Edited and Compiled by Dr Ash ok S Nene Ishaan Publications Nagpur January 2022 i PROLOGUE The vast ancient Indian literature includes texts also on Indian Architecture ( Referred as Hindu Vast Shastra hereafter ). More than thousand texts ( Shilpa and Vastu Samhitas ) can be mentioned on this subject Out of these approximately five hundred texts are preserved, in the form of manuscript on palm leaves, tree barks etc, in some of the libraries of Oriental research institutes and museums The vast technical literature still exists as it was concealed in religious and mythological script ures Modern architects unfortunately, have not paid proper attention to this ancient literature mainly due to lack of knowledge of the language i e Sanskrit or due to improper translation and interpretation of this information by non - technical academici ans Though there are hundreds of ancient references on engineering only few easily available are quoted in this book There are different styles of Architecture followed all over the world But the scope of the present book is restricted to Hindu Vast sh astra only The word Hindu does not relate to the religion of majority people of India The word Hindu means the people settled on the banks of Sindhu River None of the thousands of ancient ii Indian manuscripts contain word “ Hindu “ The land between Himalay as to Kanya Kumari, surrounded by Arabian sea on west and Bay of Bengal on east, was called “ Bharat The Indian constitution also mentions ‘ India that is Bharat ’ As a rough estimate there are more than 500 books on Vastu shastra which include some 250 original Sanskrit books and equal number of translations into English and regional languages If a reader reads even 15 books, he would conclude that the main topics of all these books are more or less the same with minor changes according to regions Furt her it can be seen that the information contained in these books can be grouped under three headings as; A - Vastu Rachana - Planning and Design : This part based on scientific principles and environmental conditions prevailing in India B - Vastu Dravya ( Const ruction Materials ): The secret of Indian heritage structures mainly depends on proper selection of building materials This part is based on knowledge of material science and is highly scientific C - Vastu Jyotishya ( Predictive astrology ): which recommends everything either good or bad for the owner of habitat This part is totally unscientific and iii irrelevant in the present time During the period between 16 th to 19 th century, this third part dominated and ultimately defamed the Hindu Vastu Shastra The mai n purpose of compiling this book is to highlight the scientific part and expose the unscientific and irrelevant part of Hindu Vastu Shastra So, the students of Architecture would then learn the true Indian architecture rather than blindly following wester n architecture Vedic hymn - I construct here a permanent house, Bless me with Ghee ( clarified butter ). May this house be adorned with children, cows, horses and wealth, and bless me with all fortune इहैव ध्र ु वाां निनििौनिशालाां । क्ष े िेनिष्ठिु घृििुक्षिा णा॥ अश्वाविी गोििी सुिृिाविी। उच्छयस्व िहिेसौभगाय ॥ऋग्वेद Periods of Indian Architecture : Archaeological discoveries of past five decades have led new theories and reassessment regarding ancient period One point of agreement is that Vedic age ended before 1000 BC The history of architecture in India is not a continuous story In India as in o ther countries, culture and architecture are connected with political power, religion iv was the main inspiration behind the architecture achievements, and was dominating the political order Accordingly, three distinct styles of building were built in three successive ages 1. Indo - Aryan : The beginning of the first cycle cannot be precisely mentioned It spanned between 5000 BC to the end of the 12th century AD 2. Indo - Islamic : Second cycle started from the beginning of the 13th century and lasted until the middle of the 18th century 3. Indo - British Period : The third cycle was the period of British rule from 1858 to1947 All the surviving examples of ancient Indian architecture are religious monuments No residential buildings or any other form of secular architectur e have survived except in the south India, But Sanskrit literature contains numerous references to splendid mansions and palaces The periods of Indian architecture are given below in the chronological order : Table - The periods of Indian art SN Type Peri od Indo - Aryan period - 5000 BC to 12th century AD v 1 Indus valley culture 5000 - 1500 B C 2 Pre - Mauryan 650 - 325 B C 3 Mauryan 325 - 185 B C 4 Sunga 185 - 72 B C 5 Satvahan 200 B C - 200 A D 6 Kushan - Gandhar 1st A D - 176 A D 7 Gupta 320 - 600 A D 8 Chalukyan 550 - 973 A D 9 Pallav 600 - 750 A D 10 The Pala 700 - 1200 A D 11 The Orissa Temples 700 - 1200 A D 12 Khajuraho Temples 