On the Idea of the Mandala as a Governing Device in Indian Architectural Tradition Author(s): Sonit Bafna Source: Journal of the

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On
as
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the Indian

Idea

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Mandala

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Architectural Tradition

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SONIT BAFNA Georgia Institute of Technology

he notion that magicaldiagramscalled mandalas mentedbuildings. Boththesetrends,the ideaof the governing underlie most traditional Hindu archimandala andthe studyof Indianarchitecture froman indige(Figure 1) tecturalproductionhas become well entrenched nous perspective, can be directlyrelatedto the development within currentthought. What it means to have a mandala of systematicstudiesof traditional literature on architecture underliea buildingor city,however,is not alwaysclear.For typically classed under the rubric vastusastra or silpasastra.3 It is several writers, the role of these diagrams,especially the from this literature that most, if not all, of the evidencesupdrawn as a square grid, is to act as a portingthe ideaof the generative mandala is drawn. Vastupurusaman.dala in streets a the walls of a town, planning guide: building, and functionalzones within built structuresare, according to this view, laid out upon the grid lines of a mandala.As a Sources of Evidence: The Vastuisstra Literature consequenceof this notion, any existinghistoricalstructure Traditionalwritings on vastusastra are scatteredwithin an of Hindu patronagethat bearssigns of an orthogonal grid, extremelydiversebody of literature,rangingfrom general or even exhibits a square profile, is interpreted as having encyclopedicworksto technicalmanualsmeant for profesbeen designedupon the Vdstupurusaman.dala . But scholars sionalartisans andsthapatis is the personin charge (asthapati who try to probe further, to determine how and to what of an architectural project).4 Examplesof the technicaltreaextent such structurescould have been generatedusing the tises include texts like Mdnasara, Mayamatam, and Apardjimandala,invariablyrun into difficulties.2 Although a great taprchha, which contain material dealing exclusivelywith deal has been written on the topic, very few scholarshave vastusastra. The authorship of these texts is difficult to attemptedto describethe precisemannerin which the man- establish, since they were at times credited to legendary dalacould have acted as a generativediagram. sagesin orderto lend authenticityandweight to their opinThis paperis born partlyout of curiosityregardingthe ions, and at other times, to the patronswho commissioned role of this enigmaticdevice,andpartlyout a senseof frustra- them. Samaranganasutradhara, for instance, is credited to tionwiththe uncritical manner in whichthistopicis popularly Bhoja,andMdnasolldsa to Someshvara. A few later producdiscussed. Few realizethat the idea of the mandala as a gov- tions such as Silpasarini, Silpaprakdsra,and Rupa Mandana erningdiagram gainedcurrency themselves and described only towardthe mid twenti- were written largely by sthapatis eth century.It was duringthis time that the study of Indian existing tradecraft including contemporaryconstructional architecture also began to rely increasingly upon traditional practicesand stylistic trends.Much useful materialon vasIndiansourcesfor classification and interpretation of docu- tusastra is also found in more the general class of Sanskrit

VASTUPURU$AMAND?ALA
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Figure 1 Kramrisch's descriptionof the generic Vastupurusamandala. The allocationof deities to the individual squares varies from one depiction to another, but a four-levelhierarchy,indicated here by the four tones, is consistently maintained.

