History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c31.17

v1.c31.17

For medieval temples of North India two standard Śilpa texts are the Samarāṅgaṇa-Sūtradhāra, an early 11th century work from Malwa, and the Aparājitapṛccha, a late 12th century work from Western Rajasthan-Gujarat. Of the two texts, both of encyclopaedic character with similar contents, the latter is more practical and informative and is still made use of by the Somapuras, the traditional architects of Gujarat. The Aparājita provides detailed instructions of the minutest parts of the temple structure with their relative ratios, of which a few may be cited here as samples. It lays down that the jagaṭī (platform terrace) should be broader than the main temple structure by at least 1/3 and its height is to bear the following ratio :