950 - 1050 A D 13 Hoysala 1111 - 1318 A D Indo - Islamic period - 13 th century to 18 th century 14 Other Medieval Monuments 1000 - 1600 A D 15 Indo - Islamic Monuments 1200 - 1700 A D Indo - British Period - 1858 to 1947 16 Portuguese, French and British 1526 - 1857 A D 17 British Monuments 1857 - 1947 A D vi 18 Post - Independence After 1947 A D The scope of this book is restricted to Hindu Vastu Shastra only, which rose to its Zenith during Indo - Aryan period viz 5000 BC to 12th century AD History of revival of Hindu Vastu Shastra : At the beginning of 19th century Madras manuscript library was established Shri Ramaraja, who was civil judge, had knowledge of many languages including Sanskrit Shri Ramaraja was requested to compile information related to Vastu shastra With great efforts he in 1833 could write a thesis entitled as “ Essay on arch itecture of the Hindus “ The thesis was submitted to Royal Asiatic Society of London In 1876 Rev J E Korunas translated a Sanskrit text “ Mayamat - Shilpa shastra “ Subsequently A V Tyagraj Ayyar compiled a 1000 pages book entitled “ Indian architecture of the Shilpa shastras of India “ which was based on based on ancient text “ Manasar “ In 1927 Dr Prasanna Kumar Acharya compiled 3000 pages encyclopaedia named as ‘ Manasara - an encyclopaedia of Hindu architecture This exhaustive vii book contains names of 200 ma jor texts and 125 divine engineers Many ancient texts were edited and published and new generation of research workers started working on this subject Dr Dixitar, Raghavan, Dr Madayya, Rao Sahib K V Vaze and Shri G G Joshi are few prominent names who devoted full life to interpret the ancient wisdom The contents of this book are mainly based on published research work of Late K V Vaze and Shri G G Joshi Ashok Sadashiv Nene Nagpur 1 CONTENTS Hindu Vastu Shastra - Ancient Indian Architecture SN Topic Page 0a Contents 01 0c Prologue PART A – VASTU RACHANA - ( Architectural Planning ) A1 Extent of Shilpa Shastra 02 A2 Architectural planning 23 A3 ORIENTATION – Dik - Saadhaan 36 A4 Measurement Systems and Tools 40 A5 Significant features of Hindu Vastu Shastra 53 PART B – VASTU DRAVYA - ( Construction Materials ) B1 Ancient Building Science 79 B2 Mud as construction materials 82 B3 Bricks and roofing tiles 87 B4 Lime and Lime Mortars 113 B5 Building Stones 132 B6 Timber for Construction material 149 B7 Adamantine Glues 180 B8 Colors and Paints 188 B9 Gems and Precious Stones 197 PART C - VASTU JYOTISHYA - ( Predictive Astrology ) C1 Auspicious directions 198 2 C2 Relevance of Vastu Shastra in Modern Times 204 C3 Advance Vaastu 217 C4 Explanation of Caste system in Vaastu shastra 224 Bibliography 227 D1 Reasons for loss of ancient technical literature 239 D2 The Six Commandments to an Architect 243 D3 Divine Engineers 245 D4 Tools 253 D5 List of Indian Trees mentioned in ancient texts 262 D6 About the Editor 272 3 Chapter 1 A1 - Extent of Shilpa - shastra True meaning of ‘ Shilpa - shastra ’ - The true meaning of the word ‘ Shilpa - shastra ’ is Engineering philosophy of ancient India and not ‘ Science and Technology of ancient India ’. Rules and principles of Science change from time to time But philosophy remains unchanged Terminology - To properly understand the subject of Vastu shastra, one has to understand certain terminology, which is describe below Shilpa - The Sanskrit word has a very wide meaning, other than a sculpture or an idol The word Shilpa is derived from words Sheel samadhou which mean anything that pleases human mind Sage Bhrugu has given a definition of Shilpa ( A - 01 ) Shilpa includes many articles ( things ) , machines, innovations, metals, and artificial means नानविधानाां िस् तूना यांत्र ाणाां कल् पसांपदाम ् । धातूनाां साधनानाां च िास् तूनाां शिल् पसांज्ञ ितम ् ॥ भृगुसांहिता अ. १ 4 A1 1 - Definition of Shilpa Shilpashastra - means a science which deals with creation of a Shilpa Shilpasamhita means compilation of rules and procedures related to a particular Shilpa The exact period in which Shilpa - Samhitas i e compilations were made is not known Shilpdyna - is one who is a master of Shilpashastra or an engineer or architect of modern term Vidya - Vidya means a particular technique One must have both theoretical and practical knowledge of that subject There are 32 Vidyas related to Shilp ashastra विद्यानाां यथास्िां आचायं प्र माण्यां विनयो शनयमश्च ॥ भृगुसांहिता अ A1 2 - Four types of Vidyas Kala - Kala means an art which can be acquired by practice and observation Even a handicapped person can be expert in a particular art without any the oretical knowledge There are 64 arts ( Kala ) related to Shilpashastra यद्य त्स स् याव् दाशचक ां सम् यक् कमम विद्य े शत सांज्ञ ितम ् । 5 िक्त ो मूकोऽवप यत्स कतुं कलासांिां तत्त त्स स् मृतम ्॥ विद्या ह्य नांताश्च कला: सांख्यातुां नैि िक्यते । विद्या मुख्यास्तु व् दावत्रांिच्चतु:ज्ञटि: कला: स् मृता: ॥ भृगुसांहिता अ. १ A1 3 - Definition of Kala E xtent of Shilpa - shastra - Sage Bhrugu divided the entire knowledge related to Shilpa - shastra into three Volumes He further included three Shilpa - shastras to each of these volumes The entire knowledge is further divided into 32 Vidyas and 64 Kalas The organization of Shilpa - shastra is shown in a table A1 1 Yantra Shashtra ( Machines ) is common to all volumes and it is considered as 10th Shastra Table A1 1 - E xtent of Shilpa - shastra Volume ( Khanda ) Engineering Science ( Shastra ) Exploration 1 Biological Sciences ( Krishi ) 2 Water Resources ( Jala ) 3 Mining & Metallurgy ( Khani ) 6 Transportation 4 Surface Transport ( Ratha ) 5 Water Transport ( Nauka ) 6 Air / Space Transport ( Vyomayan ) Habitation 7 Dwellings ( Veshma ) Defense System 8 Forts ( Praakar ) Town planning 9 ( Nagar rachana ) Machines 10 ( Yantra ) Vidyas r elated to Vastu - shastra Vidyas ( Techniques ) under Veshma shastra are, Table A1 2 - Vidyas ( Techniques ) SN Sanskrit Name Meaning 20 Waso Vidya Tents 21 Kutti Vidya Mud houses or Huts 22 Mandir Vidya Houses 23 Prasad Vidya Palaces 7 Eleven Kalas ( Skills ) out of 64 Table A1 3 - Kalas ( Skills ) SN Sanskrit Name Meaning 47 Charmapatbandhan Erecting of Leather tent 48 Mrudksadhan Soil preparation 49 TruNadyachhan Roofing with grass 50 ChurNopalep White Washing 51 VarN karma Preparations of paint 52 Daru Karma Carpentry 53 Mrudkarma Soil Conditioning 54 Chitradyalekhan Drawing and Painting 55 PratimakaraN Sculpture 56 T alakriya Foundations 57 Shikharkarm Construction of dome Inter - related subjects - Hindu Vastu Shastra was an integrated science This science included study of following inter - related subjects; Astrology ( Jyotushya ) Astronomy ( Graha Ganit ) Botany ( Vrukshya vidya ) Drawing & Painting ( Chitra Vidya ) Geometry ( Sutragranth ) Horticulture ( Upawan vidya ) 8 Iconography ( Murtishastra ) Machines ( Yantra shastra ) Material science ( Dravya ) Mathematics ( Gan it ) Nagar Rachana ( Town planning ) Prakarshastra ( Forts & Castles ) Samhita grantha ( Engineering texts ) Temple arts ( Devalayavidya ) WASOVIDYA – TENTS Fig A1 1 – Leather Tent Animals' skin was called Krutti Such skins were first used for erecting tents and then as clothing Ref Bhrugusamhita, Chapter 14 As per Shilpadipak the pegs should be of hard wood It should be straight smooth and sharp at one end and of 9 uniform size The peg should be driven into ground firmly Shilpadipak specifies that rope to be used for tent erection Rope should be such that ; Does not elongate on stretching or shrink or releasing It should be new, smooth as hairs It should be made of Kush or Munja Grasses, jute or shoots of bamboo It should be thick as finger and with two plies Ref Shilpadipak The pegs of a tent are driven in the direction of south - east, south - west, north - west, and north - east This is done to prevent the wind from entering into tent Ref Shilpadipak Shilpa Sha stra classify soils into four groups For details on mud plater, doors, wood for low cost houses and types of roofs etc For details ref Part B below 10 MANDIR VIDYA – HOUSES Depth of foundation : The depth of foundation should be 60 cm 120 cm Ref Mayamat Chapter 27 The height of plinth should be equal to knee height ( 60 cm ) to chest height ( 90 cm ) Ref Mayamat Chapter 27 Steps should be provided for houses,schools and palaces Ref Shilpadipak Sizes of houses : The house should not be less than 16 hast a ( 3 m ) in width The size should be between 8 Danda to 32 Danda ( 8 - 32 m ) at interval of 2 hasta Ref Mayamat Chapter 27 11 Odd number of doors : The Doors, pillars or trusses etc should be odd in number ( 1, 3, 5, 7 etc ). Selection of trees for construction : Mayamat specifies wood of certain trees, suitable for construction Ref Mayamat Chapter 27 Details of the trees are shown in a table 22 1 Table A1 4 - Wood for Construction Sanskrit Names Botanical Names Khadir Nimb Madhuk Pishit Sala Rajadan Tinduk Vanhi Refer Table for English and Botanical names - Pillars and walls : The house normally should have one to five storey Wall should rest on wall and pillar on pillar but wall should not rest on pillar Ref Mayamat Chapter 21 12 There should be separate staircases for different floors The three basic types of staircase are, 1 Within a wall 2 Adjacent to a wall 3 Without side walls The four styles of staircase are 1 Trikhand - Dog legged 2 Shankhamandal - Spriral 3 Vallimandal - He lical 4 Gomutrasum - Straight Ref Mayamat Chapter 18 Covering of roof : Roofing tiles, metal pieces are used to cover the portion above the truss The roof should be non - leaking Roof form an important part of house Ref Mayamat , Chapter 18 Plasters and paintings : As per Mayamat external and internal plaster is necessary Inner walls should be decorated with the pictures of gods or goddess or which pleases mind and not or war, death etc Erotic pictures must not painted on walls Ref Mayamat