an intelligent artist and also a portion of sand, proportionate to the amount of the whole. Then the artist should drench (this mixture) with moist split pulse dissolved in water. The whole of this moist preparation has to be kept in a safe place for one month only. After the moisture has evaporated within a month, a skilful artist should put this dried (yet still damp) plaster on the wall, having carefully considered everything. It should be plain, even, well distributed, without ridges or holes, neither too thick nor too thin. Should it (look) ill done after having become (quite) dry (due to shrinkage), then it ought to be carefully smoothed by coatings of plaster made of that clay (as mentioned before) mixed with resin of the Śāla-tree (Shorea robusta) and with oil. (It is further made) smooth by (repeated) anointing, constant sprinkling with water and by careful polish. Oh lord, when this wall has promptly dried, it does not go to ruins anywhere even at the end of a hundred years."—Kramrich's translation p. 47-48.

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The Clay Plaster

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According to the S. S. the clay for the purpose of ointment and plaster should be procured from the auspicious places like vāpī, kūpa, tadāga, lotus beds, dīrghikās, the roots of the trees, the banks of the rivers, thickets, etc. These are the sources from which this clay ought to be procured. These various clays are of different colours and are declared auspicious for the respective castes. This clay should be free from gravels and then the liquids obtained from the trees like Śālmalī, Māśa, Kakubha, Madhūka, Triphalā, etc. and they should then be mixed with the clay along with also a good quantity of sand too in it. Then afterwards, the hair of the horses or the hair of the bullocks and also the skin of the coconut, i.e. fibres, also husks of the grain, form a constituent of the compound. The quantity of the sand and the clay should be in equal measure. All these compounded into a levigated powder (Kalka) should be distilled into some suitable cloth (i.e. what we call kapaḍachāna). Other details are difficult to be obtained as the text (9 to 11 vs.) are corrupt. My surmise, however, is that this compound is directed to be boiled in order to make it a fast ointment.

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This Lepya, in its various compounds, a typical technique of which has just been hinted at, to all intents and purposes, was the substitute for the modern paints of various colours. Mixture of liquids of different varieties in different kinds of soils along with other ingredients stood good for the paints of old and they were more durable and faster than what we have these days. Mention of the Vajra-lepa (cf. Mānsollāsa) in connection with the iconoplastic art had already been made. All these lepas, vajra and otherwise really belonged to the one and same category.

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**Ointment.**—According to the A. P. (Cit. laks. p. 14-15) in the preparation of the Clay-plaster or rather more correctly the Ointment by means of which not only the background is furnished with a befitting medium of the picture, but also the image itself is done up with (Cit. laks. p. 14-15), there are so many other ingredients besides the clay. These are the butter and milk of a kapilā cow, the atasi flower, the powder of barley and wheat grains, the barks of milky trees and guda-samyuta bakula along with the Indravṛkṣa—all these to be well powdered and mixed with the powder of the interior of a stone and then all this levigated powder (kalka) be again ground with the oil of atasī and water and when well ground it assumes an ointment like kajjala. This, then, should be transformed into handfuls (piṇḍas) in the quantity of muṣṭi, and be left for being dried up in the sun. When got dried, it becomes as hard as vajra. This is what may be termed as **Mṛttikābandhana**.

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There is, however, another variety of the plaster or ointment as dwelt upon in the A. P. It is **Sudhā-bandhana**. This is prepared through the white stone pebbles duly being burnt down for a period of ten days and then liquids, obtained from trees like Bilva, be poured into it and then be left over for a month or at least a fortnight. With this stucco plaster, the text directs us to proceed with the painting of an image (other details under Cit. laks p. 15 are not wanted here).

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Apart from the V. D. the S. S. and the A. P. there are yet two other texts (i. e. Śilparatna & Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi) which have also a rich prescription on this topic. Some clues on the topic in hand have already been got (vide the last chapter 'The Vartika and the Background') and so here only a few words may be added.

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We know that plastering walls and painting them white is one of the preliminaries of wall-painting. Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi (Cit. laks. p. 11-12) gives a fine surface as essential for a good picture and requires a smooth wall to be carefully white-washed without a scratch or blot. Three coatings of white mud and vajralepa account for this smoothness of surface.