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literature.Some of the Puranasare rich sourcesof material Indian tradition, as is most of Agamic literature on the on artistic traditions, notably the Matsyapurana (chapters topic.6Comparabletexts from the north and centralIndia 252-270 on making of images and buildings),the Agnipu- include Samaranga:n asutradhara,Rdjavallabha,and Aparajiradna (chapters21-106, 263-272, and 317-326 on various taprchha.Manusyalaya Candrika and Silparatnam belong to aspects of vastsastra), and the Visnudharmottarapura.na.the distinctive woodworking tradition of Kerala, while the Agamicliteraturefrom southernIndia,includingtexts such Citralaksanaof Naganjit is a Tibetan text. also feaNot only does the quality of material in all these texts as Kamikagama, and Purvakagamika, Pancaratra, ture materialon vastuand related topics.5To add to these, vary tremendously, but it can also be a very difficult task to texts ostensiblycomposed on completelydifferentsubjects, date many of them. The problem of dating is worsened by such as the Arthasastra, a tracton politics and statecraft, and the fact that several manuscripts have been found in a fraga treatise on astrology and augury,con- mented state. Dating by writing style or by content is difficult the Brhatsamhita, because authors have not been averse to incorporating matetain valuablematerialon architectureand relatedtopics. These writings were invariablycomposed within the rial from older texts into their own, resulting in numerous context of established regional traditions of building and texts that carry identical passages without leaving a clue as to strongly reflect this, not just in their content and use of which could have been the original. Typically, texts were pretechnical terminology, but in their language as well, with served through regularly made copies (the original being ritseveraltexts being composedin regionallanguages.A num- ually destroyed), which the copyists felt free to amend as they and Sil- saw fit. To add to this, there was a general tendency within the ber of texts including the Silpasarini, SilpaprakadLa, of Orissan illustrate the paratnavali temples. authors of these texts (and compilations) to claim that their regional style andManasara are relatedto the southern writings originated in Vedic literature.7 Both Mayamatam
ON THE IDEA OF THE MANDALA AS A GOVERNING DEVICE

27

The connectionis madewithin the translation of chapter 7, a chapterthat providesa descriptive list of squaregrids used in conjunctionwith vastupujan, the propitiatoryritual on the site to The list begins performed prior building.16 with a single square(namedpecaka) and continues through a sequence of squaregrids, increasinggnomonicallyto the largest one (called sakala),which has 32 squaresto a side. Most of the text in this chapteris given over to a description of the orderin which a given set of deities is to be arranged within each of the diagrams,and the offeringsneeded to be made to each god or demigod.The individualsquareor cell formed from the subdivision is referred to as a pada, and is titled "Padavinyasah"-acomchapter7 of the Mdnasara of and pound pada vinyas(Skt., arrangement,or distribution).'7 Oddly enough, in TheArchitecture of the Mdnasara, rendered this title His Acharya simplyas "Ground-plans."'8 reasonsfor doing so lie embeddedwithinvariousstatements throughoutthe text. Each of these squareschemes is associatedwith a particular building type. Within the chapter that describes these diagramsthere is no explanationof what this association implies; but, scattered within the text are comments andinjunctionssuggestingthat the diagrams maybe used in laying out residential plots, temple complexes, and even The Padavinyas Schemes entire towns andvillages.Chapter36 of the Mdnasara ("On Referencesto the mandaladiagrams, within vastusastric litthe situation and measurement of dwelling houses"), for and generallyobscure. instance, discusses the types of grids deemed appropriate erature,are scattered,fragmentary, So much so that they seem to have escapedthe attentionof for each of the castes,and also prescribesthe layoutsof the the earliestscholarswho investigatedthis literature. In Ram variousfunctionalareasof a house in accordancewith the Raz's1834 publication,Essayon theArchitecture the of Hin- deities presidingwithin each cell of the grid. Similarly,in the first to translate texts for the chapter 9, verses 166-182 mention some of these gridsdoos, vastusistra attempt benefit of a modern, non-Brahmin, and nonprofessional the sthan.dila theparamasayika and (49 squares), (81 squares), for particaudience,there is scarcelya mention of the mandala.Even the man.duka (64 squares)-as being appropriate the Dictionary edited by P. K. Acharya ularvillages dependingon their dimensions. ofHinduArchitecture, in 1927 and intended to be a comprehesivelist of the techSimilarstatementscan be found in the Mayamatam, a nical terms associatedwith traditionalliteratureon archi- text from the same building tradition, and one which drewupon extensivelyto supplementhis readingof tecture, contains no entries either for "mandala" or Acharya "vastumandala." The idea that site plans of towns and vil- the Mdnasara.19 For instance,while discussingthe layoutof in India were based dialages traditionally upon "mystical" temple complexes,Mayamatam specifiesthat "[Thediagram that for grams seems to have been introduced around the turn of for] the main temple is drawnup with four squares: the century by European artists and scholars who were the first enclosure is the mahdpitha of consisting sixteen interested in promoting traditional artistic traditions in squares,that for the second is maznduka (64 squares),that India.The writingsof E. B. Havell, the influentialprincipal for the medianenclosure,the bhadramahasana (136 squares) of the CalcuttaCollege of Art, containpassingreferencesto and that for the fifth the indrakdnta (1024 squares)."20 These instructions, however, are characteristically mysticaldiagramsupon which town and village planswere based.14 But it is Acharyawho may well be responsiblefor schematicand generic;there is little indicationwithin these giving a more concrete basisto these ideas. In TheArchitec- texts on preciselyhow these grids are to be used for detertureof theManasdra, a book creditedas being the firsttrans- mining architectural forms. The closest, perhaps,that the lation of a complete vastusadstra comes to specifyingan operationalinstruction text, Acharya makes an Mayamatam explicitconnection betweenthe diagramsand town plans.s1 is in the following statementreferringto town layouts: As a result,few textshavebeen securelydated.The oldest writings on vastusastraare perhaps those from the the sectionson vdstuin Matsyapurdna arebelieved, Puranas; to date from A.D. with some more being 550-650, presently, added as late as A.D. 1000. Those in Agnipurdna date to the ninth century.8The oldest references to architectureand planning are actually from the Arthasastra,traditionally attributedto Kautilya;however,the discussionsin this text arerelatedmore to issuesof social organizationandmatters of policy, ratherthan on vtstusdstra is per se.9Brhatsamhitd another early text that can be dated with some confidence to the sixthcenturyA.D.10The majorityof the existingtechnical manualswere composed later,afterthe tenth century. is dated to eleventh century.1 Samardaganasutradhara bears unmistakable Mayamatam signs of having been comthe of the Cholas and therefore must posed during reign date no earlierthan the tenth century,perhapseven later.12 Most of the texts in the regionalvernacular, if datable,have to be later than the thirteenth or fourteenth cenproved texts have been even more tury.Agamic intransigentto dating, althoughit is unlikelythat they were composed earlier than the sixth century.13
28 JSAH / 59:1, MARCH 2000

