Author's note1
A
AGNI-PŪRĀṆA—See under PURĀṆAS.
AṄKA-SĀSTRA—On architecture.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS. in Private Librarie of South India, Vol. i, no. 2499, p. 228.)
APARĀJITA-PṚICHCHHĀ—by Bhūvana-deva, ‘quoted by Hemādri in the Pariśesha-khaṇḍa, 2, 660-662, 819.’
(Aufrecht, Catalogus Catalogorum, part II, p. 4.)
APARĀJITA-VĀSTU-ŚĀSTRA—attributed to Viśvakarman, in possession of Maṇi Śaṇkara Bhaṭṭa, Surat.
(Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. contained in Private Libṛaṛies in Gujarat, Kathiavad, Kachchh Sindh, and Khandesh, 1872, p. 276, no. I.)
ABHILĀSHITĀRTHA-CHINTĀMAṄI—by Malla Someśvara,—on architecture.
(Taylor’s Catalogue Raisoneé, I. 478.)
ARTHA-ŚĀSTRA (KAUṬILĪYA)—ed. R. Shama Sāstri, B.A., Mysore, 1919.
Chapters:
22. Janapada-niveśa.
23. Bhūmichchhidra-vidhāna.
24. Durga-vidhāna.
25. Durga-niveśa.
65. Vāstuka, Gṛiha-vāstuka.
66. Vāstu-vikraya;
Sīmā-vivāda;
Maryādā-sthāpana;
Bādha-bādhika.
67. Vāstuke vivīte kshetra-patha-hiṁsā.
AṀŚUMAT-(KAŚYAPĪYA)—On architecture and sculpture.
(Taylor’s Catalogue Raisoneé, I. 314.)
AṀŚUMAD-BHEDĀGAMA—See under ĀGAMAS.
AṀŚUMĀNA-KALPA—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part I, p. I.)
Ā
ĀGAMAS—Of the 28 Mahā-āgamas2 the following have special reference to architecture and cognate arts:
I. Aṅśumad-bhedāgama (paṭala or chapter):
28. Uttam-daśa-tāla-vidhi.
(There is another Aṅśumad-bhedā by Kāśyapa,3 account of which is given elsewhere) the following have special reference to architecture and cognate arts:
II. Kāmikāgama (paṭala or chapters):
11. Bhū-parīkshā-vidhi.
12. Praveśa-bali-vidhi.
13. Bhū-parigraha-vidhi.
14. Bhū-karshaṇa-vidhi.
15. Śaṅku-sthāpana-vidhi.
16. Mānopakaraṇa-vidhi.
17. Pāda-vinyāsa.
18. Sūtra-nirmāṇa.
19. Vāstu-deva-bali.
20. Grāmādi-lakshaṇa.
21. VisTĀRĀyama-lakskaṇa.
22. Āyādi-lakshaṇa.
24. Daṇḍika-vidhi (dealing with doors and gateways).
25. Vīthi-dvārādi-māna.
26. Grāmādi-devatā-sthāpana.
28. Grāmādi-vinyāsa.
29. Brahma-deva-padāti.
30. Grāmādi-aṅga-sthāna-nirmaṇa.
31. Garbha-nyāsa.
32. Bāla-sthāpana-vidhi.
33. Grāma-gṛiha-vinyāsa.
34. Vāstu-śānti-vidhi.
35. Śālā-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
36. Viśesha-lakskaṇa-vidhi.
37. Dvi-śālā-lakskaṇa-vidhi.
38. Chatuḥ-śāla-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
40. Varta (?dha) māna-śāla-lakshaṇa.
41. Nandyāvarta-vidhi .
42. Svastika-vidhi.
43. Paksha-śālādi-vidhi.
44. (H)asti-śāla-vidhi.
45. Mālikā-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
46. Lāṅgala-mālikā-vidhi.
47. Maulika-mālikā-vidhi.
48. Padma-mālikā-vidhi.
49. Nāgarādi-vibheda.
50. Bhūmi-lakba-vidhi.
51. Ādyeskṭakā-vidhāna-vidhi.
52. Upapīṭha-vidhi.
53. Pāda-māna-vidhi.
54. Prastāra-vidhi.
55. Prāsāda-bhūshaṇa-vidhi.
56. Kaṇṭha-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
57. Śikhara-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
58. Stūpika-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
59. Nālādi-sthāpana-vidhi.
60. Eka-bhumyādi-vidhi.
61. Mūrdhni-sthāpana-vidhi.
62. Liṅga-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
63. Aṅkurārpana-vidhi.
64. Liṅga-pratishṭhā-vidhi.
65. Pratimā-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
67. Devatā-sthāpana-vidhi.
68. Pratimā-pratishṭhā-vidhi.
69. Vimāna-sthāpana-vidhi.
70. Maṇḍapa-sthāpana-vidhi.
71. Prākāra-lakskaṇa-vidhi.
72. Parivāra-sthāpana-vidhi.
It should be noticed that out of 75 chapters of the Kãmikāgama, more than 60 deal with architecture and sculpture. This Āgama is in fact another Vāstu-śāstra under a different name.
III. Kāraṇāgama:
Part I (paṭala or chapters):
3. Vāstu-vinyāsa.
4. Ādyeshṭakā-vidhi.
5. Adhishṭhāna-vidhi.
6. Garbha-nyāsa-vidhi.
7. Prāsāda-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
8. Prākāra-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
9. Liṅga-lakshaṇa.
10. Mūrdhnīshṭakā-lakshaṇa.
11. Pratimā-lakshaṇa.
12. Srī-māna-daśa-tāla-lakshaṇa.
13. Kanishṭha-daśa-tāla-lakshaṇa.
14. Nava-tãlottama-lakshaṇa.
16. Bali-karma-vidhi.
19. Mṛit-saṁgrahaṇa-vidhi.
20. Aṅkurārpaṇa-vidhi.
41. Mahābhisheka-vidhi.
56. Vāstu-homa-vidhi.
59. Liṅga-sthāpana-vidhi.
60. Parivāra-sthāpana-vidhi.
61. Bali-pīṭha-pratishṭhā-vidhi.
62. Ratna-liṅga-sthāpana-vidhi.
66. Parivāra-bali.
70. Vimāna-sthāpana-vidhi.
88. Bhakta-sthāpana-vidhi.
138. Mṛit-saṁgrahaṇa (cf. 19).
Part II, chapters:
4. Kīla-parīkshā.
5. Gopura-lakskaṇa.
6. Maṇḍapa-lakshaṇa.
7. Pīṭha-lakshaṇa.
8. Śakti-lakskaṇa.
9. Grāma-śānti-vidhi.
10. Vāstu-Santi-vidhi.
11. Mṛit-saṁgrahaṇa.
12. Aṅkurārpaṇa.
13. Bimba-śuddhi.
14. Kautuka-bandhana.
15. Nayanonmīlana.
18. Bimba-śuddhi (cf. II. 13).
19. Śayanāropana.
21. Śiva-liṅga-sthāpana.
98. Maṭha-pratishṭhā.
IV. Vaikhānasāgama (paṭala or chapters):
22. Pratimā-lakshaṇa.
43. Uttama-daśa-tāla.
V. Suprabhedāgama (paṭala or chapters ):
22. Karaṇādhikāra-lakshaṇa, deals with Ushṇīsha (crowns, head-gears), Āsana (chair, seats), Paryaṅka (bedsteads, couches, etc.) Siṁhāsana (thrones), Raṅga (court-yards, theatres), Stambha (columns, pillars), etc.
23. Grāmādi-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
26. Taruṇālaya-vidhi.
27. Prāsāda-vāstu-vidhi.
28. Ādyeshṭakā-vidhi.
29. Garbha-nyāsa-vidhi.
30. Aṅguli-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
31. Prāsāda-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
32. Mūrdhnīshṭaka-vidhi.
33. Liṅga-lakshaṇa.
34. Sakala-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
35. Aṅkurārpaṇa-vidhi.
36. Liṅga-pratishṭhā-vidhi.
37. Sakala(image, idol)-pratishṭhā.
38. Śakti-pratishṭhā-vidhi.
39. Parivāra-vidhi.
40. Vṛishabha-sthāpana-vidhi.
ĀGASTYA-SAKALĀDHIKĀRA (manuscript)—
(Aufrecht, part I, p. 683, see Taylor, I, 72.)
Chapters:
1. Māna-saṁgraha.
2. Uttama-daśa-tāla.
3. Madhyama-daśa-tāla.
4. Adhama-daśa-tāla.
5. Pratimā-lakshaṇa.
6. Vṛishabha-vāhana-lakshaṇa.
7. Naṭeśvara-vidhi.
8. Shoḍaśa-pratimā-lakshaṇa.
9. Dāru-saṁgraha.
10. Mṛit-saṁskāra.
11. Varṇa-samskāra.
There are three other MSS. in the Government MSS. Library, Madras, attributed to Āgastya. See Catalogue, Vol. XXII, nos. 13046, 13047, 13058. Nos. 13046, 13047 are incomplete and deal with astrological matters bearing upon architecture. No. 13058 is a portion of a large manuscript (see under ŚILPA-SAṀGRAHA) which is an anonymous compilation. The following chapters of it are ascribed to Āgastya:
1. Māna-saṁgraha-viśesha.
2. Uttama-daśa-tāla.
3. Madhyama-daśa-tāla.
4. Somāskanda-lakshaṇa.
5. Chandra-śekhara-lakshaṇa.
6. Vṛisha-vāhana-lakshaṇa.
It is not quite clear whether the following 7-14 (which are not numbered as such in the compilation) should be attributed to Āgastya:
7. Tripurāntaka-lakshaṇa.
8. Kalyāṇa-sundara-lakshaṇa.
9. Ardha-nārīśvara-lakshaṇa.
10. Pāśupata-lakshaṇa.
11. Bhikshāṭana-lakshaṇa.
12. Chaṇḍeśānugraha-lakshaṇa.
13. Dakshiṇā-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
14. Kāla-dahana-lakshaṇa.
15-18. Apparently missing.
19. Pratimā-lakshaṇa.
The following found in another portion of the compilation are indifferently numbered as shown on the right parallel column:
20. (3) Upapīṭha-vidhāna.
21. (9) Śūla-māna-vidhāna.
22. (10) Rajju-bandha-saṁskāra-vidhi.
23. (11) Varṇa-saṁskāra.
24. (21) Akshi-mokshaṇa.
ĀGĀRA-VINODA—On the construction of houses.
(Aufrecht. ibid., part i, p. 2.)
ĀYA-TATTVA—by Maṇḍana Sūtradhāra.
(See Vāstu-śāstra, by Rājavallabha Maṇḍdana.)
ĀYĀDI-LAKSHAṆA—On architectural and sculptural measurement.
(Aufrccht, part I, 62.)
ĀRĀMADI-PRATISHṬHṬĀ-PADDHATI—On the construction of gardens, etc.
(Aufrecht, part I, p. 53.)
K
KĀMIKĀGAMA—See under ĀGAMAS.
KARAṆĀGAMA—See under ĀGAMAS.
KĀŚYAPĪYA—(Manuscript), deals with architecture and cognate arts. (Govt. MSS. Library, Madras, Catalogue of MSS., Vol. XXII, p. 8755, f., nos. 13032, 13033. See also Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS. in Private Libraries of South India, Vol. II, p. 395, no. 6336.)
‘This work has attained universal authority amongst all the sculptors of South India up to the present time, and the young pupils are even now taught to learn by heart the verses given in this book regarding the rules of constructions and measurements of images.'’ Kāśyapa is said to have learnt this science from Śiva (paṭala I, verses 1-5).
