Manasara
It is a treatise that provides detailed guidelines on the building of Hindu temples, sculptures, houses, gardens, water tanks, laying out of towns and other structures.
[7] Indian manuscripts that have survived into the modern age suggest that there once existed a large collection of treatises on architecture, design, arts and crafts.
[14] Bhattacharya admits that this hypothesis can neither directly be disproved or proved, but submits that this can be inferred from the fact that the architectural teachings in Manasara borrow from and are identical or essentially similar to those found in Sanskrit Puranas, Agamas and Brihatsamhita that have been dated by scholars to about mid-1st millennium CE.
It is likely, states Bhattacharya, that the complete surviving manuscript of Manasara is a recension produced in South India around or after the 11th-century based on major treatises that now exist only in fragments.
[8] [16]Together with other texts like the Mayamata and Brihatsamhita, the Manasara encompasses not just building principles but also broader elements of spatial planning, such as urban design, temple construction, domestic architecture, and even the layout of cities and streets.
These verses elaborate on a wide variety of architectural elements—ranging from the design of palaces, homes, and temples to more practical structures like gateways, wells, and streets.
[7][16][8]Additionally, the text delves into topics like furniture, vehicles (such as carts and wagons), and ornamentation, showcasing the holistic approach to design in ancient Indian architecture.
The text, along with others in the Vaastu Shastra collection, presents architecture not just as a physical craft but as a spiritual and philosophical practice, integrating the cosmic order with human living spaces.
Hardy and Salvini illustrate their view by first translating another vastu sastra text Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra into English, then deriving mathematical ratios and drawings from it in a manner similar to those of Ram Raz for Manasara.
[22] The Manasara and other texts present the theory, the architect interprets and projects it into a tangible form following the training and field experience he must have received in the architectural traditions.
[22] Hardy shares the Tillotson view that some creative attempts with hybrid drawings by Acharya derived from Manasara do not reflect any real buildings from the past or early 20th-century.
[23] The Manasara is the "best-known and possibly the most complete" treatise on Indian architecture and planning that has survived into the modern age, states Jennifer Howes.
