6. Description of Maṇḍapa Walls and Stairways

The Kāśyapa Śilpaśāstra records that the maṇḍapas must be endowed with pillars of various widths ranging from 3 to 7 parts. For all the maṇḍapas the thickness of the walls are of five types.

The length and breadth of the pillars mentioned earlier is applicable even for wooden pillars and also the mukhabhadras must be shaped just like the maṇḍapas (43. 126-27):

tricatuṣpañcaṣaṭ saptacaraṇavyāsa eva vā |
sarveṣāṃ maṇḍapānāṃ tu bhittivyāsaṃ tu pañcadhā ||
pādāyāmaviśālena dārupādena vāpyayam |
sarveṣāṃ mukhabhadrāṇāṃ aṃkaṇaṃ maṇḍapākṛtiḥ ||

The sides of the maṇḍapas must be adorned with a flight of steps shaped like the trunk of the elephant and the measure of the stairs may range between 5 to 9 daṇḍas.

The balustrade in the shape of the elephant's trunk should measure either 1¼ hastas or 1½ hastas and the starting point of the elephant's trunk portion must be square like that of the top portion of a branch (43. 128-29):

pārśve sopānasaṃyuktaṃ hastihasta vibhūṣitam |
pañcaṣaṭsaptanandāṣṭa daṇḍaṃ vā tasya vistṛtam ||
sapādaṃ sārdhadaṇḍaṃ vā hastihastodayaṃ tathā |
yaṣṭinābhyutakalpyaivaṃ vasvaśraṃ gajahastakam ||

The extent of the balustrade stretches till the entrance of the maṇḍapa and its end must be curved like that of the cock's tail. Moreover, the elephant trunk's end must be one-eighth the width of the base, gradually tapered. The middle part of the trunk is like a log or twice its diameter, that is, its measure may be 1 or 1¼ or 1½ or 3¼ daṇḍas. The length and diameter of the pillar should be 2 daṇḍas and the base of the maṇḍapa is twice the extent.

One-third of the height of the balustrade must be well rooted in the ground as a foundation (43. 130-33ab):

tannīvraṃ pāśvayorasya tvagraṃ tu kukku ṭākṛtiḥ |^[1]
mūlādaṣṭāṃśahīnaṃ tadagravyāsaṃ kramātkṛśam ||
hastihastāntaraṃ vipra yugmaṃ vā yugmayaṣṭayaḥ |
daṇḍaṃ sapādadaṇḍaṃ vā sārdhaṃtripādapādakam ||
dvidaṇḍaṃ vātha yaṣṭiśca vistāraṃ syāttadeva hi |
tena dviguṇanīvraṃ tu adhastānmaṇḍapaṃ bhavet ||
yatheṣṭarucāṃganī bhāgaikaṃ bhāgaṃ syādātalodayam |

The text Kāśyapa Śilpaśāstra doesn't stop with the above description but further adds that one must stand on the flat surface and must ascend the steps of the maṇḍapa by placing one's left foot first^[2] (43. 133cd-34):

ādau tasminsthale sthitvā savyapādapurassaram ||
sopānārohaṇaṃ vidyāt martyānāṃ tu vidhīyate |
maṇḍapaṃ hyevamākhyātaṃ ||

Conclusion:

In this chapter, the different types of maṇḍapas based on their utilitarian purpose and varieties based on their measure have been presented as given in Kāśyapa Śilpaśāstra. Furthermore, Kāśyapa also describes fourteen varieties of square and rectangular maṇḍapas. The constituent parts of the maṇḍapas have also been dealt with in detail.

A tentative representation of the maṇḍapas with the respective number of pillars has been provided for the first seven square maṇḍapas and first six rectangular maṇḍapas.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Op.cit., Tanjore edition, p. 501, 2fn, this reading is given as a variant.

[2]:

Śivasvarodaya, Text with Eng. tr. by Ram Kumar Rai, Prachya Prakashan, 1997, v. 60cd: candranāḍīpravāheṇa saumyakāryāṇi kārayet || –meaning that the flow of air in the left nostril or the Iḍā nāḍī is beneficial for doing good and auspicious acts. Therefore, one should enter the maṇḍapa placing the corresponding foot first.