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The Ground Plan of the Mandapa
369
number of prescribed varieties is 27.3 In plan they are either square, triangular, circular, octagonal or with 16 sides.
The different varieties are based upon the varying number of pillars, ranging from 12 to 64 through an addition of two pillars in each succeeding variety. The mandapa with 12 pillars is known as Subhadra, with 14 Śyama, with 16 Simha and so on till the last variety having 64 pillars.*
The scheme about the mandapas prescribed by M. P. is followed by VKP.5 and by later canonical works like Sm. Su.6 APPR. KSR (MS),8 Dipā,9 and PM.10 Almost all the texts have parallel names and identical specifications. But Sm. Su. 11 and APPR. have given several other types of mandapas in addition to the types offered by M. P.
Sm. Su. (LXVI, LXVII) has described as many as 35 mandapas in two groups of 8 and 27, the first being known as Bhadrādi and the second Puspakādi. But the description of Sm. Su. is imperfect and vague.
The Bhadradi group of mandapas in Sm. Su. is narrated as Vardhmānādi in APPR.12 This variety of 8 maṇḍapas are based on the additions of several projections in their ground plans. Accordingly the first variety Vardhamāna is square but additions of bhadrādi projections over the square ground plan result into seven more varieties. These eight mandapas are narrated as Güḍha maṇḍapa in PM.13
3. Ibid. 3-6.
4. MP. CCLXX, 7-8.
5. VKP. VỊ, 125-136.
6. Sm. Su. LXVII.
7. APPR. CLXXXVI.
13. PM. VII, 16-21, " भित्तिः प्रासादवद्गूढे मण्डपेऽष्ट विधेसु च । "
8. KSR. (MS).
9.
10.
II.
12. APPR. CLXXXVII, 1-4.
Jain Education International
Dipā X, 26-30.
PM. VII, 26.
Sm. Su. LXVI.
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