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The Śilparatna's prescription of the ointment to be applied on the wall-surface is called 'varṇa-lepana.' It directs that on a wall already white-washed, an ointment, consisting of the powder of conch shell, śukti, etc., white clay duly mixed and shampooed with the liquids obtained from the trees like kapittha, nimb, etc., etc , should be prepared. This ointment should be applied gradually in two or three successions. It gives three varieties of the ointment. One is already described. The other results from the bark of trees like Sākoṭaka or Ketakī. The 3rd is prepared from the Sudhā-cūrṇa (lime powder) duly powdered in 'ulukhala' and got mixed up with the liquid of kerabal-fruit. Thus the text says:

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एवं धवलिते भित्तौ दर्पणोदरसन्निभे ।
फलकादौ पटादौ वा चित्रलेखनमारभेत् ॥

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COLOURS AND BRUSHES; SHADES AND OTHER DELINEATIONS

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Colours

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Let us now proceed with colours. Our text does not give any detailed information about colours. Viṣṇudharmottara, the most representative treatise on painting, gives two sets of colour-varieties (vide Chapters 27 and 40). The first set consists of five primary colours—red, white, yellow, black and green and the second one white, yellow, black, blue and colour of the myrobalan. Bharata-Nāṭyaśāstra's classification of five primary colours tallies with the former set of Viṣṇudharmottra. Śilparatna, a latter treatise of great repute, mentions white, red, yellow, soot and śyāma (dark, blue or black) as primary colours. "The Abhilaṣitārtha-cintāmaṇi (cf. Mānasollāsa) knows as pure colours, white made of conch shell, red (prepared from red lead or from alaktaka juice, i.e. lac or from red chalk—gairika) green-brown (haritāla), i.e. sulphurated arsenic, and black from kajjvala (soot, used eye-black).

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"The mixing of these colours is left to the ingenuity of the artist. He may coat them with lac and resin. Colouring substances are: gold, silver, copper, mica, deep coloured brass, red lead, vermilion, tin, yellow, orpiment, yellow myrobalan, lac, indigo and some kind of iron oxide"—Viṣṇudharmottara, Part III, Chapter 40. In Śilparatnam (cf. Ch. 46 vs. 119-130) prescriptions for the preparation of these vegetable and mineral colours are given. "Red chalk for instance ought to be ground on stone and left covered with water for a day, red lead also ought to be ground and covered with water for half a day, red arsenic, however, should be made into powder but it should not be covered with water. Then the colours should be ground once more and again put into water for five days. Afterwards, they should be mixed with the exudation of the Nimba tree, then at last they are ready to be applied on walls and pictures".

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With this general introduction to the colour-scheme of the ancient treatises, just referred, let us now proceed with the subject in detail.

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The topics on colours in the pictorial art as arranged in the Citra-lakṣaṇa (pp. 35-39) are: the primary colours—the Mūlaraṅgas or the Śuddhavarṇas; the secondary ones or compound colours—the mixtures of one another—the Antaritas or the Miśra-varṇas; the substances from which colours were made—the Raṅgadravyas—and the use of the gold in colouring as well as the technique in their shading and delineations. All these topics may be taken one by one.

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**Primary colours.**—According to the V.D. as already referred before, there are only five primary colours and Ab.C. however mentions only four. Indian texts on painting generally give only four colours as primary ones exceeding the Western list by the addition of white. It may however be pointed out here that blue and black are different. Black is well known. What is the nature of blue? Ab. C. gives it: ‘केवलैव च या नीली भवेदिन्दीवरप्रभा’

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‘This colour is, therefore, different from kajjala (for kṛṣṇa) and is absolutely essential for preparing secondary colours. These five colours are kept in separate cups so that they might be used as pure colours or mixed to produce secondary colour tints’.

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The Aparājitapracchā, also recognizes only four colours, but it has an innovation. Here colours are related to the different styles like Nāgara and Drāviḍa, etc., taken up in a subsequent chapter ahead—vide “Styles of Painting” Chapter X.

