________________
Sources of Architectural Canons
a temple.102 The works like Sürya-Siddhānta, 103 the SidhantaŠiromani104 and the Lilavati105 deal exhaustively with a very technical matter bearing upon architecture,, namely, the description of gnomons (Sanku) which were used for finding out cardinal points. The subject is architecturally very important in as much as it refers to the oriention of buildings.
(ii) The Works On Architectural Canons.
The Gupta age marks the beginning of special treatises on architecture, as far as the extant Indian works on Architecture are concerned.
259
Indian architecture is classified into three broad divisions of styles namely, Nagara, Dravida and Vesara. In its intitial stage of development Indian Architecture did not bother about watertight classification of styles as suggested above. The Sulbha-sutras and the manifold injunctions found in Grhya and Śrauta Sutras regarding the Puja-Vastu-the altars and Sadas, their layouts, proportionate measurements and materials etc. formed the guiding code for the sthaptis and the sthapakas of the old. But as time passed and current of architecture took an independent course it become an independent theme for producing independent manuals of the Sastra and there was a great line of Acharyas forthcoming. The whole code Brahmanised and our great gods Śiva, Visnu and Brahma were made primary source from whence the Vastuvidya i. e. the science of architecture is revealed. No divine lore could remain unpassed to the Asuras hence the two schools flourished side by side. Thus their course of Vastu-vidya gave rise to two distinct styles namely Dravida and Nagara, the former belonging to the school of Maya flourishing in South beyond the Vindhyas and latter rising from the school of Viśvakarma 102 Laghu-Silpa-Jyotiṣ-Sāra, 3-5
was
103. Ch. III. 1-4
104. Ch. VII, 36-49.
105. Part II Ch. II, Section VII
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