History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c31.70

v1.c31.70

As regards pillar, the South Indian text Mayamata lays down that its diameter may be 1/8 to 1/10 of its height but for a ground floor pillar of a 12 storey high edifice the diameter should be 1/6 of the height. A pillar may be square, circular, hexagonal, octagonal or sixteen-sided in section or a mixture of the above with various types of capital, abacus and bracket conforming to specified ratios. On some North Indian sites like Khajuraho the central pillars of a maṇḍapa also had attic sections. Most pillars in North India had a broad base adorned with mouldings similar to vedibandha or adhiṣṭhāna. As a rule the pillars of Solankī and Paramāra styles had mixed square, octagonal and circular sections, all laden with zones of figural and decorative ornaments representing gods, nymphs, demigods, kirtimukhas, etc. The ornamentation is also carried on the capital and bracket that support the beam, architrave and ceiling.