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**Secondary Colours**—result from compounds or mixtures of one another. There is a very rich description of the varṇas in the Ab. C. (Cit. Laks. p. 37 under मिश्रवर्णा: ) and this expatiation, along with those found in other texts like Śilparatna and Śiva-tatva-ratnakāra, etc. have very ably been utilized by ‘Śri Śivaramamurti (vide his article ‘Painting and Allied Arts in Bāṇa’s Works’ J.O.R. vol. 7, 1933)’ and it is worth reproducing here :

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“The texts on painting like the Citrasūtra in the Viṣṇudharmottara, the chapters on painting in the Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi and the Śivatatvaratnākara and the Citralakṣaṇa chapter of the Śilparatna, etc. give a list of the various tints got by mixing primary colours. It is remarkable that Bāṇa has set at naught the limited colour variety of these texts and given out in his catalogue of innumerable tints that deep and close study of nature which had enabled him to grasp the extreme subtlety of difference between tint and tint. In spite of the limited number of colours stated the texts on painting are not unacquainted with subtle differences in the same colour. The Śilparatna gives three gradations of red—Sindūra for light red, Gairika (mountain-born) red (mineral chalks) for a middle tint and Lākṣā (lac) juice for a deep colour. The Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi and the Śivatattvaratnākara tell us that vermilion is for reddish brown, and red lac or sap, red sanders and mountain-born chalks are for crimson tint. They echo Bāṇa's statements. White and black give the grey of smoke; blue and white the colour of the pigeon similar to the Rājāvarta and the hemp-flower. Red mountain chalk and conch powder give a peculiar pale red (Dhūmracchāya). Darada (vermilion) mixed with white gives the pale red of the red-lily while Alaktaka (red lac or sap) combined with white gives the colour of the sun’s horses. The difference is very slight here. Pure indigo (Nīlī) of the colour of the blue lily gives a green tint when mixed with yellow pigment. Red lac with lamp-black gives a dark brown and with blue the colour of the Jambū fruit. The tints got by mixing primary colours—like smoke grey, pigeon colour, the different varieties of red, brown, green and the colour of the Jambū fruit are clearly given by Bāṇa. The variegated hue to which he refers is given by the Śilparatna as a convenient colour for artists; but according to Śrīkumāra it is got by mixing red, black and yellow in equal proportions Red and yellow give the colour of Bakula flowers which Bāṇa describes as Dhusara (tawny). This is the same as flame colour. There are also other varieties of red given in the Śilparatna. The green of the parrot's wing described by Bāṇa as not dissimilar from that of the plantain leaf is got by a mixture of Haritala (yellow) and blue; and the purple of the Jambū fruit so cleverly described by the parrot in the Kādambarī is the result of the union of red lac and blue. The yellowish white of the inner petals of the Ketaki flower noted by Bāṇa is the type of white got by mixing Haritāla and conch-powder as laid down in the Abhilaṣitārthacintamaṇi. The rosy colour of the pigeon’s leg in the Kādambarī is the ‘Gaura’ type of rosy white in the Śilparatna, which is the same as the Saurāśvasadṛśaprabha (colour of the sun's horses) of the Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi and the Śivatattvaratnākara, though the ‘Gaura’ of these books is slightly different from that of the Śilparatna being got by mixing red and yellow instead of red and white. The piṅgala type of yellow, that Bāṇa states as the colour of honey, is not the result of a mixture of white and yellow in the proportion of one is to two that the Śilparatna gives. It is a tawny colour—more red than yellow—something like Piñjara which is defined by the Haimakośa as Pītarakta. Bāṇa gives the Piñjara type of reddish brown as the colour of ripe paddy fields a really true observation; and this colour is lighter than that of honey which has a greater proportion of red. This might be the same as the Atirakta of the Śilparatna with yellow and red in the proportion of one is to two. The variegated colour of deer, tigers, peacocks, tittiries, etc., as given by Bāṇa is quite in accordance with the rule of the Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi and the Śivatattvaratnākara that holds the use of different colours for the effect of the animals absolutely necessary. It might be two colours or three or more."

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**N. B**—The textual quotations in the footnotes are avoided as they are already there in the Citra-laksaṇa, appended in the end.