The contents are divided into eighty-three paṭalas which are classified in an overlapping manner into the following headings:
1. Karshaṇa.
2. Prāsāda-vāstu.
3. Vāstu-homa.
4. Prathameshṭaka-vidhi.
5. Upapīṭha-vidhāna.
6. Adhishṭhāna-vidhi.
7. Nāla-lakshaṇa.
8. Stambha-lakshaṇa.
9. Phalaka-lakshaṇa.
10. Vedika-lakshaṇa.
11. Jālaka-lakshaṇa.
12. Ta(o)raṇa-lakshaṇa.
13. Vṛitta-sphuṭita-lakshaṇa.
14. Stambha-toraṇa-vidhi.
15. Kumbha-tāla-lakshaṇa.
16. Vṛitta-sphuṭita-lakshaṇa, cf. 13.
17. Dvāra-lakshaṇa.
18. Kampa-dvāra-lakshaṇa.
19. PrasTĀRĀ-lakshaṇa.
20. Gala-vidhāna.
21. Śikhara-lakshaṇa.
22. Nāsikā-lakshaṇa.
23. Mānopakaraṇa.
24. Māna-sūtrādi-lakshaṇa.
25. Nāgarādi-vidhi.
26. Garbha-nyāsa-vidhi.
27. Eka-tala-vidhāna.
28-40. Dvi-trayodaśa-tala-vidhāna.
41. Shoḍaśa-bhūmi-vidhāna.
42. Mūrdhanīshṭaka-vidhāna.
43. Prākāra-lakshaṇa.
44. Manṭa(-ḍa)pa-lakshaṇa.
45. Gopura-lakshaṇa.
46. Sapta-mātṛika-lakshaṇa.
47. Vināyaka-lakshaṇa.
48. Parivāra-vidhi.
49. Liṅga-lakshaṇoddhāra.
50. Uttama-daśa-tāla-purusha-māna.
51. Madhyama-daśa-tāla-purusha-māna.
52. Uttama-nava-tāla.
53. Madhyama-nava-tāla.
54. Adhama-nava-tāla.
55. Ashṭa-tāla.
56. Sapta-tāla.
57. Pīṭha-lakshaṇoddhāra.
58. Sakala-sthāpana-vidhi.
59-60. Sukhāsana.
61. Chandra-śekhara-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
62. Vṛisha-vāhana-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
63. Nṛitta-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
64. Gaṅgādhara-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
65. Tri-pura-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
66. Kalyāna-sundara-lakshaṇa.
67. Ardha-nārīśvara-lakshaṇa.
68. Gajaha-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
69. Paśupati-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
70. Kaṅkāla-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
71. Hary-ardha-hara-lakshaṇa.
72. Bhikshāṭana-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
73. Chaṇḍeśanugraha.
74. Dakshiṇā-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
75. Kālaha-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
76. Liṅgodbhava-lakshaṇa.
77. Vṛiksha-saṁgrahaṇa.
78. Śūla-lakshaṇa.
79. Śūla-pani-lakshaṇa.
80. Rajiju-bandha-lakshaṇa.
81. Mṛit-saṁskāra-lakshaṇa.
82. Kalka-saṁskāra-lakshaṇa.
83. Varṇa-saṁskāra-lakshaṇa.
84. Varṇa-lepana-medhya-lakshaṇa.
85. Grāmādi-lakshaṇa.
86. Grāma-lakshaṇa.
KUPĀDI-JALA-STHĀNA-LAKSHAṆA—On the construction of wells, etc.
(In possession of the Mahārājā of Travancore; Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS. in Private Libraries of South India, Vol. I, p. 467.)
KAUTUKA-LAKSHAṆA—On architecture.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. II, p. 258.)
KRIYĀ-SAṀGRAHA-PAÑJIKÑĀ—A catalogue of rituals by Kuladatta. It contains among other things instructions for the selection of site for the construction of a Nihāra and also rules for building a dwelling house.
(The Sanskrit and Buddhist Literature of Nepal, by Rajendra Lal Mitra, 1882, p. 105.)
KSHĪRĀRṆAVA—Attributed to Viśvakarman, on architecture, etc.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part II, pp. 26, 138.)
KSHETRA-NIRMĀṆA-VIDHI—On the preparation of ground with a view to construction of buildings thereupon.
(In possession of the Rājā of Cochin; Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS. in Private Libraries of South India, Vol. I, p. 354.)
G
GARUḌA-PURĀṆA—See under PURĀṆAS.
GĀRGYA-SAṀHITĀ—(MSS. R. 15. 96, in Trinity College, Cambridge; it contains 108 leaves, in oblong folio; Indian paper; Devanāgarī character; copied in 1814). It deals with the following architectural subjects:
Dvāra-nirdeśa | (fol. 51a, chap. 3).
Dvāra-pramāṇa-vidhi | (fol. 57b).
Gārgīyāyāṁ vāstu-vidyāyāṁ chatuḥ-śālā-dvi-tri-śālāika-śālā-vidhi | (fol. 58a).
Vāstu-vidyāyāṁ chatur-bhāga-tri-bhāga-prati-bhāga, etc. (fol. 6oa).
Dvāra-stambhochchrāya-vidhi. | (fol. 60b).
Vāstu-vidyāyāṁ prathamo’dyāyāḥ | (fol. 67a).
dvitīyo’dhyāyaḥ | (fol. 67b).
dvāra-pramāṇa nirdeśam | (fol. 68a).
Gṛiha-praveśam | (fol. 68b).
GṚIHA-NIRŪPAṆA-SAṀKSHEPA—A summary-work on housebuilding.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part I, p. 157.)
GṚIHA-NIRMĀṆA-VIDHI—On rules for the erection of houses, temples, and other edifices.
(Wilson’s Mackenzie Collection, p. 304.)
GṚIHA-PĪṬHIKĀ—On the construction of houses.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS. in Private Libraries of South India, Vol. I, p. 545.)
GṚIHA-VĀSTU-PRADĪPA—(Lucknow, 1901)—Contains 87 pages deals mostly with astronomical and ritualistic matters in connection with the building of houses.
GṚIHĀRAMBHA—by Śrīpati.
(Cf. Vāstu-sārani.)
GOPURA-VIMĀNĀDI-LAKSHAṆA—On gate-houses and temples, etc.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. II, p. 259, no. 4009.)
GRĀMA-NIRṆAYA—by Nārṇyaṇa.
(Cf. Vāstu-sāraṇi)
GH
GHAṬṬOTSARGA-SŪCHANIKĀ—On the erection of steps on the bank of a river.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part III, p. 37.)
CH
CHAKRA-ŚĀSTRA—On architecture and cognate arts.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. II, p. 200.)
CHITRA-KARMA-ŚILPA-ŚĀSTRA—On painting.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part I, p. 187.)
CHITRA-PAṬA—On painting.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. I, p. 440.)
CHITRA-LAKSHAṆA—(ed. Laufer)—Treats largely with the sculptural measurement of images and painting; translated into German from Tibetan, the original Sanskrit version is apparently missing.
CHITRA-SŪTRA—On painting (mentioned in Kaṭṭani-mata, 22).
(Aufrecht, ibid., part I, p. 187.)
J
JAYA-MĀDHAVA-MĀNASOLLĀSA—Attributed to one Jayasiṁhadevaṁ—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part I, p. 201.)
JĀLĀRGALA—Attributed to Varāhamihira—On door-bars and latticed windows.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. II, no. 3146, p. 217.)
JĀLĀRGALA-YANTRA—On the architectural instruments and machines.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. II, no. 3147, p. 217.)
JÑĀNA-RATNA-KOSHA—Attributed to Viśvakarman—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, part I, p. 210, in possession ofAcharatālal Vaidya, Ahmedabad, Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. contained in the Private Libraries of Gujarat, etc. 1872, p. 276.)
T
TACHCHU-ŚĀSTRA—Same as Manushyālaya-chandrikā (see below).
TĀRĀ-LAKSHAṆA—On sculpture (image of the goddess Tārā).
(Aufrecht, part I, p. 229.)
D
DAŚA-TĀLA-NYAGRODHA-PARIMAṆḌALA-BUDDHA-PRATIMĀ-LAKSHAṆA—On the ten-tāla measure of Buddha images, exists in Tibetan translation; the original Sanskrit version is apparently missing.
DAŚA-PRAKĀRA—Attributed to Vasishṭha—On architectural defects.
(See Vāstu-sāraṇi, by Maṭri-prasāda-Pande, Benares, 1909.)
DIK-SĀDHANA—Attributed to Bhāskara—On architecture.
(See Vāstu-sāraṇi.)
DĪRGHA-VISTĀRĀ-PRAKĀRA—Attributed to Nārada—On architectural measurement.
(See Vāstu-sāraṇi.)
DEVATĀ-ŚILPA—On sculpture, dealing specially with the images of deities.
(A classified catalogue of Sanskrit works in the Sarasvatī Bhāṇḍaram Library of His Highness the Mahārājā of Mysore, class XIX, no. 535.)
DEVĀLAYA-LAKSHAṆA—On the construction of temples.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS. in Private Libraries of South India, Vol. I, p. 470.)
DVĀRA-LAKSHAṆA-PAṬALA—On the construction of doors.
(Ibid., no. 6003, p. 470.)
DH
DHRUVĀDI-SHOḌAŚA-GEHĀNI—Attributed to Gaṇapati—On the architectural arrangement of buildings.
(See Vāstu-sāraṇi.)
N
NĀRADA-PURĀṆA—See under PURĀṆAS.
NĀRADA-SAṀHITĀ—deals with the following subjects:
(i) Sura-pratishṭhā (20 verses).
(a) Vāstu-vidhāna (62 verses, describing briefly Bhūparīkshā, Dvārasthana, Śaṅku-sthāpana, Pada-nyāsa, and Gṛiha-nyāsa).
(3) Vāstu-lakshaṇa—describes ceremonies of Gṛiha-praveśa.
NĀVĀ-ŚĀSTRA—‘On ship-building and navigation.’ But the work is chiefly astrological.’ Some directions are, however, given respecting the materials and dimensions of vessels.
(Taylor’s Catalogue Raisonée, Vol. III, p. 6.)
In Taylor’s Catalogue Raisonée, there is mentioned another Manuscript of which the title is lost. It is ‘on the art of constructing forts, houses, fanes, settling a village; navigation and variety of other similar things enumerated as taught in 36 works, the names of which are given.’ (Ibid., Vol. III, p. 350.)
P
PAKSHI-MANUSHYĀLAYA-LAKSHAṆA—On the construction of human dwellings and aviaries.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. I, p. 471.)
PAÑCHA-RĀTRA-(PRA)DĪPIKĀ—(also called Mantra-dīpikā)—It professes to form a part of the Padma-tantra of the Nārada-Pañcharātra. It has a Telugu commentary by Peḍḍanāchārya. It deals with images and consists of the following five chapters:
1. Śilā-saṁgraha-lakshaṇa.
2. Dāru-saṁgrahana.
3. Pratimā-lakshaṇa.
4. ... nāma-tṛitīyo’dhyāya.
5. Pratimā-samgrahe jaladhivasana-ashtamo’dhyaya.
(See Egg. MSS., 3150, 2579, II, Mackenzie Collection.)
PIṆḌA-PRAKĀRA—Attributed to Gopirāja—On architectural subjects.
(See Vāstu-sāraṇi.)
PĪṬHA-LAKSHAṆA—On pedestals.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. I, p. 472.)
PURĀṆAS—(Bombay editions)—Of the 18 or 19 Mahā-purāṇas,4 the following have special reference to Architecture and Sculpture:
I. Agni-Purāṇna:
Chapters:
42. Prāsāda-lakshaṇa-kathana.
43. Prāsāda-devatā-sthāpana.
44. Vāsudevādi-pratimā-lakshaṇa-vidhi.
45. Piṇḍikā-lakskaṇa.
46. Śālagrāmādi-mūrti-lakshaṇa-kathana.
