Kashyapa Shilpa-shastra (study)
by K. Vidyuta | 2019 | 33,520 words
This page relates ‘Favourable Directions for Installing the Shiva Murtis’ of the study on the Kashyapa Shilpa-shastra (in English) with special reference to the characteristics of Prakara (temple-components), Mandapa (pavilions) and Gopura (gate-house). The Silpa-Sastras refers to the ancient Indian science of arts and crafts, such as sculpture, architecture and iconography. This study demonstrates the correlatation between ancient Indian monuments (such as temples and sculptures) and the variety of Sanskrit scriptures dealing with their construction.
7. Favourable Directions for Installing the Śiva Mūrtis
The text now enjoins the directions and positions favourable for installation of various deities.
These structures, the text says, must be neatly arranged all around in sequence (XLIII. 70ab):
parito mālikāyāṃ tu sakalasthanamucyate |
The dancing idol of Lord Śiva, Lord Naṭarāja, must be installed in the north-east and Śiva as mounted on his Ṛṣabha or the bull must be installed in the south-east.
Similarly the Somāskanda mūrti has to be fixed in the south-west; while the Kaṅkāla mūrti is placed in the north-west, the Bhikṣāṭana form of Śiva is to be established in the east (in the place of Jayanta) (XLIII. 70cd-1):
śāṃkare nṛttamūrtistu āgneyyāṃ vṛṣavāhanam ||
umāskandaṃ ca sahitaṃ nairṛtye parikalpayet |
kaṅkālaṃ vāyudigbhāge bhikṣāṭanaṃ jayantake ||
The Sukhāsana mūrti is to be placed in the place of Satya (east); the Tripurāntaka mūrti in the place of Vitatha (south); Śaṅkaranārāyaṇa mūrti (lord along with Hari) is to be installed in the place of Sugrīva (west) and in the place presided by Gandharva (south-west) Candraśekhara mūrti is installed (XLIII. 72):
sukhāsanaṃ tu satyāṃśe vitathe tripurāntakam |
sugrīve harirardhaṃ syād gandharve candraśekharam ||
In the place of Śeṣa (pada presided by him, north-west) Lord Śiva who burnt Kāmadeva; in the place of Mukhya (also north-west) Kālasaṃhāra mūrti is to be established; Ardhanārīśvara idol must be installed in the place of Diti (north-east) and in Indra's place Kalyāṇasundara mūrti (XLIII. 73):
śeṣāṃśe madanāriḥ syānmukhye kālārimūrtinam |
ditayetvardhanārīśaṃ handre kalyāṇasundaram ||
In the vāstupada presided by Parjanya (east), Kṣetrapāla mūrti is placed; in Yama's (south) place Dakṣiṇāmūrti has to be installed; Liṅgodbhavamūrti in the place of Varuṇa (west) and in the place of Soma (north) Gajasaṃhāramūrti is to be established (XLIII. 74):
kṣetrapālastu parjanye yāmye vai dakṣiṇeśvaram |
vāruṇye liṅgamudbhūtaṃ saumye tu gajahāriṇam ||
Therefore, the above mentioned Śivamūrtis must be installed in the antarāla (intermediary portion) in consideration of the main deity of the mūla-harmya (garbhagṛha) (XLIII. 75):
itordhvamālayaṃ proktaṃ antarāleṣu kalpayet |
mūlaharmyaṃ tu saṃvīkṣya sakalasthapanaṃ kuru ||