A Summary of the Mayamata Shilpa-shastra

The next well-known Silpa-sastra is the Mayamata, attributed to one Gannamacharya.¹ A detailed summary of this work is not necessary. The following list of thirty-six chapters, placed side by side with the similar chapters of the Manasara, will show that in respect of the titles of chapters, their sequence and contents, the Mayamata and the Manasara are identical² : (1) Samgrahadhyaya-table of contents, Manasara, Chapter I. (2) Vastu-prakara-classification of architectural subjects, M.,3 IV, V. (3) Bhu-pariksha-testing of soil, M., IV, V. (4) Bhu-parigraha-selection of soil, M., IV, V. (5) Manopakarana-materials and system of measurement, M., II. (6) Dik-parichchheda-on finding out cardinal points, M., VI. (7) Pada-devata-vinyasa-site plans, M., VII. (8) Bali-karma-vidhana-offerings to gods, M., VIII. (9) Grama-vinyasa-villages, M., IX. (10) Nagara-vidhana-town-planning, M., X. (11) Bhu-lamba-vidhana-dimensions of storeys, M., XI. (12) Garbha-nyasa-vidhana-foundations, M., XII. (13) papitha-vidhana-pedestals, M., XIII. (14) Adhishthana-vidhana-bases, M., XIV. (15) Pada-pramana-dravya-samgraha-columns, M., XV. (16) Prastara-prakara na-entablatures, M., XVI. (17) Sandhi-karma-vidhana joinery, M., XVII. (18) Sikhara-kara na-bhavana-samapti-vidhana-making the finials and finishing the building, M., XVIII. (19) Eka-bhumi-vidhana-one-storeyed buildings, M., XIX. (20) Dvi-bhumi-vidhana---two-storeyed buildings, M., XX. 1 Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras, Catalogue, Vol. XXII, no. 13038, also 13034-13039. Cf. the colophon iti gannamacarya viracitayam te ) mayamate silpasastre 2 The edition of the Mayamata by M. M. Ganapati Sastri contains only the first thirty-four chapters. Besides, it does not seem to have made use of the manuscripts mentioned elsewhere. But there is reference to three other manuscripts in this edition. 3 The Manasara has Manopakarana for Chapter II, which is placed in Chapter V of the Mayamata. 159

(21) Tri-bhumi-vidhana-three-storeyed buildings, M., XXI. (22) Bahu-bhumi-vidhana¹-buildings of more than three storeys, M., XXII-XXX. (23) Prakara-parivara-courts, and temples therein of the attendant deities; in the Manasara these two subjects are treated in two chapters, XXXI, XXXII. (24) Gopura-vidhana-gate-houses, M., XXXIII. (25) Mandapa-vidhana-pavilions, M., XXXIV. (26) Sala-vidhana-storeyed mansions, M., XXXV. (27) Griha-manadhikara²-(location and) measurement of houses, M., XXXVI. (28) Grha-pravesa-first entry into a newly built house (opening or house-warming ceremony), M., XXXVII. (29) Raja-vesma-vidhana-royal palaces, M., XL. (30) Dvara-vidhana-doors; in the Manasara this subject is described in two chapters, XXXVIII, XXXIX. (31) Yanadhikara-conveyances, M., II, XLIII. (32) Yana-sayanadhikara-cars and chariots, couches and bedsteads, M., XLIV, XLV. Sculptural subjects are abridged in only four chapters: (33) Linga-lakshana-the phallus, M., LII. (34) Pitha-lakshana-altars and pedestal of the phallus, M., LIII. (35) Anukarma-vidhana-minor works on sculpture, M., LI, LIV, LV, LXIII, LXV, LXX. (36) Pratima-lakshana-images in general, M., LXIV. It should be noticed that in respect of the titles of chapters, their sequence, except in one instance, contents, and method of treatment, the Mayamata runs exactly like the Manasara, step by step. It is hardly necessary to point out that in Chapter XXII of the former, the Chapters XXII-XXX of the latter are abridged, to the great relief of readers. So also Chapter XXX of the former is an abridgment of Chapters XXXVIII, XXXIX of the latter. Chapters XLI (royal courts) and XLII (characteristics of kings) of the Manasara, which have only an indirect use in an architectural treatise, have been prudently omitted in the Mayamata. Chapters XLV to L of the Manasara which deal respectively with thrones, arches, theatres, 1 Cf. Sastri, ibid, where Chatur-bhumyadi is added at the beginning. 2 Cf. Sastri, ibid, where it is read chatur-grha-vidhana. 160

ornamental trees, crowns, ornaments, and articles of house furniture, are left out in the Mayamata, apparently as matters of detail. Sculpture is said to be the hand-maid of architecture. This statement, in its restricted sense, is however appropriate only to religious architecture, that is, temple-building. But in a treatise which is concerned with all sorts of buildings-religious, residential, military -undue space and preference for sculpture have been economically avoided in the Mayamata. In this treatise, as has already been pointed out, sculpture dealing with the phalli, altars, images and minor matters, is described in four chapters, while in the Manasara nearly two-thirds of the whole book, comprising twenty chapters, is given to these subjects; and in the Amsumad-bheda of Kasyapa, to be discussed presently, which is avowedly a sculptural treatise, nearly half the space, comprising Chapters XLVI to LXXXIV, is devoted to matters of sculptural detail. It does not, therefore, seem unreasonable to suppose that in the compilation of the treatise named Mayamata, whether by Gannama charya, as stated in the colophon (of MS. no. 13038, Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras, Catalogue, Volume XXII, page 8763) or by somebody else, the Manasara has been largely drawn upon. In consideration of the fact that with the Mayamata (MS. no. 13037, fol. 213 a), the Manasara (la) has become mixed, I am further led to believe that the manuscript of the Mayamata in the Madras Oriental Library seems to be an abridgment of the Manasara. The fact that one Mayamata is included in the list of thirty-two authorities mentioned in the Manasara itself does not present much difficulty in accepting this view. Mayamata, like Manu (or Manasara) is apparently a generic name, and the treatise catalogued under the title Mayamala-vastu-sastra need not necessarily be ascribed to the authority mentioned in the Manasara. 161 k