49. Matsyādi-daśāvatārā-kathana.
50. Devī-pratimā-lakshaṇa-kathana.
51. Sūryādi-pratimā-lakshaṇa.
52. Devī-pratimā-lakshaṇa (cf. 50).
53. Liṅga-lakshaṇa.
54. Liṅga-mānādi-kathana.
55. Piṇḍikā-lakshaṇa-kathana (cf. 45).
60. Vāsudeva-pratishṭhā-vidhi (cf. 44).
62. Lakshmī-pratishṭhā-vidhi.
104. Prāsāda-lakshaṇa (cf. 42).
105. Gṛihādi-vāstu-kathana.
106. Nāgarādi-vāstu.
II. Garuḍa-Purāṇa:
Chapters:
45. Śālagrāma-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
46. Prāsāda-ārāma-durga-devālaya-maṭhādi-vāstu-māna-lakshaṇa-nirūpana.
47. Prāsāda-liṅga-maṇḍapādi-śubhāśubha-lakshaṇa-nirūpaṇa.
48. Devānāṁ pratishṭhā-vidhi.
III. Nārada-Purāṇa:
Part I, chapter:
13. Devatāyana-vāpi-kūpa-taḍāgādi-nirmāṇa.
IV. Brahmāṇḍa-Purāṇa:
Chapter:
7. Gṛihādi-nirmāṇa.
V. Bhavishya-Purāṇa:
Chapters:
12. Madhya-parvaṇi, Pratidevatā-pratimā-lakshaṇa-varṇana.
130. Brahma-parvaṇi, Prāsāda-lakshaṇa-varṇana.
131. Mūṛti-sthāna, deals with the materials, etc., of which images are made.
132. Pratimā-māna, deals with the measurement of images.
VI. Matsya-Purāṇa:
Chapters:
252. Deals with the introduction of eighteen ancient architects—Bhṛigu, Atri, Vasisṭha, Viśvakarmā, Maya, Nārada, Nagnajit, Viśālāksha, Purandara, Brahma, Kumāra, Nandīśa, Śaunaka, Garga, Vāsudeva, Aniruddha, Śukra, and Bṛihaspati.
255. Stambha-māna-vinirṇaya.
257. Dārvāharana.
258. Nava-tāla-māna.
262. Pīṭhikā-lakshaṇa.
263. Liṅga-lakshaṇa.
269. Prāsāda-varṇana.
270. Maṇḍapa-lakshaṇa.
VII. Liṅga-Purāṇa:
Part II, chapter:
48. Yāga-kuṇḍa-vinyāsa-kathana-pūrvakaṁ sarvāsāṁ devatānāṁ sthāpana-vidhi-nirūpaṇam, Prāsādārchāni-nirūpaṇam.
VIII. Vāyu-Purāṇa:
Part I, Chapter:
39. Śaila-sthita-vividha-devālaya-kīrtana.
IX. Skanda-Purāṇa:
Chapters:
24. Māheśvara-khaṇḍe-prathame—Himālayena sva-sutāyā vivāhārthaṁ Gargāchārya-purohitaṁ puraskṛitya Viśvakarmā-dvāra pūrva-mandapa-nirmāṇadi-varṇanam, Nāradād Viśvakarmākṛita-vivāhā-maṇḍapaṁ chāturyena sarva-deva-pratikṛiti-chitravinyāsaṁ śrutvā sarveshāṁ devānāṁ śaṅkā-prāptih.
Māheśvara-khaṇḍe dvitīye—svayaṁ Viśvakarmā-dvāra-nirmāpite Mahīnagare sthāpana-varṇana.
25. Vaishṇava-khaṇḍe dvitīye—Nārada-likhita-sāhitya-sambhāvasaṁgraha-patraṁ śrutvā Indradumnājñayā Padmanidhinā svarṇaśālā-nirmāṇaṁ, Nāradājñayā Viśvakarmānā syaṇḍana-traya-nirmāṇaṁ, tasya rathasya Nārada-kareṇa sthāpanaṁ, tat-prasaṁgena ratha-sthāpana-prakāra-vidhi-varṇanam.
PRATIMĀ-DRAVYĀDI-VACHANA—On the materials of which idols are made.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. I, p. 490.)
PRATIMĀ-MĀNA-LAKSHAṆA—On the tāla-measures of images, exists in Tibetan Translation; Sylvian Levi reports that he has traced its original Sanskrit version in the Palace Library of Tibet.
PRATISHṬHĀ-TATTVA—Also called MAYA-SAṀGRAHA—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part III, p. 74.)
PRATISHṬHĀ-TANTRA—On architecture in a dialogue form between Śiva and Pārvatī.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part III, p. 74.)
PRĀSĀDA-KALPA—On the construction of buildings.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. II, p. 522.)
PRĀSĀDA-KĪRTANA—On architecture.
(Author not known; in possession of Gopal Rao, Mālegamva, Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. in Private Libraries of Gujarat, etc., 1872, p. 276.)
PRĀSĀDA-DĪPIKĀ—On architecture, quoted in Madana-Pārijāta.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part I, p. 364.)
PRĀSĀDA-MAṆḌANA-VĀSTU-ŚĀSTRA—Attributed to Sūtradhāra Maṇḍana—(Egg. MSS. 3147, 2253). It is written in Sanskrit, but is largely mixed with Bhāshā forms. It contains the following eight chapters:
1. Miśra-kalaśa.
2. Jagati-dṛishśi-dosho āyatanādhikāra.
3. Bhitti-pīṭha-maṇḍovara-garbha-gṛihaudumbara-pramāṇa.
4. Pramāṇa-dṛishṭi-pada-sthāna-śikhara-kalaśa-lakshaṇa.
5. Rājyādi-prāsādādhikāra.
6. Keśaryādi-prāsāda-jāti-lakshaṇa, pañcha-kshetra-pañcha-chatvāriṁśan-meru-lakshaṇādhyāya.
7. Maṇḍapa-bālānaka-sambaraṇādhikāra.
8. Jīrnoddhāra-bhinna-dosha-sthāvara-pratishṭhā, Sūtra-dhārapūjā, Jina-pratishṭhā, Vāstu-purusha-vinyāsa.
PRĀSĀDA-LAKSHAṆA—Attributed to Varāhamihira—On architecture.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. II, p. 208.)
PRĀSĀDA-LAKSHAṆA—On buildings.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. I, p. 473.)
PRĀSĀDALAṄKARA-LAKSHAṆA—On the decoration (articles of furniture) of buildings.
(In possession of the Mahārājā of Travancore; Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. II, p. 473.)
B
BIMBAMĀNA—(MSS. British Museum, nos. I. 559, 5291, foll. 33, 7 lines to a page; II, 558, 5292, foll. 27, 9 lines to a page; written in Siṁhalese character, has a Siṁhalese commentary)—This is a treatise on religious sculpture, stated to be extracted from a Gautamīya ascribed to Sāriputra. The last colophon runs thus: Iti Gautamīye Sāri-putrā-śrute Bimba-mānam samāptam. The commentator explains this Bimbamāna-vidhi as the Sarvajña-pratimā-pramāṇa-vidhi.
BṚIHAT-SAṀHITĀ—Of Varāhamihira—On architectural and sculptural matters.
Chapters:
53. Vāstu-vidyā.
56. Prāsāda-lakshaṇa.
57. Vajra-lepa.
58. Pratimā-lakshaṇa.
79. Śayyāsana-lakshaṇa.
BUDDHA-PRATIMĀ-LAKSHAṆA—On the tāla measure of Buddha-images; exists in Tibetan Translation; the original Sanskrit version is apparently missing.
BUDDHA-LAKSHAṆA—in Siamese, dealing with ‘the more orthodox peculiarities of the characteristics of the body.’ (M. G. Coede, G. E. F. E. 1915), King Phra Nangklao thought of it as ‘a work of merit to shorten the fingers of the statue of Sakyamuni’ in Waṭ (temple) Sudas at Bangkok (capital of Siam). ‘A paper about the attitudes of Buddha images in the Siamese monasteries was written by the Somtej Phra Paramanujit, the son of the King Phra Buddha Yot Fa (died in A.D. 1854).’
BRAHMĀṆḌA-PURĀṆA—See under PURĀṆAS.
BH
BHAVISHYA-PURĀṆA—See under PURĀṆAS.
M
MAṬHA-PRATISHṬHĀ-TATTVA—Attributed to Raghunaṇḍana—Contains quotations from the Devī-purāṇa and the Deva-pratishṭhā-tattva, both of which deal with architectural and sculptural matters.
MATSYA-PURĀṆA—See under PURĀṆAS.
MANUSHYĀLAYA-CHANDRIKĀ—(Also called TACHGHU-ŚĀSTRA)—deals with measurement, etc., concerning private dwelling houses as distinguished from religious temples, and military forts, etc. It contains 65 stanzas and a Malayalam translation. There is a manuscript also bearing the same title.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. I, p. 475.)
MANUSHYĀLAYA-LAKSHAṆA—On the building of human dwellings.
(In possession of the Mahārājā of Travancore; Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid, Vol. I, p. 475.)
MAÑJU-ŚRĪ-MŪLA-KALPA—A Tantra work (cf. Trivandrum Sanskrit Series), translated in Tibetan, deals with some architectural matters.
MANTRA-DĪPIKĀ (see PAÑCHA-RĀTRA-PRADĪPIKĀ)—On architecture.
MAYAMATA—An oft quoted and well-known authority on architecture. There are several treatises attributed to Maya:
I. Mayamata, edited by Gaṇapati Śāstri, 1919, from three fragmentary and one incomplete (with a Tamil translation) manuscripts; it contains 34 chapters, and four more chapters are missing (see
below) .
There are some other manuscripts bearing the same title (Egg. 3150, 2575); one of them (in the Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras), written in modern Telugu, on rough paper, contains five chapters with a short commentary by Gannamāchārya.
II. Mayamata-Śilpa-śāstra-vidhāna (Egg. 3150, 2575, 3151, 2630, with Gannamāchārya’s Telugu commentary as noted above).
III. Maya-Śilpa-śatika (another manuscript).
IV. Maya-Śilpa, a few extracts from this have been translated into English by Rev. J. E. Kearns (see Indian Ant., Vol. V, pp. 230, 293).
There is also another English translation of Mayamata in the Mackenzie Collection (Translation, class X, Sanskrit, 2-6).
V. Maya-vāstu—text, pp. 33, published by Rāma Svami Sāstralu & Sons, Madras, 1916.
VI. Maya-vāstu-śāstram—text, pp. 40, published by K. Lakshman Mudali, Madras, 1917.
VII. A Sinhalese version of Māyāmataya manuscripts is referred to by A. K. Coomarswamy (Mediaeval Simhalese Art., pp. 124-128). It also deals with a few architectural objects and is meant for ‘learned and skilful architects.’
VIII. Mayamata-vāstu-śāstra—Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras, Catalogue, Vol. XXII, nos. 13034 (with a Tamil commentary), 13035 (with a Telugu commentary), 13036, 13037, 13038, 13039 (with a Telugu commentary) .
Of these manuscripts no. 13034 is the largest, containing 390 pages of 13¼” x 8” paper of 22 lines to a page. The subjects and the method of description are strikingly similar to those of the Mānasāra. It is divided into the following 36 chapters:
1. Saṁgrahādhyāya.
2. Vāstu-prakāra.
3. Bhū-parīkshā.
4. Bhū-parigraha.
5. Mānopakaraṇa.
6. Dik-parichchhedana.
7. Pada-devatā-vinyāsa.
8. Deva-bali-karma-vidhāna (incomeplete).
9. Grāma-garbha-vinyāsa (incomplete).
10. Nāgara-vinyāsa.
11. Bhū-lamb(h)a-vidhāna.
12. Garbha-nyāsa-vidhāna.
13. Upapīṭha-vidhāna.
14. Adhisṭhāna-vidhāna.
15. Pāda-pramāṇa-dravya-parigraha.
16. Prastara-karaṇa.
17. Sandhi-karma-vidhāna.
18. Śkhara-karaṇa-bhavana-samāpti-vidhāna.