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**Colour Substances**—as described in the V. D. are manifold—a workable list however (Cit. Laks. p. 35) is kanaka (gold), rajata (Silver), tāmra (Copper), abhraka (mica), rājāvanta (an inferior diamond of Virāta country what is called ‘Lājawar’ in eastern districts like Gorakhpur), sindūra, trapu, haritāla, sudhā, lākṣā, hingulaka and nīla. Loha is also mentioned as a colour substance.

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We can divide colours into two broad classes—natural and artificial. Dr. Motichand observes : “The natural pigments comprised of certain elements, compound minerals and vegetable extracts; and the artificial, all manufactured salts or the pigments owing their colours to vegetable or insect dye-stuff.” (Mughal Painting p. 18).

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Now leaving aside the order of the colour-substances as tabulated above, let us say a few words on some of the more important colour-substances :

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**Sudhā**.—The V. D. III. 40-2 enjoins the use of lime (Sudhā) for white.

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**Sindūra**.—In the preparation of red pigments many substances, such as red stones and red clays, red ochre (gerū) hiraunjī, etc. are used and orange lead, *i.e.* sindūra is also an important colouring material in it.

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**Hingula**— also goes with sindūra. It is vermilion or crude cinnabar or sulphide of mercury. It is called ‘Igur’ in Hindi. That sometimes outline was drawn in vermilion is referred to in the Mahāvaṁśa (xxvii. 18).

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**Nīla**— Indigo and Rajavarta, the blue par-excellence, are prominent among blue-pegments.

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**Indigo (nil)**—“This colour was manufactured in India in antiquity and largely exported to Greece and Rome. It is also mentioned in the Viṣṇudharmottara, III, 40, 26, as one of the colouring materials. The colour is extracted from certain plant known in modern botany as indigo-ferae. In the beginning it seems to have been largely used for dyeing cloth but later on, specially in the painting of the Akbar school, it was used as a colour.

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**Ultramarine azure (lāzwardī).**—The ultramarine azure was used in Indian pictures from ancient times, though lapis lazuli from which this colour was produced is not a product of India. The blue par excellence in Ajanta paintings is ultramarine. This, however, came from outside the Deccan, probably from Persia. Ultramarine is also used in the illustrated palm-leaf manuscripts of the Prajñāpāramitā from Bengal and Nepal from the tenth century onwards, and also in the illustrated manuscripts of the Kalpasūtra and Kālakācāryakathā belong- to the period between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries”—Mughal Painting, pp. 24-25.

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“Now reverting to the use of the azurite and lapis lazuli in Indian painting we are aware that the rājavarta was known as a colouring material in the Viṣṇudharmottara, But this blue must have been a very costly material in ancient times. Now a question rises about the so-called deep blue used in Ajanta painting. I do not think that it is ultramarine but quite possibly the azure. Even the deep blue of Jain miniatures seems to be azurite. In the Mughal painting, however, real ultramarine azure has been used in costly paintings to denote sky. Sometimes the blues of garments are painted with azurite; the exuberance of blue in calligraphic panels also points it to be azurite than real ultramarine. In Pahārī painting the excessive use of azure is apparent. But in spite of all this there is no separate mention of azurite anywhere either in Sanskrit or Persian. It seems possible that azurite and lapis lazuli in Mughal painting went under the same name”—ibid, 26-27.

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**Haritala**— is one of the popular yellow pigments and Rāmaraja—yellow ochre also yields brownish yellow. “Orpiment (hartal) was used in illustrations of the Buddhist palm-leaf manuscripts of the Pala period and in the miniatures of the illustrated manuscripts of Apabhramśa or Western Indian style. The use of orpiment in Jaipur painting and Rajput painting as such only reminds us that the Rajput school, though greatly influenced by the Mughal school retained same of the earliar traditions intact. I have not seen orpiment used in Mughal painting; its yellow par excellence being gogilī or peori”—Motichand.

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As regards the green pigments, something has already been gathered from Ab. C. cf. Sivaramamurti’s article. ‘Orpiment or sulphide of arsenic (hartal) mixed with indigo yields a green known as zahari in the terminology of Mughal painters’—Motichand.

