History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c31.6

v1.c31.6

The ancient architect, who was also a trained engineer besides being a good painter, sculptor and expert in the religious lore and various branches of the *Śilpaśāstra*, supervised and guided all the operations connected with the temple construction from the quarrying of stones of the right texture, shade and consistency through their sculpting and carving and setting in proper positions. The quarried stone blocks were rough-dressed at the mines and transported to the temple site where they were initially sorted out in two broad divisions: 1) those meant for the core or hearting which required simple dressing, and 2) those intended to be used as face-stones, which had to be fine-dressed, carved and suitably finished to specifications and placed in separate groups for each structural member and its constituents.