19. Eka-bhūmi-vidhāna.
20. Dvi-bhūmi-vidhāna.
21. Tri-bhūmi-vidhāna.
22. Bahu-bhūmi-vidhāna.
23. Prākāra-parivarā (elsewhere, Sandhi-karma-vidhāna).
24. Gopura-vidhāna.
25. Sabhā(maṇḍapa)-vidhāna.
26. Śālā-vidhāna.
27. Gṛiha-mānādhikāra (elsewhere Chatur-gṛiha-vidhāna).
28. Gṛiha-praveśa.
29. Rāja-veśma-vidhāna.
30. Dvāra-vidhāna.
31. Yānādhikāra.
32. Yāna-śayanādhikāra.
33. Liṅga-lakshaṇa.
34. Piṭha-lakshaṇa (incomplete).
35. Anukarma-vidhāna.
36. Pratimā-lakshaṇa.
Compare no. I, which contains the first 34 out of 36 chapters given in the above list, the variations are noted within brackets.
No. 13035 contains in 74 pages the chapters 1-32.
No. 13036 is same as no. 13035.
No. 13037 contains only two incomplete chapters in six pages.
No. 13038 contains in 94 pages the following twelve chapters:
1. Pratimā-vidhāna.
2. Āya-lakshaṇa.
3. Liṅga-lakshaṇa.
4. Daśa-tāla-vidhāna.
5. Kuñchita-vidhāna.
6. Nava-tāla-vidhāna.
7. Hasta-karma-vidhāna.
8. Upapīṭha-vidhāna.
9. Eka-bhūmi-vidhāna.
10. Dvi-tāla-vidhāna.
11. Tri-tāla-vidhāna.
12. Gopura-vidhāna.
Its colophon runs thus—‘iti Gannāchārya-virachitāyāṁ Mayamate Śilpa-śāstre…’
No. 13039 contains in 36 pages the first four chapters of no. 13038. ‘There is in Tamil a treatise on Śilpa-śāstra, said to have been originally composed in Sanskrit by Myen (i.e., Maya) who, according to mythology, was a son of Brahma and architect of the gods. The original work appears to have been disseminated far and wide, and to have suffered by omissions as well as by additions. The work under consideration seems to have been formed from selections of existing editions of the original work under the superintendence and guidance of persons having a practical knowledge of Śilpa-śāstra or at least of persons professing to have such knowledge. (Ind. Ant., Vol. V., p. 230, C. I, para. I; see also M., II, 11-12, 17-20, under STHAPATI.)
In regard to Maya the following note is of great interest:
‘That the Maya culture of Central America was derived from Asia is demonstrated by Mr. J. Leslie Mitchell in his book The Conquest of the Maya. In reviewing the publication Mr. H. J. Massingham writes that the evidence for a succession of cultural waves from Asia is so overwhelming that “the impartial reader must wonder why the issue was ever a controversial one.” It appears that it was India which contributed most to the development of Maya culture. Among the Maya sculptures are to be found representations of Hanuman, of Ganeśa, and of Indra and the pictorial and ritualistic reminiscences of Buddhism. “All this suggests,” says Mr. Massingham, “that the ancient mariners reached the American coast from A. D. 700 onwards not once but many times.” The Hindu culture could not have been transported to Central America unless the Hindus had been a great sea-faring people.’
Exploration of the sites of a lost civilization is the fascinating pursuit of Dr. Gann, who has discovered a hitherto unknown monolith and a oncepopulous site in the forests of Yucatan. He is exploring for traces of the Mayas, and his progress is recorded in a series of articles published in the Morning Post:
‘I discovered the ruins of the great city of Coba,’ he writes, ‘through information found in a recent translation of the ancient Maya manuscriptbook of Chilan Balam of Chumayel. This describes the migration of the Itzas from Chichenitza to Coba, which is about fifty miles to the east of Chichenitza.’
‘The books of Chilan Balam are the old traditions of the Mayas, which survived the Spanish conquest of Yucatan. They record the migrations of Maya clans, and were reduced to writing in the sixteenth century. I was informed by a wandering Maya Indian that in the Mexican territory of Quintana Roo he had come across a great slab of stones lying buried in the bush upon which were inscribed: “Ubalob uxben uincoob,” or things belonging to the ancient people. He said he had found it not many miles north of the British Honduras frontier.
‘As guide I took the Indian who had told me of the stone. He, like most of his race, had nothing to say to strangers, and he said it most efficiently.
‘I had no difficulty in obtaining my permit to visit the shores of Chetumal Bay, where the Maya monolith was reported to be.
‘So we set out on our journey up the Bay, which runs almost due north for about thirty miles into the south of the Yucatan Peninsula. This is surely one of the most desolate stretches of water in the world. It is shallow, yellow, forbidding. On the east separating it from the Caribbean Sea, an unexplored, uninhabited peninsula, covered with virgin bush. On the west, between the Bay and the great Bacalar Lagoon, the land is equally desolate, being traversed at rare intervals only by a few Indian Chicle bleeders, who roam in search of the sapodilla trees, from which they get the latex that forms the raw material of chewing gum.
‘About thirteen miles from Payo Obispo I lighted on my great find We came to a spot on the west coast of the bay where an Indian had cut down the bush to make a small maize plantation. My Indian guide directed us to land here, and then led us to the stone we were seeking.
‘The full importance of the discovery was not apparent at first. It was a block of greyish schist, twelve feet long, eighteen inches wide, and twelve inches thick. It had at one time stood upright, but now lay flat and embedded in the ground. Upon one edge faint traces of sculpture were visible, but the greater part of the exposed surfaces had been worn quite smooth by the tropical downpours of an unknown number of rainy seasons. This has been the fate of many Maya inscriptions.
‘I then brushed the soil from the stone, and there—glorious surprise—I saw the Maya Initial Series Date—9. 8. 0. 0. 0. 5 Aban 3 Chen, or 26 October, A. D. 333! The sculpture preserved by its burial in the earth, was almost as clear and plain as on the day when it was cut in the stone, nearly sixteen centuries ago.
‘Amid all the Maya ruins in Yucatan only four such Initial Series dates have been found, and the date carved on the monolith which lay before me was more than three hundred years earlier than that appearing on the oldest of the stelae previously found. Now, one of the most baffling mysteries connected with the Mayas is their abandonment of their old empire and foundation of the new one; for, at a certain period in their history, they left their cities, built with an enormous expenditure of labour, and migrated from the fertile lands in which they stood to found new settlements in what were, apparently, uninhabited regions.
‘Earthquakes, pestilence, and foreign invasion have been suggested as possible causes of this migration. The cities the Mayas left bear no traces of violence having been wrought by man or the forces of Nature, and the buildings of their new settlements were obviously erected by a people with unimpaired vigour. It is therefore important to fix the date when they first established themselves in Yucatan; and this discovery may, in fact, cause a complete reversion of the ideas generally held as to their first immigration into this peninsula and their foundation of what is known as the New Empire. It may, indeed, affect our views of the whole history of the earliest and most advanced aboriginal civilization of America, which was in many respects the highest civilization of ancient, if not of any time.
‘The carving on this stela begins with the initial glyph and in column below this come the glyphs meaning—
9 Bactuns (periods of 400 years, each of 360 days).
8 Ḱatuns (periods of twenty years), O Tuns (years).
0 Unials (Maya months of twenty days).
0 Kins (days). It thus records the lapse of 3,760 years from the beginning of the Maya chronology. The
Mayas did not count any period of time until it was completed, that is to say, their sign for the first day of a month was o. So if written in our style these glyphs would read 1. 1. 3761.
‘It is generally assumed that the date from which the Mayas reckoned their chronology is mythological rather than historical. But for the present purposes consideration of such a question is immaterial. The point is that all the dates on such monoliths are reckoned from the same day, and therefore, according to Spinden’s correlation of their system with ours, this date corresponds to our 26 October, A.D. 333.
‘This would, apparently, place the beginning of the Maya chronology in 3381. The British Museum Guide to the Maudsley collection of Maya Sculptures gives this Maya date 9. 8. o. o. o. 5 Ahan, 3 Chen as A.D. 64. But it mentions that Professor Morley has worked out another correlation which places this and all other Maya dates some 270 years later.
‘Beneath this date on the stela was a great sheet of hieroglyphics, which were perfectly clearly defined, but they are in our present state of knowledge indecipherable. I have no doubt though that if we could read them we should find that they recorded events which had occurred during the preceding Katun or period of twenty Maya years, as such stelae were put up by the Mayas to commemorate the ends of each of those periods.
‘The monolith had been erected just in front of a great terraced pyramid which stood between two others. All these pyramids were faced, in the usual Maya style, with blocks of cut limestone. The central one had three terraces and was 32 feet high. Its flat top, upon which there no doubt stood a wooden temple, long since perished, was 135 feet long and 64 feet across.
‘Further investigation showed that these pyramids were at one end of a great enclosure, which was surrounded by a massive stone wall. This wall is from 12 to 15 feet thick at the base, and in the places where it has remained intact, it is 12 feet high; but for the most part the growth of luxurious vegetation has thrown the stones down and the ruins are only 3 or 4 feet above ground. The wall is a mile and a half long and forms a semi-circle with the two ends running down to the shore.
‘I think there can hardly be any doubt that this was intended as a fortification, and therefore a particular interest is attached to it. For, judging by all their sculptures, the ancient Mayas knew nothing of war. Their sculptors have left no records of battles or triumphs, such as those of Greece, Egypt, or Babylon. One assumed that all the Maya clans dwelt in amity and that until quite late in their history they had no experiene of fighting, either among themselves or with alien races.
‘Yet here we have what is obviously a defensive work, and it seems significant that the only two walls of this kind which have hitherto been discovered are also in Yucatan, one being at Tuluum, on the east coast, and the other at Chicken Itza, in the northern interior. Against whom were these defences erected? Judging by the date on the stela, they were built centuries before the Mayas came in contact with the Tolecs, on the north. It has been assumed that Yucatan was uninhabited when the Mayas first took possession of it, and they were not in the habit of building such walls in the earlier cities to the south. Why this innovation?
‘The space enclosed by this wall had evidently been densely populated in bygone times. For in the places where the Indians have cleared the undergrowth away, one could see that the ground is literally covered with potsherds, flint and obsidian chips, clay beads, spindle whorls, small human and animal heads, and other surviving evidences of human habitation.
‘A great concourse of people must have lived there for many generations.
‘The discovery of these ruins was, more or less, incidental. During this season my primary objective is Northern Yucatan, where Professor Morley, of the Carnegie Institute, and I propose to test the truth of some wonderful Indian legends. The Indians have told me of a vast subterranean cavern some twenty miles long, and of the ruins of a great city which no white man has seen.
‘Along the east coast of Yucatan live the Santa Cruz Indians, presumably the direct descendants of the ancient Mayas who erected magnificent temples and palaces, most of which now lie buried in the tropical forests. Some have been discovered, but there is no doubt that a great number of them yet remain to be discovered.
‘The Santa Cruz Indians have never been subdued, and for five centuries they have successfully resisted all the efforts, first of the Spaniards and later of the Mexicans to conquer their country. These Indians so far as is known lead the lives of their ancestors of a thousand years ago. They worship the same gods and perform the ancient religious ceremonies. But we know little about them, because their villages are buried in the dense forests of the hills and they permit no stangers to intrude.
‘The danger of penetrating into this Santa Cruz country arises from the fact that the suspicious Indians may fire from the bush without inquiry whether the strangers are friends or foes.’
About the vast cave of Loltun, which is possibly the largest cavern in the world he adds that ‘this cave is entered by great well-like holes in the earth through which one descends by ladders from ledge to ledge arriving in immense rocky chambers whose floors are covered with stalagmites and cave earth, and from whose lofty roofs depend vast stalactities. Two of these holes are a mile apart, and the intervening space has never been traversed by a European. From the great chambers unexplored passages branch out in every direction. On the floors of the chambers, buried in the cave earth, innumerable potsherds have already been found, also human and animal bones, flint and stone weapons and implements, and many other relics of the ancient inhabitants. It is possible that the deeper layers of earth and the remote galleries and passages may contain relics of the pre-Maya inhabitants ofYucatan, of whom nothing whatever is known at present.
