Structural Temples of Gujarat

SR No.: 006728
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Kantilal F Sompura
Publisher: Gujarat University Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 1968
Total Pages: 868
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 31 MB

Page 320

Sources of Architectural Canons
265 In the chapters on prāsāda Lakṣaṇa in Bșhatsamhita Varāhamihira (A. D. 505-587) quotas the opinion of Viśvakarma. 186 So it may be safely said that the works of Viśvakarma were highly esteemed by the scholars by the beginning of the sixth century A. D.
However, it is difficult to ascertain his authority of the extant works ascribed to him. It is possible that some of them may have embodied the old traditions of Indian architecture. But the works in their present form available to us hardly seem to belong to the early centuries of the Christen Era. Probably they were written after the end of the first millennium, even after the Samarāngana-Sūtradhāra written in the 11th Cent. A. D. Accordingly they seem to have been composed by some later writer or writers, possibly on the basis of some old sources. They may, therefore, be regarded to be as good as anonymous. Samarāngana Sūtradhāra,
Samarāngana Sūtradhāra, one of the most valuable texts on the medieval architecture in India, is the earliest known work on the subject, to which we can assign definite chronology.
It is compiled by Sūtradhāra Samarāngaņa under the auspecious patronage of the Paramar King Bhojadeva of Dhara, who flourished from 1018 to 1060 A. D.
In treatment of the subject matter no serial or systematic method is followed. There is no logical sequence or order in the arrangement of chapters. No doubt, as far as temple architecture is concered, the author has given a detailed treatment to Prāsādas in their general plan and elevation. It includes nearly twanty chapters.
136. Sārdha hastatrayam Caiva Kathitam Višvakarman' | Brh. Sam. LVI, 29 # Published in G. O. S. Nos. XXV ( 1925 ) & XXXII (1927) edited by MM. T. Ganapati Shastri.