Thereare two sorts of diagrams to the setting pertaining those consistingof an even number of up of allconstructions: is odd. Ifthe numberis squaresandthose where the number even, the streets shouldbe drawnalongthe lines of the diagram and, if odd, they should go through the middle of
squares.21

This seems clear enough, but when the texts are consulted for actual specificationsof town, house, or temple plans, there appears to be little correlation with these instructions. Neither the actual dimensions of the towns and villages, nor the number of streets or blocks that are prescribedfor most town-planningschemes, correspondto the number of squarepartitionsof the diagramsnormally prescribed.In fact,most of the suggestedplansfor both villages and towns are rectangularand, hence, contain differMore than that, ent numbersof streets in each direction.22 there is a direct injunction that forbids the planner from constructingupon the lines of diagrams: "Diagramssuch as pecaka(with four squares)or asana (with a hundredsquares)or those between them should be used;the sage must avoid(building)on their lines and other forbiddenplaces."23 These "lines [sutrani] and other forbidden places [visamsthanani]" actually refer to another symbolic construction associatedwith these diagrams-that of the Vastupurusa (the spirit of the site). is describedas being crooked,humpThe Vastupurusa and face down with his body contorted into backed, lying the shape of a square.24 Accordingto these texts, the body can be overlaidon-or more properly, of the Vastupurusa scheme. Typically,he is fitted assigned to-the padavinyds in diagonally,with his head in the northeast corner of the diagram,his feet in the southwest corner, and his elbows and knees in the remaining northwest and southeast corners (Figure2). The deities assignedto the differentpads of the grid can therefore be seen as occupying differentparts of his body.The association of the Vastupurusa with the Vasis clarifiedin a legend repeatedin severalmajor tuman.dala Sanskrittexts. The Agnipurana, for example, describes an evil born duringSiva'sfightwith the AsurAnddemigod (bhuta) haka.This bhutais describedas possessinga terrifyingcountenance and an insatiable hunger. The legend goes that having done a great penance, the bhztawon a boon from Sivathat allowedhim to swallowthe three worldsthat constitute the Hindu cosmos. As this being stretched himself and began to occupy the heavens, he fell flat on the earth. The variousgods and demigodsseized this opportunityand pinned variousparts of his body to the ground, rendering