‘It is said by the Indians that subterranean passages from this cavern reach to the ruined city of Chichen Itza 20 miles away. There is a tradition handed down amongst the modern Indians that during one of the innumerable internecine wars amongst the Maya which followed the breaking up of the central authority, after the Conquest of Mayapan, the inhabitants of a neighbouring village were driven to take refuge in this cave by a band of their enemies, who pursued them even into this last refuge, and that ofneither pursued nor pursuers was any trace ever again seen.
‘Some believe that in the dark all fell over a precipice into some vast chasm in the limestone, others that all lost their way in the intricate maze of endless galleries, and others again that all were suffocated by poisonous gases. Whatever their fate, the possibility of coming suddenly at any turn upon groups of rag clad skeletons shrouded in the impalpable dust of ages does not detract from the eerie feeling induced by traversing these vast catacombs, where silence is almost palpable. One’s feet make no noise on the soft cave earth, and one is almost afraid to raise one’s voice, which reverberates round the Great Stone chambers and is thrown back in a thousand mocking echoes from the rocky walls. Upon the walls of the lighted chamber many crude drawings have been left by the former inhabitants, and in one case is inscribed a late Maya date A.D. 1379.’
‘Whatever Dr. Gann’s conclusions may be his actual discoveries are of stupendous interest. The causeway that he has found is of supreme importance. He regards it as having been built for the purposes of human sacrifice. I disagree. My reason for disagreeing is that there are similar causeways in Cambodia, which were designed purely for ceremonial purposes.
‘The whole Maya remains as discovered show the closest possible relation with the civilization as it existed in Java and South-East Asia to what has been found in Yucatan. There is nothing to my mind that suggests that the form of civilization is indigenous, and I should be inclined to hold that the temples at Java were the proto-types of what has been found in Yucatan.
‘Unquestionably in the early days perishable wood structures were built, but when stone supplanted wood, you find pyramids being built precisely on the same lines that they were being built in South-East Asia. They were, so far as the staircases were concerned, a copy of what the Babylonians were building 2,000 years before the era of Christ. It is necessary to remember that as Indian civilization spread eastwards the type of pyramids established by them became fashionable and was built in stone.
‘While the great causeway was of outstanding interest, it had to be remembered that it could be paralleled with the remains of Indian civilization. Further there was no question but that Maya carvings represented Indian elephants and Indians with typical head-dresses.
‘Indian navigators, it was known, had combed out the islands in the Pacific, such as Easter Island and many others, and it was unthinkable that they should not have discovered a continent that stretched from pole to pole.
‘To the archaeologist the issue now raised was of supreme importance. Until fifty years ago the orthodox held that the Maya civilization was of Indian origin. The dating derived from the hieroglyphs was so vague as to give little help, and interpretation varies by as much as three or six centuries.
‘What supremely interests the archaeologists,’ Professor Elliot Smith continues, ‘is that we find a civilization starting full-blown in Central America. Under Asiatic influence, it rose to great heights, but had already collapsed before the advent of the Spaniards who may have given it the coup de grace. To know the real secret of Maya culture affects our whole interpretation of civilization.
‘Can different communities, such as the Indian, the Chinese and the American, build up a civilization independent of each other, or is it possible for a certain civilization to be spread about the world in the same way that a steam engine can be distributed?
‘This is the great problem of ethnology today, and the issue now centres in the problem as to how civilization started in Central America. There is a large gap between Asia and America, but if diffusion means anything it means that that gap must have been bridged as I have shown it could have been.
‘The Maya civilization rose and fell. It fell so soon as the energy of the driving force that inspired it declined. This is our view, and we do not believe in an indigenous culture that rose through its own impetus, and that fell as a result of foreign invasion.’
No one now questions Dr. Gann’s facts, but many competent archaeologists dispute the conclusions at which he arrived. An archaeological issue has now been fairly raised. Did the Maya civilization arise from Native American civilization, or was it the result of peaceful penetration by the Asiatic?
Professor Grafton Elliot Smith, of University College, London, discussing the subject with a Morning Post representative disagreed absolutely with the views put forward by the American school, and supported by Dr. Gann.
‘At University College,’ he said, ‘we are absolutely convinced that the Maya civilization was directly derived from India. We regard it as certain that between the Fourth and the Twelfth Century there was a penetration from the South-East of Asia. The question of dating is admittedly difficult, but from the facts we have in our possession I should be inclined to think that Dr. Gann’s dates may err by as much as three centuries.’
(Central News, quoted from Morning Post, by Statesman, March 21, April 9, 17, 15, 1926.)
MAHĀ-NIRVĀṆA-TANTRA—Deals with both architectural and sculptural matters, such as temples, idols, phallus, ponds, and tanks, as well as with the directions concerning broken limbs of images, especially the materials of which buildings and idols should be made the Vāstu god, and so on (Chapter XIII, verses 22-286, see also chapters XIV and VI) .
MAHĀBHĀRATA—(First Bombay edition; 2nd Calcutta edition Gild. Bibl. 93)—Sabhā-parvan, chapters:
1. Maya built a council hall (sabhā) for the Pāṇḍavas.
7. Indra-sabhā-varṇana.
8. Yama-sabhā-varṇana.
9. Varuṇa-sabhā-varṇana.
10. Kubera-sabhā-varṇana.
11. Brahma-sabhā-varṇana.
MĀNA-KATHANA—On the system of measurement.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. II, p. 473.)
MĀNAVA-VĀSTU-LAKSHAṆA—On architecture.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. I, p. 476.)
MĀNASA—(Same as ṀĀNASĀRA). See below.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. II, p. 518.)
MĀNASĀRA—(edited and translated into English for the first time by the writer)—The standard treatise and a complete text on architecture and sculpture. It comprises 70 chapters in more than 10,000 lines. There are eleven manuscripts of it. See the details given under the Preface of its first edition by the writer and compare the writer’s Summary of Mānasāra, Leiden, 1917, in the Indian Architecture according Mānasāra-Śilpa-śāstra, 1927, and in Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad.
MĀNASOLLĀSA—(R. L. Mitra’s Notices of Sanskrit Manuscripts, Vol. III, p. 182)—Attributed to the Chālukya king Someśvara. In two chapters, it deals with the following subjects:
1.Mandirārambha-muhūrta-kathana.
2. Shodaśa-prakāra-gṛiha-lakshaṇa.
3. Rāja-gṛiha-lakshaṇa.
4. Vāstu-deva-pūjā-vidhi.
5. Gṛiha-praveśa-kathana.
6. Gṛiha-varṇana.
7. Gṛiha-chitra-varṇa-lakshaṇa.
8. Vajra-lepa-lakshaṇa.
9. Lekhani-lakshaṇa.
10. Tāmbula-bhoga-kathana.
11. Vilepanopabhoga-kathana.
12. Vastropabhoga-kathana.
13. Mālyopabhoga-kathana.
14. Bhūshābhoga-kathana.
15. Āsana-bhoga-kathana.
16. Putrādi-bhoga-kathana.
17. Anna-bhoga-kathana.
18. Pānīya-bhoga-kathana.
19. Abhyaṅga-bhoga-kathana.
20. Yāna-bhoga-kathana.
21. Chhatra-bhoga-kathana.
22. Śayyā-bhoga-kathana.
23. Dhūpa-bhoga-kathana.
24. Strī-bhoga-kathana.
This work should not be confounded with that of the same name in Taylor’s Catalogue Raisonée (Vol. I, p. I) and its commentary, Mānasollāsavṛittānta-prākāśa
(in Weber’s Berlin Catalogue, p. 179.)
MĀNASOLLĀSA-VṚITTĀNTA-PRAKĀŚA—On architecture (cf. Gaekwad Sanskrit Series).
(In possession of Vimāna-Achārya, Benares, Weber’s Berlin Catalogue, p. 179.)
MŪRTTI-DHYĀNA—On sculpture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., Part I, p. 464.)
MŪRTTI-LAKSHAṆA—On idol-making.
(Ibid. p. 464.)
There is another manuscript bearing the same title which is stated to have been taken from the Garuḍa-saṁhitā.
MŪLA-STAMBHA-NIRṆAYA—On architectural description of the main pillar of a house.
(Ibid., p. 464, Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. II, p. 202.)
R
RATNA-DĪPIKĀ—(Attributed to Chaṇḍeśvara)—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., Part II, pp. 36, 114.)
RATNA-MĀLA—of Śrīpati—Deals with astrological matters in connexion with the construction of houses and idols of deities under the following chapters:
17. Vāstu-prakaraṇa (28 verses).
18. Gṛiha-praveśa (11 verses).
20. Deva-pratishṭhā (13 verses).
RĀJA-GṚIHA-NIRMĀṆA—On the building of royal palaces.
(Burnell’s Classified Index to the Sanskrit MSS. in the Palace Library of Tanjore, 1880.)
RĀJA-VALLABHA-ṬῙKĀ—A commentary on Rājavallabha-Maṇḍana.
(Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. in Private Libraries of Gujarat, etc., 1872, p. 276.)
RĀMĀYAṆA—(First Calcutta edition, ed. Schlegel Gild. Bibl. 84, ed. Gorrens, Gild, Bibl. 85, 2nd Bombay edition)—Devotes large portions of the following chapters on architecture:
Ādikāṇḍa, 5th Sarga, the description of the city of Ayodhyā.
Laṅkākāṇḍa, 3rd Sarga, the description of the fort of Laṅkā.
(There are also numerous casual references to architectural and sculptural matters in the Epics, the Purāṇas and the Āgamas.)
RĀŚI-PRAKĀRA—(Attributed to Garga)—Deals with astrological matters concerning architecture.
(See Vāstu-Sāraṇi.)
RŪPA-MAṆḌANA—(Attributed to Maṇḍana Sūtradhāra)—On architecture.
(Cf. Rājavallabha Maṇḍana.)
LAKSHAṆA-SAMUCHCHAYA—On the features in images of deities, quoted by Hemādri in Dānakhaṇḍa (p. 823), in Muhūrtadipakā, and Paraśurāma-prakāśa.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part I, p. 535.)
LAGHU-ŚILPA-JYOTISHA—On architecture.
(British Museum Catalogue, 20, E. 32.)
LAGHU-ŚILPA-JYOTIḤ-SĀRA—By Śivarāma, with a Gujarati commentary—This pamphlet deals mostly with astrological matters concerning architecture. The contents are indicated in the following verses:
Āya-rāśiś cha nakshatraṁ vyayas tārāṁśakas tathā I
Gṛaha-maitrī rāśi-maitrī nātivedha-gaṇendavāḥ II (3)
Ādhipatyaṁ vāra-lagne tithy-utpattis tathaiva cha I
Ādhipatyaṁ varga-vairaṁ tathaiva yoni-vairakam II (4)
Ṛiksha-vairaṁ sthitir nāśo lakshaṇāny eka-viṁśatiḥ I
Kathitāni muni-śreshṭhaiḥ Śilpa-vidvadbhir gṛihadishu II (5)
LIṄGA-PURĀṆA—See under PURĀṆAS.
V
VALI-PῙṬHA-LAKSHAṆA—On architecture.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. I, p. 473.)
VĀYU-PURĀṆA—See under PURĀṆAS.
VĀSTU-CHAKRA—On architecture.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., p. 538.)
VĀSTU-TATTVA—(By Gaṇapati Śishya, Lahore, 1853)—Consists of four chapters and deals largely with astrological matters concerning architecture.
VĀSTU-NIRṆAYA—On architecture, dealing specially with the classes of vāstu (see under VĀSTU).
(Aufrecht, ibid., part I, p. 568.)
VĀSTU-PURUSHA-LAKSHAṆA—On architecture.
