Vishnudharmottara Purana (Art and Architecture)
by Bhagyashree Sarma | 2021 | 59,457 words
This page relates ‘7(a): Portrait of Men and Women’ of the study on the elements of Art and Architecture according to the Vishnudharmottara Purana: an ancient text whose third book deals with various artisan themes such as Architecture, Painting, Dance, Grammar, etc. Many chapters are devoted to Hindu Temple architecture and the iconography of Deities and their installation rites and ceremonies.
7(a): Portrait of Men and Women
[Full title: 3.7: Different Kinds of Portrait used in Painting (citra) (a): Portrait of Men and Women]
In the third part of the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, nine chapters i.e., chapters from 35th to 43rd are dedicated to Painting where portraits of different kinds of men and women, natural objects and phenomena, different kinds of places, symbolization in Painting, personification in Painting etc. have been elaborately discussed. A discussion in this regard is worthy of presentation here.
In the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, a specific measurement of every limb of a man as well as of a woman is elaborately and systematically discussed.
According to this book, there are five types of men[1] viz.,
The haṃsa type of man should have arms like the king of serpents, white complexion like moon, elegant and attractive eyes, fine waist and good-looking face. Moreover, the gait of haṃsa type of man should be like a swan for which they are called so.[3] The complexion of the bhadra type of man should bear the colour of lotus and his arms should be muscular and round shaped.[4] Mālavya type of man is seen to have dark complexion like mudga i.e., a kind of kidney bean[5] . He is adorned with slender waist, long hands, massive shoulders, broad jaw lines and long nose like elephant.[6] The rucaka type of man bears the white complexion like autumn and he has a conch shaped neck.[7] The complexion of śaśaka kind of man remains dark reddish.[8] The description of the character of Rāma as found in the 1st sarga of the Bālakāṇḍa of the Rāmāyaṇa bear resemblances the amalgamation of some qualities of these five types of man discussed in the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa.[38]
According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa there are five types of women and the divisions of women follow the varieties of men.[39] In the 42nd chapter of this work, it is mentioned that-the women and the prostitutes should be painted in the form of rucaka[40] which is one of the forms of men. Thus from this, it can be said that the body tone of women is to be white like autumn as the rucaka type of man has this kind of complexion. Moreover, in the 37th chapter of the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa it is said that-each woman should be placed near her man,[41] which indicates that the names of the variety of the women may be equated with the concerned varieties of men.
Again, the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa gives a detail discussion about the portrait of a man. According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, the measurement of five kinds of men viz., haṃsa, bhadra etc. should be equal in a picture and the measurements are done with the basis of ucca i.e., height and āyāma i.e., breadth.[42] The important point to be noted here is that, in this book, the writer has presented the measurement of almost all the body parts that should be maintained in a picture. The measurements of each and every limb of these five kinds of men are tabled here.
| Limbs | Measurements in aṅgula i.e., finger (Height x Breadth) |
| Mūrdhā (head) | 12 aṅgulas[9] |
| Lalāṭa (forehead) | 4 X 8 aṅgulas[10] / |
| Śaṅkha (temporal bone)[11] | 2 X 4 aṅgulas[12] |
| Gaṇḍa (cheek)[13] | 5 aṅgulas[14] |
| Hanu (chin) | 4 aṅgulas[15] |
| Karṇa (ear) | 4 X 2 aṅgulas[16] |
| Nāsikā (nose) | 4 aṅgulas[17] |
| Oṣṭha (lips) | 1X 4 aṅgula (both upper and lower lips)[18] |
| Danta (teeth) | 1/12 aṅgulas[19] |
| Netra (eye) | 3 X 1 aṅgulas[20] |
| Tārā (eye-ball) | 1/5th of the eye[21] |
| Bhru (eye-brow) | 3 X ½ aṅgulas[22] |
| Grīvā (neck)[23] | 12 aṅgulas (breadth) and 21 aṅgulas (circumference)[24] |
| Bāhumūla (armpit)[25] | 16 aṅgulas (circumference)[26] |
| Karatala(palm)[27] | 12 aṅgulas i.e., long-7 aṅgulas and broad-5 aṅgulas[28] |
| Nābhi (navel) | 1 aṅgulas[29] |
| Kaṭi (hip) | 18 aṅgulas (breadth) and 44 aṅgulas (circumference)[30] |