with the Vastupurusa laid out Figure 2 The Vastupurusamandala within. Note that the location of deities follows the body of the not the squares of grid;this is a characteristicfeature in Vastupurusa, the depiction of the Vastupurusamandala.

him helpless. This being came to be called Vdstu(or Vasbecausethe gods and demigodsmanagedto lodge tupurusa) themselveson his body.25 Legends hold that the deities, in him down, pinning occupieddifferentpartsof his body and continued to reside there.26 In order to satisfyhis hunger, Brahmaordainedthat he receive offeringsfrom people on building sites before construction;hence, the ritualpropitiation ceremony. The body of the Vastupurusa, as it lies contortedwithin the squaregrid, is supposedto be sensitive at a number of points called marmas.The well-being of the Vastupurusa, accordingto the vastusdstratexts, assuresthe well-being of the building and, by implication,its owner. An important criterion for any building, therefore, is to avoid injury to the marmas located on the body of the Vastupurusa. To ensure that this is achieved,texts prohibit any direct constructionupon the marmasthemselves.27 Althoughthe marmas are specificallysaid to lie at the intersection of major diagonals,seen as the veins (sirasor nddis)of the purusa,it is common for vastusastrictexts to prohibit construction upon other lines of the padavinyas diagramsas well. Despite the contradictions and the irregularity of explanations, it seemed logical for Acharya and his conON THE IDEA OF THE MANDALA AS A GOVERNING DEVICE

29

temporariesto envision these squaregrids as instruments for the laying out of plans of towns, villages, and temples. In Town Planningin AncientIndia, B. B. Dutt agreed with the idea that plan layouts of towns and villages were based schemes.28 He seems to have been the upon the padavinyas first to drawan explicit connection between the padavinyas grids and the division of a village plan into plots in which the roads would correspond to the lines of the ritual diagram. It is interesting to note, though, that the diagram according to him was a basis, not so much of formal planning, but of what he calls "folk-planning"-the assigning of particularclasses of people to particularsections of the village.29 The idea that the thirty-twopadavinyas schemes actumost traditional became commonly ally guided planning acceptedby the 1930s.Though some doubtsstill remained, especially with regard to matters such as the design of nonorthogonalschemes,problemssuch as the lackof existing examplesthat correspondedto these schemes, and the contradictions within the prescriptions of the texts apparent and incomthemselves,were attributedto the fragmentary plete nature of the textual evidence. It was common for scholars to complement what they felt was information missing in one silpas'stratext with passages taken from another;Acharyaconsistentlysupplementedhis translation
of the Manasara with material from the Samaradga.nasutradhara, the Sukranitisara, and agamas like the IsanasiIn any case, the padavinyasscheme was vagurudevapaddhati.30

alwaysuncomfortably placedwithin the contextof the technical literatureof the vdstumanuals.In these manuals,the series of these diagramsis introducedabruptly, without any its nature and role. While the legend explanation regarding of the Vdstupurusa us understand the helps relationship betweenthe groupof deitiesandthe Vastupurusa, the square device is itself not adequatelyexplained.The diagrammatic deities themselves are also something of a mystery-they are not the common deities of the classicalHinduism that had been prevalentsince the middle of the last millennium. It was generally believed that the symbolism of these schemes was related to ancient Vedic thought, padavinyas but most authorswere content to leave it at that. It was left to Stella Kramrisch,in the late forties, to lay the groundwork for such a connection.