(Taylor’s Catalogue Raisonée of Oriental MSS. in the Library of the late College of Fort St. George, Vol. I, p. 313.)
VĀSTU-PRAKĀŚA—(Attributed to Viśvakarman)—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., Part I., p. 568, in possession of Bālābhāri Sapre, Benares, Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. in N. W. P., 1885, Part X, no. 2, p. 56.)
VĀSTU-PRADĪPA—(cf. VĀSTU-SĀRAṆI)—By Vāsudeva, on architecture
.
(In possession of Umasarhkara-Śāstri, Azamgarh, Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. in N. W. P., 1885, Part x, no. I, p. 56.)
VĀSTU-PRAVANDHA—(By Lālā Rājakiśora Varmā, Lucknow, 1904)—It deals largely with astrological matters in connexion with architecture, and contains extracts from the Bṛihat-saṁhitā, Viśvakarmā-prakāśa, Muhūrta-chintāmaṇi, Saṁgraha-Śiromaṇi, Vāstu-vidyāprakāśa, Vāstu-pradīpa, and Jyotis-sāra-muhūrta-chakra-dīpikā.
VĀSTU-MAÑJARĪ—(Attributed to Maṇḍana Sūtradhāra)—On architecture.
(Cf. Rājavallabha-Maṇḍana.)
VĀSTU-MAṆḌANA—(Attributed to Maṇḍana Sūtradhāra)—On architecture.
(Cf. Rājavallabha-Maṇḍana.)
VĀSTU-YOGA-TATTVA—(Attributed to Raghunaṇḍana)—Treats largely of offerings to Vāstu deity, and contains extracts from the Matsya-Purāṇa, Devī-Purāṇa, Rudra-yāmala, and Vasishṭha-saṁhitā.
VĀSTU-RATNA-PRADĪPA—On architecture.
(Cf. Vāstu-sāraṇi.}
VĀSTU-RATNĀVALĪ—(Compiled by Pandit Jivanath Jyotishi, Benares, 1883)—This compilation contains extracts from the Bhavislya-Purāṇa, Jyotiḥ-sāgara, Gṛiha-kārikā, Vāstu-pradīpa, Bhūja-bala-bhīma, Vasishṭha-saṁhitā, Śrī-bhoja-rdja, Rdja-vallabha, Vāstu-ratna-pradīpa-Siddhānta-Śiromaṇi, of Bhāskarāchārya, Maṇḍana-sūtra-dhāra, Bṛihat-saṁhitā of Varāhamihira, and Ratna-mālā.
(Burnell’s Classified Index to the Sanskrit MSS. in the
Palace Library of Tanjore, p. 154.)
VĀSTU-RĀJA-VALLABHA—(Attributed to Maṇḍana Sūtradhāra, probably same as Vāstu-śāstra, otherwise called Śilpa-śāstra)—On architecture.
(Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. in N.W.P., ibid., p. 56.)
VĀSTU-LAKSHAṆA—On architecture.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. i, p. 480.)
VĀSTU-VICHARA—(Attributed to Viśvakarman)—A treatise on architecture, apparently old.
(In possession of Gaurinath Śāstri, Benares, Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. in N.W.P., 1885, ibid., p. 56, Aufrecht, part i, p. 568.)
VĀSTU-VIDYĀ—(a manuscript, see Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. i, p. 480; Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 578; also a text edited by T. Gaṇapati Śāstri, 1913)—Deals with materials, etc. for house building in the following sixteen chapters:
1. Sādhana-kathana.
2. Vasudhā-lakshaṇa.
3. Vāstu-devatā-kathana.
4. Vāstu-purusha-kathana.
5. Vedi-saṁsthāna.
6. Vāstu-marma-saṁsthāna.
7. Kāla-niyama.
8. Śālā-vidhāna.
9. Pada-māna-kathana.
10. Lupā-lakshaṇa.
11 . Lupā-karaṇa.
12 . Dhūli-nirodhana.
13. Dvāra-vinyāsa .
14. Kavāṭa-dvāra-vinyāsa.
15. Bhavana-parigraha.
16. Mṛil-loshṭa-lakshaṇa.
VĀSTU-VIDHI—(Attributed to Viśvakarman)—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 568.)
VĀSTU-ŚASTRA—(see under SANAT-KUMĀRA)—On architecture.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid, Vol. I, p. 580.)
VĀSTU-ŚĀSTRA—(also called Śilpa-śāstra)—Attributed to Rājavallabha Maṇḍana and Bhūpati-vallabha (noticed in Egg. 3142, 1291): one of these manuscripts is published in Sarhvat 1947, at Anahilapura in Pataṇa, by Nārāyaṇa Bhārati and Yaśavanta Bhārati It has a Gujarati commentary and some illustrative diagrams. (Noticed in the Catalogue of printed books and manuscripts in Sanskrit belonging to the Oriental Library of the Asiatic Society, Bengal, p. 173).
It has four more copies—Egg. 3143, 3144, 3145, 3146, p. 1136.
This is a work on architectural disposition of houses, palaces, temples, etc., and the rite to be performed at their inauguration, by Maṇḍana, an architect in the employ of king Kumbhakarṇa of Medapāṭi (and the husband of Mārābai). According to Tod, ‘the king Kumbha, who had a taste for arts and built many temples and strongholds, ruled over the country of Mewara from A. D. 1419 to 1469.’ (Bhandarkar’s Report, 1882-83, p. 37-)
It contains the following fourteen chapters:
1 . Miśraka-lakshaṇa.
2. Vāstu-lakshaṇa.
3. Āyādi-lakshaṇa.
4. Prākāra-yantra-vāpi-kūpa-taḍāga-lakshaṇa.
5. Rāja-gṛiha-niveśādi-lakshaṇa (verse 28 of this chapter mentions the Matsya-Purana as an authority).
6. Eka-śālā-dvi-śālā-gṛiha-lakshaṇa.
7. Dvi-śālā-tri-śālā-chatuh-śālā-gṛiha-lakshaṇa.
8. Sayana-siṁhāsana-chhatra-gavāksha-sabhāshṭaka-vedikāchatushtaya-dīpa-lakshaṇa.
9. Rāja-gṛihadi-lakshaṇa.
10. (Māpita) kshetrādbhūta-lakshaṇa.
11. Dina-śuddhi-gṛiha-niveśa-gṛiha-praveśa-vivāha-muhurtā-lakshaṇa.
12. Gochara-dina-rātri-māna-svarodaya-koṭa-chakra-mātṛika-lakshaṇa.
13. Jyotisha-lakshaṇa.
14. Śakuna-lakshaṇa.
Six other works are ascribed to Maṇḍana:
I. Rūpa-maṇḍana.
II. Vāstu-maṇḍana.
III. Prāsāda-maṇḍana.
VI. Āya-tattva.
V. Vāstu-mañjarī.
VI. Vāstu-sāra.
VĀSTU-ŚĀSTRA-SAMARAṄGANA-SŪTRADHARA—(Attributed to Bhojadeva)—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 568.)
VĀSTU-ŚlROMAṆI—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 568.)
There is another manuscript of the same title, attributed to Mahārājā Śyāmasāha Śaṅkara.
VĀSTU-SAMUCHCHAYA—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 568.)
VĀSTU-SAMKHYA—On architecture, “an extract of Toḍarānanda, very rare, complete and incorrect.”
(Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. in N. W. P., 1885, part ix, p. 56.)
VĀSTU-SAṀGRAHA—(Attributed to Viśvakarman) On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 568.)
VĀSTU-SAṀGRAHAMU—Contains 100 pages, written in Tclugu character, and deals largely with astrological matters concerning architecture.
(Mackenzie Collection, by Wilson, p. 171.)
VĀSTU-SARVASVA—On architecture, comprises 16 pages.
(By Nanjunda Dikshita, published by V. Rāmasvami Śāstralu and Sons, Madras, 1916.
VĀSTU-SĀRA—(Attributed to Sūtradhāra Maṇḍana)—With a Gujarati commentary (Ahmedabad, 1878), it deals largely with astrological matters concerning architecture. There is also another manuscript of same title.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 569.)
VĀSTU-SĀRAṆI—(by Māṭri Prāsāda Pāṇde, Benares, 1909) This is a manual of astrological details in connexion with the construction of a house, compiled from the following treatises:
I . Grāma-nirṇaya, of Nārṇyaṇa.
II. Rāśi-prakāra, of Garga.
III. Daśā-prakāra, of Vasishṭha.
IV. Dik-sādhana, of Bhāskara.
V. Sthala-śubhāśubha-kathana, of Nārṇyaṇa.
VI. Vāstu-pradīpa.
VII. Rāhu-mukha, by Rāma.
VIII. Viśvakarmā.
IX. Piṇḍa-prakāra, by Gopirāja.
X. Nārada.
XI. Dhruvādi-shoḍaśa-gehāni, by Gaṇapati.
XII. Gṛihārambha, by Śrlpati.
XIII. Vāstu-ratna-pradīpa.
XIV. Dikshu-vṛikshāropaṇa, by Gaṇapati.
VĀSTU-SĀRA-SARVASVA-SAṀGRAHA—(Bangalore, 1884, with a Canarese commentary)—A compilation on architecture.
VIMĀNA-LAKSHAṆA—On architecture.
(In possession of Archaka Yogānanda Bhaṭṭa of Melkota; Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. n, p. 266.)
VIŚVAKARMA-MATA—Quoted by Hemādri in Pariśesha-khṇḍda (2,817,825,827,828).
(Aufrecht, ibid., part n, p. 138.)
There is another treatise ascribed to Viśvakarman (Rājendralala Mitra, Notices of Sanskrit MSS., Calcutta, 1871, Vol. n, no. 731, p. 142), fol. 63, English paper 9¾”X7”, copied 1872.
‘None of the manuscripts examined by Mr. Burnell is perfect or even tolerably correct.’
It is a treatise on the manual arts attributed to Viśvakarma, the divine architect, but apparently a compilation; it is written in the Tantric style, having Śiva for its narrator. The manuscript has been copied for Dr. Mitra from old codex in the Halakānāḍā character in the Library of the Rāja of Tanjore. The contents are classified under the following seventeen chapters:
1. Visvakarmotpattiḥ, karma-viśesha-bhedena vyavahṛita-takshaka varddhakyādi-śabda-vyutpatti.
2. Satyādi-yuga-jāta-narochchatā-pramāṇam, yajñīya-kāshṭhena-prastareṇa vā deva-pratimā nirmāṇe mānādi.
3. Takshakasya garbhadhānādi-sarhskāra-kathanaṁ, garbhotpatti-kathanādi.
4. Śiva-liṅgādi-pratishṭhāṁ sabhā-nirmāṇadi.
5. Graha-pratimā-nirmāṇa-pramāṇaṁ, liṅga-pltha-nirmāṇa-pramāṇadi.
6. Ratha-nirmāṇa-vidhi-kathanam.
7. Ratha-pratishṭhā-vidhi.
8. Brāhmī-Māheśvaryādlnāṁ sva-rūpādi-varṇādi.
9. Yājñopavīta-lakshaṇa.
10. Suvarṇa-rajata-mauñjyādi-nirmita-yajñopavīta-kathanam, digbhedena deva-sthāpana-prakrādī, meru-dakshiṇa-sthita-hema-śilā-kathanādi.
11 . Lakshmī-Brāhmī-Māheśvaryādi-devīndrādi-dik-pāla-grahādi-mūrti-nirmāṇa-prakāra.
12-13. Mukuṭa-kirīṭa-jaṭā-mukuṭādi-nirmāṇa-prakrādī.
14. Sthāvarāsthāvara-siṁhāsana-nirmāṇa-prakrādī, punar viśeshena kirīṭa-lalāṭa-paṭṭikādi-nirmāṇa-prakāra, Devatāyā mandirasya jīrṇoddhāra-prakāra.
15 . Liṅga-mūrti-mandira-dvārādi-kathana.