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**Use of Gold and other Metals**— Metals were widely used both in sculpture and painting. Gold, the metal par excellence, has been a hobby of the grand painters, because it trailed with itself the suggestion of power and grandeur, gleaming lustre and its disinclination to tarnish. Lavish use of gold in order not only to delineate the details of costume but also to make painting attractive has been time-honoured tradition through the ages.

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“It is not known since when the gold-leaf began to be used for decorating images and paintings, but it is certain that in the early centuries of the Christian era gold-leaves were being used for decorating the stucco images of the Buddha in Gandhāra. The Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa also mentions gold as a colouring material (Visnudharmottara, III, 40, 25), but we do not find the use of gold in the paintings of Ajanta, Ellura, Bagh or Badami. In the illustrated Jain manuscripts of the fifteenth century, gold, however, is profusely used. It seems, therefore, quite possible that the use of gold as a colouring material and also border decoration was introduced in India from Persia where the method of decoration with gold was first introduced by the Timurides in the fifteenth century. In the sixteenth century this method of decoration extended from Bokhara to various Persian centres. It came to India from Persia, where its use became general. The use of gold was not only confined to the embellishment of the manuscripts but was also extended in the binding of albums and for the decoration of calligraphic panels”—Motichand.

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This observation about of the antiquity of the use of gold in Indian paintings is open to controversy. Dr. Motichand on the basis of archaeological evidence, i.e. absence of the use of gold in the paintings of Ajanta, Ellura, Bagh and Badami, traced its influx in india from Persia. This, I contend, is confusing the artistic creations with the canons of Art. All this pictorial heritage of India as illustrated in the cave monuments is a direct outcome of the religions upsurge of the time. Painting, a palace-culture, must have been more refined and grander in the courts (with the use of gold in it) and simple yet sublime in the religious establishments like the cave-temples as referred by the learned Doctor. In pictorial canons of the V. D. (belonging to the early Gupta period) if the use of gold is there, its artistic representation in pictures must have also been there which unfortunately are lost to us. All the principal texts headed by the V. D. echo this tradition of the old. Hence in my humble opinion the scholars should reconsider this point and revise their opinions.

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Now as regards the other metallic substances, used as colouring material are rajata (silver), tāmra (copper) trāpuṣa (tin) Abhrak (mica), and also loha (iron) as already referred to, in the above list. All these metallic elements were used in the form of powders applied to the painting mixed with binding medium.

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A word on the technique of the use of gold as gathered from the ancient texts like the V.D., Ab. C. and S.R., may be also said here; before the topic of delineations of shades and brightening of the picture with the colours and metallic substances may be taken up.

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The V.D. explicitly mentions the use of the gold, but as regards its technique, its prescription is general, taking perhaps all the metallic substances cf. the word ‘लोहानाम्’—Cit. Laks. p. 35 last but two lines—and accordingly it hints at two-fold technique of the use of these metals:

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1. Patra-vinyāsa, i.e. gold leaves or leaves of any other metal; and

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2. Rasakriyā—used in the form of the liquid transformed by heating it up with the mixture of Abhraka along with other ingredients such as compā-kutha and vakula-niryāsa. (N.B. kutha is the same as ‘kvatha’ in the physian’s Materia Medica and as regards the ‘niryāsa’ it is a kind of exudation or gum of some tree.)

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The substance of the prescription of the use of gold as found in the Abhilaṣitārthacintāmaṇi and Śilparatna—Cit. Laks. p. 36 (वर्णेषु स्वर्णयोगः) and p. 38 (स्वर्णलेपविधिः) is as follows:

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“Gold-leaf should be divided into finest leaflets, and then ground with a well smoothed stone; afterwards it has to be mixed with water and with a small amount of sand. When this paste is well ground it should again be put into water so that all dirt may rise to the surface. The gold paste should then be pressed, mixed with vajralepa and applied with suitable brushes. There were nine brushes for every colour. When dry, the artist should rub it slowly with a boar-tusk until it becomes bright. Then again he may place over this very fine gold leaves and rub them with hard cotton.

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It may be noted here (cf. Cit. Laks. p. 38) that though two methods of the use of gold are described in the Śilparatna; practically there is no difference in them except the minor details because in the exposition of the ‘vidhi’ the texts particularises the aid of vajralepa which is already there in the first ‘vidhi’.