and obscurearchitectural thought of the subcontinentinto a single conceptionwhose roots could be tracedbackto the Vedicperiod. She connectedthe concept of the Vdstupurusa to that of Purusa(the SupernalMan, accordingto Kramliterature,and linkedit furtherto risch)of the Brahmanical the creationlegend of Prajapati In a sim(the demiurge).31 ilar vein, she located the source of the squarepadavinyas schemes in the Vedic altarsthat were rituallyconstructed by piling up bricksinto strictlyprescribedshapes,including the square. In addition to the already accepted symbolic notion of the squareas the shapeof the inhabitedearth,the squaregrid was given a cosmologicalas well as a ritualistic significance. Based on these ideas, Kramrisch literally reconstructedthe genericHindu temple, step by step, from its conceptualroots to its planning,siting, foundation,base, andthe overlayof the iconographical superstructure, patina. For her, all Indiantemples-whatever their morphological or stylisticdifference-were essentiallysimilar. Their forms had all originatedin the Vedic altar,as well as in the sacred enclosuremarkedoff by a railing (vedikd), surmountedby a sacrificialpost (yupa),and graduallyelaboratedto embody an additionaldual metaphorof the mountainand the cave. Within this unified idea of building construction,the square padavinyasgrids were given meaning as the Vastupurusamandala-the mandala associated with vastu. Acharyaand other writershad so farinterpretedthese grids ratherpragmatically as planningschemesguidingthe layout of complexes and towns. Kramrischendowed these diagrams with far more significance than that. In her own words, "The Vastupurusamandalais the magic diagram (yantra)and the form (rupa)of the Vastupurusa.It is his body (sarira)and a bodily device (sarirayantra)by which those who have the requisite knowledge attain the best results in temple building.It is laid out in tabularnotation
as man and site."32

Kramrisch and the Ja,stupurusamandala Over time, Kramrisch'smonumental publication, simply titled TheHindu Temple, has reachedthe statusof a definitive work,andit is not difficultto see why. Collecting materialfrom a vastrangeof sources,she assembled the scattered
30 JSAH / 59:1, MARCH 2000

The Vedictradition,accordingto Kramrisch, conceives of the form of earth as a circle. However, once it is given orientationand made inhabitable,the earthis seen as vastu and is visualizedas a squarefixedwith respect to the cardinal directions.The Vastupurusamandala, which is the symbolic representation of vastu, is therefore drawn up as a The forty-fivedeitiesmentionedin the padavinyas square.33 schemes are arrangedin three sets of concentric rings. At the center is the Brahman, the supreme principle. Surroundingthis arethe twelvemajordeities.In the finallayer, distributedalong the periphery,are the thirty-twopadadevatds(the minor deities, so called because each is assigned to a pada). interBrahma,the "regentof the place"in Kramrisch's pretation, occupies the central region. The twelve deities

surroundinghim are identified as the twelve Adityas-the of the sun.34 These regentsof the twelve different"aspects" are arrangedin a dual sequence.The four sides, beginning from the east and moving towardthe south, are assignedto Aryaman,Vivasvan,Mitra, and Mahidharain that order. The remaining eight Adityas are arrangedin pairs at the four corners: Savitr and Savitra at the southeast corner, Indraand Indrajaya in the southwest,Apa and Apavatsain in the northwest. the northeast,and Rudraand Rudrajaya The thirty-twopadadevatas are groupedinto four sets, each associatedwith a particulardirection and led by a dikpala, the warderof spatialdirections.Mahendra,or Agni, is associated with the east, Yamawith the south, Varunawith the west, and Somawith the north. Each of these directionshas a special signification:the east is the quarterof the gods; the south is the region of ancestors;the west is the area of darkness(the inverse of the brilliantAgni in the east);and the north is the region of men. But more than this, the peripheral deities actually trace a circumferential path aroundthe mandala,beginningwith Agni in the northeast. In additionto these forty-fivedeities,eight other "homeless presences"are sometimes indicatedon the diagramof the these are, however,alwaysplacedoutVastupurusaman.dala; side the squareboundaryof the mandalaand not allocated to particular squares. It is noteworthy that in her detailed discussionof the entire scheme, Kramrischdoes not explain the particular symbolism, or role, associatedwith each deity. She limits such explanation to broadgroups-the Adityas,the lokpalas, or the leadingpadadevatas of each direction.This is not an on her this in any case,havebeen difwould, part; oversight ficult for the simple reason that the particularscheme of is forty-fivedeities associatedwith the Vastupurusamandala found nowhere else within Sanskritliterature.For one, it is not a Vedic arrangement.The Vedic literaturecommonly speaks of thirty-three devatas(and, at times, of six, three, two, one and a half, and even one), but none of these sets corresponds accuratelywith that of the Vastupurusamandala.35 Perhaps the most intriguing fact is that the word Brahmaitself does not appearin the Vedas,Upanishads,or Brahmanas.36 Although the conception of Brahma is believed to originate in the Vedic notion of the Prajapati, this does castdoubton the antiquityof the schemeof deities assembledupon the Vastupurusaman.dala. But, if this particular set of deities is not Vedic in its origins, neither does it appearto be strictlyPauranic.Not only are typicallyPauranic deities, including Siva and Visnu, conspicuously absent in the Vastupurusaman.dala,several of its minor arenot recognizedas deitiesor gods within genpadadevatas eral Sanskritliterature.37