16. Pratimā-mūrti-mandira-dvārādi-kathana.
17 . Vighneśa-mūrti-mandirādi-nirmāṇadi-vidhi.
VlŚVAKARMA-JÑĀNA—(edited by Kṛishḥa Śāstri, the real author is not known)—This pamphlet treats largely of ritualistic matters, such as the sacrifices, etc., to Viśvakarman.
VlŚVAKARMA-PURĀṆA—The title here adopted is that given to the volume on the fly-leaf. No colophon of any kind is met with on the manuscript. It is very incorrect and illegible. It has a Telugu commentary equally unintelligible. It deals with architectural matters.
(Egg. MSS., 3153, 2614; Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. i, p. 480.)
VlŚVAKARMA-PRAKĀŚA—(Egg. MSS., p. 112a) also called Vāstu-śāstra—It gives a course of directions in thirteen chapters, on the building of houses, the making of roads, tanks, etc. and the rites observed on such occasions, purporting to be founded on the revelation of Viśvakarman, still further traced back successively to Bṛihadratha, Paraśāra, and Śambhu.
The following editions of it are published:
I. This is published in the Śrīvenkaṭeśvara Press, Bombay, by Khemrāja Śrī Kṛishṇadāsa, in Samvat 1952, Śaka 1817.
II. This is published without any commentary at Benares, in 1888.
III. This is a translation of Pālarāmavilāsa into Bhāshā, by Mukula Śaktidhara Śarmā, Lucknow, 1896.
The topics treated of in the thirteen chapters are the following:
1. Maṅgalacharana.
2 . Vāstu-purushotpatti-varṇana-pūrvakaṁ-pūjānadika.
3. Bhūmi-lakshaṇam phalaṁ cha.
4. Gṛiha-praveśa-samaye śakuna-phala.
5. Khanana-vidhi.
6. Svapna-vidhi.
7. Bhūmi-phala.
8. Gṛihārambhe samaya-śudhi.
9. Dhvajādyāya-phālani.
10. Āya-vyayāṁśādīnāṁ phālani.
11. Gṛiha-madhye devādīnāṁ sthāpana-nirṇaya.
12 . Dhruvādi-gṛiha-bheda.
13. Dvāra-mānani.
14. Stambha-pramāṇāni.
15. Gṛihānāṁ śālā-nirṇaya.
16. Gṛihārambha-kala-nirṇaya.
17. Gṛihārambhe lagna-kuṇḍalishṭha-graha-phalānī.
18. Śayyā-mandira-bhuvana-śudhārādi-gṛihāṇām lakshaṇāni.
19. Pāduka-upānaha-mañchādinñṁ māna-lakshaṇa.
20. Śaṇku-śilā-nyāsa-nirṇaya.
21. Vāstu-deha-lakshaṇaṁ pūjānaṁ bali-dānaṁ cha.
22. Śilā-nyāsa (cf. 20 above).
23. Prāsāda-vidhāna.
24. Śilpa-nyāsa.
25. Prāsāda-nirṇaya.
26. Pīṭhikā-lakshaṇa.
27. Maṇḍapa-lakshaṇa.
28. Dvāra-lakshaṇa.
29. Vāpī-kūpa-taḍāgodyāna-kriyā.
30. Dāru-chhedana-vidhi.
31. Gṛiha-praveśa nirṇaya.
32 . Gṛiha-praveśa-kāla-śuddhi.
33. Śayyāsana-dolikādīnāṁ lakshaṇa.
34. Praveśa-kalaśa-chakrādi-vāstu-Śānti.
35. Durga-nirṇaya.
36. Salya-jñānaṁ śalyoddhāra.
37. Nāgara-saṁbandhi-rāja-gṛihādīnāṁ nirṇaya.
VlŚVAKARMA-SAMPRADĀYA—On architecture, dealing specially with a mythological account of the race of architects descended from Viśvakarman.
(Egg. MSS. iv, 3 i 5I , 2680.)
VlSVAKARMlYA-ŚĪLPA-ŚĀSTRA—On architecture and cognate arts.
(Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras, Catalogue, Vol. xxii, no. 13057, p. 8775, written on 100 pages of palm-leaf 11” X 1½”; copied by one Niṭla Sūrappa on Saturday, the 5th day of the bright fortnight of the Āśvija month in the year Jaya).
The author acknowledges his debt to Brahmā, Indra, Maya, Bhārgava, Āṅgirasa, Dhruva, Gautama, Gārgeya, Manu, Vyāsa and Bhrigu. He also cites from Āgastya.
The colophon runs thus Viśvakarma-śāstre Viśvakarma-mate, etc.
VlŚVA-VIDYĀBHARAṆA—(Attributed to Basavāchārya)—This is a treatise on the duties of artisans, especially members of carpenter (Rathakāra) caste. Its scope is limited to the religious duties of the Rathakāra, who claims Viśvakarma, Viśvarupa, and Tvashṭṛi, as his divine guardians. It consists largely of quotations from the Purāṇas, the Epics, the Sūtras, and other works. Of other authorities may be mentioned Rudradatta’s commentary on the Āpastamba Sūtra, the Shaḍ-guru Bhāshya on the Āśvalāyana-Samānukramamaṇika, the Vidyāraṇya, and the Sarasvatī-vilāsa with the commentary of Vijñāeśvara.
(Egg. MSS., v, 3151, 2680; Aufrecht, ibid, part n, p. 138.)
VEDANTA-SĀRA—by Gārlapata Lakshaṇāchārya—It contains 79 pages, has a Telugu commentary, and treats of the size of images, the proper time for commencing to build, and similar subjects.
(Egg. MSS., n, 3151, 2680.)
VAIKHĀNASA—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 610.)
VAIKHANASAGAMA—See under Āgamas.
S
ŚĀSTRA-JALADHI-RATNA—by Hari Prāsāda—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 644.)
ŚlLPA-KALĀ-DĪPAKA—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 647.)
ŚlLPA –GRANTHA—by Bhūvanadeva Āchārya (Egg. MSS., 3152, 1603 b, written in modern Deva-nāgarī)—A short history of the work is given at the beginning. It is stated that God at the request of Aparajita reveals the theory of constructive art, from the creation of mundane egg to the erection of a town gate, and the measurements of banners, water pots, and bells in sanctuaries.
It is almost identical to (i) Aparajita-prichchha by Bhava ( ? Bhūvana) deva, mentioned in Dr. Bhandarkar’s Report (1883-1884, p. 276), and to (2) Aparajita-vāstu-śāstra ascribed to Viśvakarman, mentioned in Dr. Biihler’s Catalogue of Gujarat MSS. (iv. p. 276).
ŚlLPA–DlPAKA—by Gaṅghdhara (B. H. Catalogue, 15, G. 14, 14, B, 16) On architecture, printed by Mahādeo Rhmchandra; second edition in 1908, with diagrams of instruments and houses, etc.
ŚlLPA-NIGHANTU—by Aghore Śāstri—On architecture.
(Classified Catalogue of Sanskrit Works in the Sarasvatī Bhāṇdara Library of Mysore, class xix, no. 533.)
ŚlLPA–RATNA—by Śrikumāra (Trivandrum Sanskrit Series, no. LXXV) under instructions from king Devānārayaṇa of Ambalapuzha in Travancore)—Deals with several architectural matters and painting in 46 chapters, compiled from Mānasāra and other treatises (see details in the writer’s Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad, pp. 176-177).
ŚlLPA -LEKHA—On architecture,—according to Rāya-Mukuṭa quoted by Sarvadhara.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, 647.)
ŚILPA-ŚĀSTRA—(Egg. MSS., 3148, 3012), ascribed to both Kaśyapa and Āgastya—Contains 276 foil, of which 1-72 marked at the top ‘Śilpa Śāstra’; 73-W 251-276, Śilpa-Śāstram Kāśyapeyam,’ and 151-250 ’Śilpa-Śāstram Āgastyam.’ This is apparently a combination of two separate works, of Kāśyapa and Āgastya.
One copy was transcribed (for C. P. Brown) from a Telugu manuscript at Masulipatam in 1832. It consists of extracts from various works on idols, shrines, etc. as stated in the following chapters:
1. Amsumāna-bhede kāśyape parivāra-lakshaṇa-paṭala.
2. Umāskanda-sahita-lakshaṇa-paṭala.
3. Chandra-śekhara-mūrti-paṭala.
4. Dakshiṇā-mūrti-lakshaṇa.
5. Kāla-mūrti.
6. Liṅgodbhava-lakshaṇa.
7. Nṛitta-mūrti.
8. Gaṅgādhara-mūrti.
9. Tri-purāntaka-mūrti.
10. Kalyāṇa-mūrti.
1 1 . Ardha-nārīśvara-mūrti.
12. Gaja-bhāra-mūrti.
13. Pāśupata-mūrti.
14. Bhakta-lakshaṇa.
15. Bhū-māna-paṭala.
16. Grāmādi-lakshaṇa.
Foil.
151. Ity-āgastye-sakāladhikāre mānasa-grāhya-viśeshāṇāṁ prathamo’dhyāya.
181. Iti pañcha-vimṁśati-rūpa-bheda.
251. Ity-aṁsumāna-bhede kāśyape tāla-bheda-paṭala.
266. Kāśyapa uttama-daśatāla-paṭala.
274. J(G)aurī-lakshaṇa-paṭala, adhama-daśa-tāla-pramāṇa.
This chapter is incomplete: the work terminates abruptly at the end of the 14th verse.
In the Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras, there are more than a dozen manuscripts bearing the title of ‘Śilpa-śāstra’ (Catalogue, Vol. xxii, nos. 13046, 13047, 13048-13056, 13057). Of these two (nos. 13046. 13047) are attributed to Āgastya, and one (no. 13057) to Viśvakarman. The rest of them are apparently compilations, as they are not ascribed to any author and contain frequent quotations from authorities like Kāśyapa, Mayamata, Viśvakarman, and Āgastya.
There is another manuscript bearing a slightly different title, ‘Śilpa’ attributed to Viśvakarman. The details of this will be found under Viśvakarman.
There are four other manuscripts bearing the title of ‘Śilpa-śāstra’ but containing no information regarding their authors. They are mentioned in the descriptive Catalogue of the Mackenzie Collection by H. H. Wilson (nos. 4-7):
No. 4—deals with the construction of temples and images.
No. 5—deals with the construction of ornamental gateways.
No. 6—deals with the construction of images.
No. 7—deals with the construction of images and ornamental work in gold and silver.
There is yet another manuscript bearing the title ‘Śilpa-Śāstra.’ It is attributed to Kāśyapa. It deals with the structure of Saiva temples. (See the Catalogue Raisonée of Oriental Manuscripts in the Library of the late College of Fort St. George by Taylor, Vol. i, no. 1585, p. 314.)
Another work bears a slightly different title, ‘Śilpa-śāstra-bhūshālaya.’ (See the Classified Catalogue ofSanskrit Works in the Sarasvatī Bhanddra Library of Mysore, class xix, no. 533.)
A Śilpa-śāstra’ by Myen (Maya) is also extant. (See Ind. Ant., Vol. v, pp. 230-293.)
Another ‘Śilpa-Śāstra’ containing no information regarding its author is mentioned. (See the List of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Private Libraries of South India, by Oppert, Vol. n, no. 4187, p. 267.)
ŚILPA-ŚĀSTRA-SĀRA-SAṀGRAHA—(Compiled by a son of one Śivanārāyaṇa)—Consists of extracts from unspecified ancient (prāchiña) works on architecture, and was compiled in the Śaka era 1820.
The verses describing the Bhū-lakshaṇa (examination of soil) are same as those given in the Śilpa-dipaka by Gaṇgādhara with a Gujarati translation by Kalyanadāsa.
ŚILPA-SARVASVA-SAṀGRAHA—A compilation on architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 647.)