| Vṛṣaṇa (scrotum)[31] | 4 aṅgulas (wide)[32] |
| Meḍhraṃ [Meḍhra] (penis)[33] | 6 aṅgulas (length)[34] |
| Ūru (thigh) | 4 aṅgulas[35] |
| Pārṣṇī (heel)[36] | 4 X 3 aṅgulas[37] |
Moreover, the measurement of some minor limbs like fingers, nails, etc. are also furnished in the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa. According to this work, the measurement of middle finger is five aṅgulas. The measurement of the index finger and the ring finger is equal and both are shorter by the foremost part of the middle finger.[43] The little finger is smaller by the foremost part of the ring finger[44] and the thumb should be three aṅgulas in length.[45] The measurements of nail are also discussed in the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa. The nail of thumb is one forth thinner than the breadth. The nail of the index finger is half of that and the remaining nails are one eighth of the nail of the thumb.[46]
It is a noteworthy fact that in the context of the measurement of women’s portrait, a detail discussion is not found in this present book. Some parts of a woman’s body are pointed in connection with the drawing of the pictures. According to the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, the portrait of women should be made to reach the shoulders of men’s portrait.[47] The picture of women should be prepared two aṅgulas thinner than that of men and the hip portion should be four aṅgulas wider.[48] Moreover, it is notified here that the breast portion in a portrait of woman should be more charming and proportionate as it increases the beauty of the picture.[49]
Footnotes and references:
[2]:
[3]:
adhakṣaścandragaurastu nāgarājabhujo balī/ haṃsagāmī sumadhyaśca haṃsaśca sumukho bhavet/ Ibid.,1. 36.2
[6]:
[9]:
dvādaśāṅgulaparīṇāho mūrdhā/ Ibid., 3.36, p.107
[10]:
caturaṅgulocchrāyaṃ aṣṭāṅgulaṃ lalāṭam/ Ibid., 3.36, p.107
[11]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.545
[12]:
śaṅkhau caturaṅgulau dvyaṅgulocchrāyau/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.36, p.107
[13]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.179
[14]:
pañcāṅgulau gaṇḍau/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.36, p.107
[16]:
dvyaṅgulau karṇau caturaṅgulocchrāyau/ Ibid., 3.36, p.107
[18]:
oṣṭhścāṅgulaḥ/ caturaṅgulāyāmāsyam/ adharoṅgulam/ Ibid., 3.36, p.107
[20]:
aṅgula vistṛtā tryaṅgulāyāme netre/ Ibid., 3.36, p.107
[21]:
pañcabhāgāstārā/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.36, p.107
[22]:
ardhāṅgulivistṛtevyaṅgulāyāme bhruvau/ Ibid., 3.36, p.107
[23]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.196
[24]:
daśāṅgulavistṛtā grīvā/ ekaviṃśatyaṅgulapariṇāhā… / Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.36, p.107
[25]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.391
[27]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.134
[28]:
dvādaśāgre saptāṅgulaṃ karatalaṃ/ pañcāṅgulaṃ vistṛtaṃ…/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.36, p.107
[31]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.531
[32]:
caturaṅgulavistṛtau vṛṣaṇau/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.36, p.107
[33]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.447
[34]:
ṣaḍaṅgulaṃ tāvatpariṅāhaṃ meḍhraṃ/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.36, p.107
[35]:
ūrū caturaṅgulau/ Ibid., 3.36, p.107
[36]:
V.S Apte, The student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.334
[37]:
tryaṅgule pārṣṇī/ caturaṅgulocchrāyau iti…/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.36, p.108
[38]:
ikṣvākuvaṃśapravavo rāmo nāma janaiḥ śrutaḥ/ niyatātmā mahāviryo dyutimān dhṛtimān vaśī// buddhimān nītimān vāgmī śrīmāñchatrunibarhaṇa/ vipulāṃsī mahābāhuḥ kambugrīvo mahāhanuḥ// mahorasko maheṣvāso gūḍhajatruraṃridamaḥ/ ājānubāhuḥ suśirāḥ sulalāṭaḥ suvikramaḥ// samaḥ samavibhaktāṅgaḥ snigdhavarṇaḥ pratāpavān/ pīnavakṣā viśālākṣo lakṣmīvāñchubhalakṣaṇa// Rāmāyaṇa, 1.1.8-11
[42]:
vijñeyāḥ puruṣāḥ pañca teṣāṃ vakṣāmi lakṣaṇam/ ucchrāyāyāmatulyāste sarve jñeyāḥ pramāṇataḥ// Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.35.9
[43]:
pañcāṅgulapramāṇā madhyamikā/tatpūrvadalahīnā pradeśinī/ tattulyā cānāmikā/ Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa, 3.36, p.107
[44]:
tatparihīnā kaniṣṭhikā sarvā samatribhāgaparvāḥ/ Ibid., 3.36, p.107
[45]:
tryaṅgulamaṅguṣṭhaṃ…/ Ibid., 3.36, p.107
[46]:
aṅgulacaturbhāgahīno’ṅguṣṭhanakhaḥ/ tadardhapramāṇaṃ pradeśinyāḥ/ tadaṣṭabhāgaḥ śeṣāṇāṃ/ Ibid., 3.36, p.108
[47]:
naraskandhapramāṇena kāryaikā sā yathāmiti/ Ibid., 3.37.2