Samarangana Sutradhara

Samarangana Sutradhara is an encyclopedic work on classical Indian architecture (Vastu Shastra) written by Paramara King Bhoja of Dhar (1000-1055 AD).

In 83 chapters, subjects treated are town planning, house architecture, temple architecture and sculptural arts together with Mudras (the different hand poses and the poses of the body as well as the postures of legs), the canons of painting, and a chapter on the art of mechanical contrivances, the yantras (chapter 31).

This chapter on yantras has attracted the attention of pseudoscience and ufology in particular. [thus von Daniken's "Chariots of the Gods" (1968), p. 72: "In the Samarangana Sutradhara whole chapters are devoted to describing airships whose tails spout fire and quicksilver," from which later ufologists derived the "mercury vortex engine". Also mentioned on p. 504 of J. Eisen's "Suppressed Inventions " (2001), ISBN 978-0399527357.] Verses 95-100 mentions bird-shaped aerial cars (Vimanas), and verses 101-107 mention a sort of robots acting as guards.

Here are some verses from Samarangana Sutradhara, which describes characteristics a "sthapati" i.e. architect (based on translation by Punya Mishra).

*The architect should be well-versed in the science involving the significance of objects to be created and their specificationss. He should know the theory and the practice; he should have the insight and the skill accompanied with procedure.

*That person is said to be an expert in workmanship who knows how to sketch the ground plan, draftmanship, the horizontal and vertical measurements, the details of ground work of the plot, the 14 kinds of sketch lines, the cutting of the logs and stones etc., and seven kinds of circular sections; well finished joinings of the joints and proper demarcation of upper, lower and outer lines.

*An sthapati should know eight-fold workmanship, the draftmanship and sketches of various kinds, and variety of carpentery, stone-masonry and gold-smithy. The engineer equipped with these merits invokes respect. One who knows the fourfold engineering with its eight constituents and who is pure in his mind gets status in the assembly of engineers, and is endowed with a long life.

Editions

*Sastri, T.G. (1924)
*Kumar, Pushpendra, "Bhoja's Samarangana-Sutradhara : Vastushastra". 2 Vols, New Bharatiya Book Corporation (2004), ISBN 8187418923.
*Sharma, Sudarshan Kumar, "Samarangana Sutradhara of Bhojadeva : An Ancient Treatise on Architecture", 2 Vols. (2007), ISBN 8171103022.

References

ee also

*Other classical Indian Shilpa texts include are: Visnudharmottaram, Aparajitaprchchha, Abhilasitartha-Chintamani (or Manasollasa), Shilpa-ratna, Narada-silpa-shashtra and Kashyapa-shilpa.
*Vastu Shastra