ŚILPA-SAṀGRAHA—(a large manuscript covering 429 pages of 25 lines to a page of paper 13¼” X 8”) It deals with the construction of temples and images. It is a compilation from various sources notably Mānāsara, Mayamata, Viśvakarman, Āgastya, Kāśyapa, Paulastya, Nārada, Bhṛigu, Sārasvata, Dīptisāra, Viśvasāra, Chitrasāra, Chitrajnānā, Kapiñjala-saṁhitā, Brahma-yāmala, Chandrajnāna, Manohalya, Kaumudī, Nārāyaṇa and others.
ŚILPA-SĀRA—(An incomplete manuscript in the Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras, Catalogue, Vol. xxii, no. 13059, p. 877),—containing no information regarding its author (Comprises 76 pages and deals with the descriptive features (dhyāna) of gods and goddesses, apparently intended to guide the artist in making images.
ŚILPARTHA-ŚĀSTRA—On architecture.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS. in Private Libraries of South India, ibid, Vol. i, no. 248, p. 26.)
SlLPI-ŚĀSTRA—(Egg. MSS. 3149, 25786)—covers 71 pages; the title is written on the fly-leaf in Telugu and Marathi, with ‘Vaustoo’ (Vāstu-śāstra) added underneath. It is a treatise on architecture, with a Telugu commentary.
This manuscript is preceded in the same volume by two sections of the Nāgara-khaṇḍa of the Skanda-Purana, viz. Viśvakarmopākhyāna, and Viśvakarmā-vaṁśanuvarṇana.
ŚUKRA-NlTI—(ed. Jīvānanda Vidyasāgara)—Deals with architecture, and sculpture (in chapter iv, sections 4, 6) and refers to the following matters:
1 . Deva-mandirādi-nirmāṇa-vyavasthā.
2. Pratimā-nirmāṇa- vyavasthā.
3. Mūṛtinarh vāhana-vyavasthā.
4. Gaṇapati-mūrti-vyavasthā.
5. Sati (Śakti)-mūrti-vyavasthā.
6. Bāla-mūrti-vyavasthā.
7. Sapta-tālādi-mūrti-bhāvasya nirmāṇa-vyavasthā,
8. Paiśāchi-mūrti-vyavasthā.
9. Bhagna-pratimā-sthāpana-vyavasthā .
10. Utsava-vyāpāra-vyavasthā.
Section 6:
11. Durga-nirmāṇa (construction efforts, etc.).
There are frequent casual references to both architecture and sculpture in other portions of the treatise also.
ŚULVA-SŪTRAS—Refers to very important architectural matters. The rules for the size of the various Vedis, the shape and the variations of the Agni, etc. are given in the Brahmāṇas long before they are embodied in the Kalpa-sūtras of which the Śulva-sūtras are but portions. But the explanations of the manner in which the manifold measurements and transformation had to be mānaged are not clear in the Brahmāṇas.
Śulva-sūtra is the name given to those portions or supplements of the Kalpa-sūtras, which treat of the measurement and construction of the different vedis or altars, the word ‘sūtra’ referring to the cords which were employed for those measurements. But in the Sūtras themselves the word ‘rajju’ is used to express a chord and not the ‘sūtra.’ A Śulva Adhyāya or Praśna or Śulva-pariśishṭa belongs to all Kalpa-sūtras.
Among the treatises dealing with the measurement, etc., of the Vedis, the two most important are the Śulva-sūtras of Baudhāyana and of Āpastamba. Two smaller treatises, a Mānava Śulva-sūtra and a Maitrāyanīya Śulva-sūtra bear the stamp of later times, compared with the works of Baudhayāna and Āpastamba, which are entitled to the first place by a clearer and more extensive treatment of the topics in question. The literature of the white Yajur-veda possesses a Śulva-pariśishṭa, ascribed to Katyāyana, and Dr. Thibaut rightly thinks that there is not a sufficient reason for doubting that it was really composed by the author of the Kalpasūtra.
‘The Śulva-sūtras begin with general rules for measuring. In the next place they describe how to fix the right places for the sacred fires, and how to measure out the Vedis of the different sacrifices, the Samiki-vedi, the Paitriki-vedi, and so on. The remainder of the Sūtras contains the detailed description of the construction of the Agni, the large altar built of bricks, which was required at the great Soma sacrifices.’
The construction of altars, wherefrom seems to have developed the Chaityas, Dagobas, Temples, etc., was probably the beginning of ecclesiastical architecture in India. The architectural details of these altars are interesting.
‘The altar could be constructed in different shapes, the earliest enumeration of which is found in the Taittiñya-saṁhitā (v. 4-11). Following this enumeration Baudhayana and Apastambha furnish us with full particulars about the shape of all these different chitis and the bricks
which were employed for their construction.’
‘Everyone of these altars5 was constructed out of five layers of bricks, which reached together to the height of the knee; for some cases 10 or 15 layers and a correspondingly increased height of the altar were prescribed. Every layer in its turn was to consist of two hundred bricks, so that the whole Agni (altar) contained a thousand; the first, third and fifth layers were divided into two hundred parts in exactly the same manner; a different division was adopted for the second and the fourth, so that one brick was never lying upon another brick of the same size and form.’
‘The first altar covered an area of 7½ purushas, that means, 7½ square, the side of which was equal to a purusha, i.e., the height of a man with uplifted arms. On each subsequent occasion, the area was increased by one square purusha. Thus at the second construction of the altar one square purusha was added to the 7½ constituting the first chiti, and at the third construction two square purushas were added, and so on.’
But the shape of the whole, the relative proportions of the single parts, had to remain unchanged. The area of every chiti whatever its shape might be, falcon, wheel, tortoise, etc., had to be equal to 7½ square purushas. Thus squares had to be found which would equal to two or more given squares, or equal to the difference of two given squares, oblongs were turned into squares and squares into oblongs. Triangles were constructed equal to given squares or oblongs and so on. A circle had to be constructed, the area of which might equal as closely as possible that of a given square.
Diagrams of these altars are given in the Pandit (New Series, June, 1876, no. i, Vols. i and iv, 1882; Old Series, June, 1874, no. 97, Vols. ix and x, May, 1876. See also Śulva Sutra by G. Thibaut, PH.D., J.A.S.B., part i, 1875) and in the writer’s Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad (Plates xx, a, b).
SH
SHAḌ-VIDIK-SAMDHĀNA—On architecture, chiefly deals with the finding out of the cardinal points which are necessary for the orientation of buildings.
(Oppert’s List of Sanskrit MSS., ibid., Vol. n, p. 200.)
S
SAKALĀDHIKĀRA—(Attributed to Āgastya)—On sculpture, deals with image-making.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 683; Taylor, Vol. i, p. 72.)
SANAT-KUMĀRA-VĀSTU-ŚĀSTRA—Contains a brief Telugu commentary. The last colophon runs thus: iti Sanatkumāra-vāstuśāstre sarvādhikaras samāptaḥ. It deals with a few architectural topics in eight chapters.
(See details in the writer’s Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad, p. 172.)
(Egg. MSS., m. 3151, 2680; see also the List of Sanskri MSS. in Private Libraries of South India, by Oppert, Vol. i, no. 8239, p. 580.)
In the Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras, there are nine incomplete manuscripts of this work (see Vol. xxii, no. 13060-13068, p. 8780 f.).
They deal with the following subjects:
1 . Gṛiha-saṁsthāpana.
2. Nakshatra-graha-yoga-vidhi.
3. Graha-lagna-vidhi.
4. Taru-tantra-vidhi.
5. Bhū-parīkshā-vidhi.
6. Nakshatra-tithi-vāra-śuddhi.
7. Nakshatra-lagna-phala-dvāra-bandha-śubha-sthāna-nirṇaya.
8. Gṛiha-praveśa.
Sanat-kumrāa acknowledges his debt to Brahman, Śakra, Yama, Bhārgava, Aṅgirasa, Maya, Gautama, Garga, Manu, Vyāsa, Bhṛigu, Viśvakarman, and others (see no. 13060, p. 8781).
The same list is a little differently given in no. 13064,; where Śakra is replaced by Chandra, and Maya is omitted. But in nos. 13062 and 13068 Śakra is not replaced by Chandra although Maya is omitted.
SARVA-VIHĀRĪYA-YANTRA—by Nārṇyaṇa Dikshita—On architectural instruments, and machines.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 702.)
SAṀGRAHA-ŚlROMANI—by Saryu Prasad—As the title implies it is a compilation on architecture and sculpture largely from Vasishṭha, Nārada, Varāha, Vāstu-pradlpa, Viśvakarman, Māṇḍavya, Mayaśāstra, Samarāṅgana-Sūtradhāra, Sārṅgadhara and others.
SARASVATIYA-ŚILPA-ŚĀSTRA—On architecture.
(Aufrecht, ibid., part i, p. 714.)
SUPRABHEDĀGAMA—See under ĀGAMAS.
SKANDA-PURĀṆA—See under PURĀṆAS.
STHALA-ŚUBHĀŚUBHA-KATHANA—by Nārṇyaṇa—On architecture. It deals with auspicious and inauspicious sites for building.
(Cf. Vāstu-sāraṇi.)
H
HASTA-PRAMĀṆA—Attributed to Viśvakarman—On architectural measures.
(Cf. Vāstu-sarayi.)
- 1. Compare, Vārtta—The Ancient Hindu Economic by Narendra Nath Law M.A., B.L., PH.D. (Ind. Ant., vol. XLVII, p. 256).
- 2. 1. Kāmikāgama.
2. Yogajāgama.
3. Chintyāgama.
4. Kāraṇāgama.
5. Ajitāgama.
6. Diptāgama.
7. Sukshmāgama.
8. Sahasrāgama.
9. Arhśumānāgama.
10. Suprabhedāgama.
11. Vijayāgama.
12. Niśvāsāgama.
14. Anilāgama.
15. Virāgama.
16. Rauravāgama.
17. Makuṭāgama.
18. Vimalāgama.
19. Chandra-jñānāgama.
20. Bimbāgama.
21. Prodgitāgama.
22. Lalitāgama.
23. Siddhāgama, also called Vaikbānasāgama.
24. Sāntvanāgama.
25. Sarvoktāgama.
26. Parmeśvarāgama.
27. Kiraṇāgama.
28. Vātulāgama. - 3. (See Sūkshmāgama, British Museum, 14033, aa, 26),
- 4. 1. Brahma. 2. Padma. 3. Vishṇu. 4. Śiva. 5. Bhāgavata. 6. Nārada. 7. Mārkaṇḍeya. 8. Agni. 9. Bhavishya. 10. Brahma-vaivarta. 11. Liṅga. 12. Varāha. 13. Skanda (also called Kumāra). 14. Vāmana. 15. Matsya. 16. Garuḍa. 17. Brahmāṇḍa. 18. Vāyu. 19. Kūrma.
- 5.
(i) Chatur-asra-śyena-chit—so called because it resembles the form of a falcon and because the bricks out of which it is composed are all of a square shape.
(2) Kaṅka-chit—in the form of a heron (cf. Burnell, Cat. 29, of a Carrion Kite), is the same as Śyena-chit except the two additional feet.(3) Alāja-chit—is the same as (2) except the additional wings.
(4) Prauga-chit—is an equilateral acute angular triangle; and the Ubhayatah Prauga-chit is made up of two such triangles joined with their bases.
(5) Ratha-chakra-chit—is in the form of a wheel, (a) a massive wheel without spokes, and (b) a wheel with sixteen spokes.
(6) Droṇa-chit—is like a vessel or tube, square or circular.
(7) Parichāyya-chit—has a circular outline and is equal to the Ratha-chakra-chit, differing in the arrangement of bricks which are to be placed in six concentric circles.
(8) Samuhya-chit—is circular in shape and made of loose earth and bricks.
(9) Kurma-chit—resembles a tortoise and is of an angular or circular shape.
(Cf. J.A.S. B. 1875, part I, ‘Śulva Sūtras’ by G. Thibaut.)