Can you build a temple from a text?

This essay appeared in the Jnanapravaha Quarterly Newsletter(Jan-Mar 2024) . The essay is based on a lecture by Dr. Adam Hardy (Emeritus Professor of Asian Architecture at Cardiff University) for the 2023 edition of the course “The Indian Temple” at Jnanapravaha

 ‘Can You Build a Temple from a Text?’ was the compelling title of Dr. Adam Hardy’s lecture on how the Vastu and Silpa sastras guide the construction of Indian temples. He illustrated the process by constructing drawings of South Indian Dravida and North Indian Nagara style temples based on slokas from the Diptagama and Aparajitaprccha respectively. Translating verses from these Sanskrit treatises into temple structures isn’t a straightforward process. It requires literal translation in partnership with Sanskrit scholars, followed by adjustments and refinements based on a thorough knowledge of the architectural and cultural context of the Indian temple. Beyond merely following instructions in the texts, it involves a blend of textual guidance and creative interpretation. This allows architects the opportunity to explore within the structure of the craft, while also allowing for ideas that may not be found in the original scriptures. The texts may propose theoretical ideas that serve as inspiration and may not be implemented due to technical constraints. Conversely, the practice might produce innovations not recorded in the texts. Thus, practice and theory feed each other, evolving together. So, while it is rare to find a temple that exactly follows a text, the principles in text and practice are strongly correlated. 

Drawing is the first step towards transforming the verses in the Vastu and Silpa sastras into monuments in stone. Interestingly, not many examples of such drawings exist. To construct such drawings and models, one needs to understand the lexicon of the architectural style. Dr. Hardy illustrated this with an example of the basic ekatala alpa vimana (single-storey simple structure), common in Tamil Nadu temples. He explained the construction principles for Dravida temples found in texts like Mayamata and Manasara which are Vastu sastras, and the Diptagama which is a ritual text containing portions on architecture. The variations in this form of the ekatala arise from different shapes for the plan like square, circular, rectangular, octagonal, apsidal, etc. in combination with a dome-like kuta or a rectangular sala on top. The vimana of the ekatala temple structure also has six vertical divisions described as sat anga or sat varga, consisting of adisthana (a moulded base), stambha (wall), prastara (entablature), a kantha or griva (neck with a railing), a shikhara (roof), and finally, the stupika (finial).  It is interesting to note that these same elements may have different names across different texts, while they may also be referred to with different names within the same text. 

This basic component of the ekatala alpa vimana is replicated to form complex multi-storey, multi-aedicular temple structures with each of the smaller temples containing manifestations, aspects or subordinates of the main deity. This is created with a combination of kuta, sala, and panjara (a sala rotated ninety degrees and embedded into the vimana). Using photogrammetric models of the temple structure, made by his colleague Kailasha Rao, Dr. Hardy showed how an elevation of a temple structure made from such a drawing of an ekatala alpa vimana might look in stone. 

Dr. Hardy described the process of drawing the design of a specific temple type, the Svastika, a two-storey temple type from the Diptagama. Starting with a base-width of five hastas divided into six parts, and a height-to-width ratio of 2:1, the sloka proceeds to describe the placement of the kuta, sala, and panjara in the vimana. Subsequently, the height is divided into twenty-eight parts, with the various components being assigned heights that should add up to twenty-eight, if interpreted correctly. It is here that Dr. Hardy illustrated how mathematics and artistry blend in the interpretation, ensuring aesthetic appeal even if anomalies or inconsistencies arise. 

An interesting feature of these texts is that each subsequent variation is described as a modification of the base version, rather than repeating the common specifications. So, Kailasa is another two-storey temple type described in the next passage in the Diptagama, whose specifications are prescribed as variations with reference to the Svastika type. Dr. Hardy showed how the Kailasa, with its thirty-four divisions for the height, could be the basis of the Kodumbalur Moovar temple in Pudukkottai, in Tamil Nadu. To conclude the Dravida temple section, Dr. Hardy compared a drawing of a five-storey temple made from the Mayamata to the famous Airavateshwara temple in Darasuram.

In the second half of the lecture, Dr. Hardy explored the Nagara temples built in Western India around the tenth and eleventh centuries. The essential element of this style is the aneka andaka or the multiple composite form that evolved from the latina type. It is made up of multiple projections and recesses that appear to proliferate, expand downwards and outwards from the central structure, creating a sense of dynamism. Chapter 159 of the Aparajitaprccha, a twelfth-century text on architecture from Western India, describes twenty-five types of aneka andaka temples starting from kesari which has five andakas all the way up to meru which has a hundred and one andakas. Each successive type has four more andakas than the previous, and the simpler form becomes the top of each subsequent complex type with a shikhara at the centre. 

Dr. Hardy illustrated the construction of a drawing of a type of temple known as Indranila from the Aparajitaprccha, which has fifty-three andakas, and compared it with a built example of the Jasmalnathji Mahadev temple in Asoda, Gujarat.

To conclude the lecture, Dr. Hardy spoke about a drawing he found in the paving stones at the Sahasra Bahu temple in Nagda, Rajasthan. Though it doesn’t exactly match either of the temples at site, it is clear that the drawing served as a point of reference for designing and constructing the temple, from which the architects and craftsmen could even take measurements. The text and drawings reflect the same way of thinking, according to Dr. Hardy. The texts expect the design of the temples to be drawn for the architects to transmit ideas and instructions to apprentices and craftsmen. Dr. Hardy illustrated this point by painting a beautiful verbal picture of an apprentice chanting a verse and drawing it under the guidance of a guru who helps interpret the meaning of the various architectural elements that it describes. 

From verses to sketches that transform ephemeral ideas into manifested masonry, Dr. Hardy’s evocative lecture brought alive the delicate dance between words, lines and shrines in the magical realm of Indian temple architecture.