[1][2] It is an ancient umbrella term for numerous Hindu texts that describe arts, crafts, and their design rules, principles and standards.

"[1][10] The range of crafts encompassed by the term Shilpa extends to every aspect of culture, includes sculptor, the potter, the perfumer, the wheelwright, the painter, the weaver, the architect, the dancer, the musician, the arts of love, and others.

Ancient Indian texts assert that the number of the arts is unlimited, they deploy sixty-four kala (कला, techniques)[11] and thirty-two vidyas (विद्या, fields of knowledge).

[14] Other ancient Shilpa Shastra on painting include Vishnudharmottara Purana and Chitralakshana, the former is available in Sanskrit while the only surviving copies of the latter are in Tibetan (both were originally written on birch bark, and have been translated into English and German).

[15] These Sanskrit treatises discuss the following aspects of a painting: measurement, proportions, perspective of the viewer, mudra, emotions, and rasa (meaning).

Such an approach to Indian paintings, states Isabella Nardi, make Shilpa Shastra not only canonical textual sources but also a means to transmit knowledge and spiritual themes.

The Rig veda, states Ravi,[16] mentions equipment used in casting, such as dhamatri (cupola), gharma aranmaya (crucible) and bhastri (blower).

These discussions are in the context of making idols, and describe rules to achieve the best talmana (proportions), mudra (stance) and bhava (expression).

[1] The training began from childhood, and included studies about dharma, culture, reading, writing, mathematics, geometry, colors, tools, as well as trade secrets – these were called Tradition.

Each guild formed its own laws and code of conduct, one the ancient Hindu and Buddhist kings of India respected by tradition.

Brhat Samhita at verses 57.10-11 describes the practice of carpenters offering prayers and seeking forgiveness of a tree before cutting it for wood.