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Brushes

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The Samarāṅgaṇa-Sūtradhāra under Vilekhā-lakṣaṇa (73. 12-21) gives a variety of five-fold brushes. They are technically called Kūrcaka, Hastakūrcaka, Bhāsakūrcaka, callakūrcana, and Vartanī (?). Each of them has been provided with a particular shape of their points and they are tabulated.as follows:—

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| Types | Shapes | | |
| 1. Kūrcaka | Vaṭāṅkurākāra | —points like those of the sprouts of Banyan tree. | |
| 2. Hastakūrcaka | Aśvatthāṅkurākāra— | „ | „añ Aśvattha tree |
| 3. Bhāsakūrca | Plakṣa-Śūcinibha | „ | „an Indian fig tree. |
| 4. Callakurcana | Udumbarākara | „ | „another variety of an Indian fig tree. |
| 5. Vartenī | — | | — |

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*N. B.* K.P. Jayaswal (cf. “A Hindu Text on Painting”—Modern Review XXXIII, page 734) however, mentions that there were as many as nine brushes for every colour.

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This information supplied by our text is limited to shapes. What about their sticks (Daṇḍa)? From the corrupt line (73.22) it may be surmised that these used to be made of bamboo (cf. Vaiṇavodaṇḍah).

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Abh. C. (also Mānasollāsa) (Cit. Laks. p. 29) prescribes for the preparation of the paint-brush what is termed as *Lekhani*, to bring the hair of a calf and they should then be bound up with the aid of lākṣā (lac) on the tip of the tūlikā. This lekhni is of three kinds—*Sthūlā*, *Madhyā* and *Sūkṣmā*. The first is to be used in the application of paint-plaster or ointment (लेपनम्), the second in the drawing out the outline (अङ्कनम्) and the third in the finishing up the minutest of lines (सूक्ष्मां लेखां) Śilparatna, however, follows Ab. C. in this respect with some additional innovations of the three-fold lekhni to be varied to nine for each of the three primary colours like this : In shape the lekhani is of three kinds—Sthūlā etc. (cf. above vide Abh. C.) but in use it is to be sub-divided again into nine for each colour. It also gives variations in the hairs with which the three varieties of the lekhani is bound up on their tips. The S. R. prescribes the hair of calf-ears only for the Sthūlā (cf. Abh. C.) for the madhyā and the sūkṣmā, the hair of the stomach of the goat and those of the tail of the hog are preferred respectively.

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Vartanā—the Delineation

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One of the principal elements in the production of pictures is what we have called it Vartanā, the display of light and shade along with the equally important element, the Rekhā, the delineation and articulation of form. Both these elements are very much dependent for their fuller representation upon a set of three other accessories in the pictorial art. They are technically called Kṣaya and Vṛddhi—decrease and increase,—the science of fore-shortening, the fundamental norm in painting without which neither delineation and articulation of form nor the display of light and shade can be fully represented. Equally important is the law of proportion, the Pramāṇa, also. Dr. Kramrisch remarks (cf. the V. D. Translation—Introduction, page 14) “Fore-shortening (Kṣaya and Vṛddhi) and proportion (pramāṇa) constitute with regard to single figures, the working of observation and tradition. The law of Kṣaya and Vṛddhi was as intensely studied by the ancient Indian painter as was perspective by the early Italian masters. Pramāṇa, on the other hand, was the standardized canon, valid for the upright standing figure and to be modified by every bent and turn”.

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Now catching the lost thread of the Vartana, according to Viṣṇudharmottara (cf. Ch. 41), it is stated to be three-fold: 1. Patraja—cross lines, 2. Airika—stumping—and 3. Vinduja—dots.

v2.c77.120

The painter draws an outline in yellow and red colours as a rule. Both Viṣṇudharmottara and Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra concur in their view (cf. ibid p. 17) that “the painter should think of the proportionate size of the thing to be painted, and think of it as having been put on the wall. Then calculating its size in his mind, he should draw the outline making all the limbs. It should be bright in prominent places and dark in depressed places. It may be drawn in a single colour where comparative distinction is required. If depressed places are required to be bright, jet black should be used.”

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