The broadorganizational schemeof the Vastupurusamandala(theinnercircleof twelveAdityas surrounded by a ringof that are in four padadevatas arranged cardinallyoriented does follow a well-established tradition with however, groups), ancient origins.This arrangement has strong astronomical associations: the twelveAdityasare associated with the solar and not are of the months, only eight padadevatas recognized as dikpalas (the Wardensof the Directions),but there have been attempts to correlatethe remainingtwenty-eight of them with the twenty-seven naksatras that (the constellations lie on the Vediczodiac).38 At leaston broadprinciples, therescheme can be situatedwithin the generic fore, Kramrisch's traditionof Hindu thought. The value of Kramrisch's work essentiallylies in giving a unified, if not wholly coherent, meaning to what was earlierseen as esoteric,and even irrelevant, symbolism.The deities of the schemes were now seen mysterious padavinyas as significant elements of a Vedic cosmological conception-not arbitrarily assignedto variouspadas,but followa order. ing systematic Following Kramrisch it became common to refer to the padavinyasgrids as the VasThe connection itself was not unprecetupurusamandala. referred dented;manyof the Agamictexts had traditionally to these diagrams as Vastupurusamandalas.39 The crucial step that Kramrischtook was in recognizing the powerful and far-reaching implicationsof the mandalaas a generative idea. What were once seen simplyas superficially symbolic, but essentiallypractical,schemes to be used for ritualpurposes and,to an extent,for guidingthe layoutsof complexes and settlements,were now understoodas generativedevices that carrieda profoundsymbolicconception of the very act of building.As Kramrisch herself put it:
The Vastupurusamandala is the plan of all architecturalform of the Hindus. The site-plan, the ground-plan,the horizontaland verticalsections are regulatedby its norm. Originally and in practice the site-plan is laid out according to the Vastupuand the "generalform of the temple" . . . given in rusamandala; earliertexts, rests on the Vastupurusamandala.40

It is this idea that seems to have taken a firm root within our current understandingof Indian architecture. Mandalas were known to be esoteric, mystical drawings produced by Tantrics-followers of a religious tradition known for its secretivetendencies and unconventionalritualistic practices. But what connection could be posited within diagramsassociatedwith a marginalreligious cult and those associatedwith a practicalprofession?In order to answerthis question,we must examinethe generalidea of the mandalawithin its Tantriccontext.
AS A GOVERNING DEVICE

ON THE IDEA OF THE MANDALA

31

Tantric Mandala: The Meditational Device The Sanskrit termmandala has traditionally been relatedto the Tantricelements of both the Hindu and Buddhistreligious traditions.Tantricismis an esoteric devotionaltradition whose elements pervade all the major Indian religions-Hindiusm, Buddhism,andJainism.It is generallyidentifiedby its focus on specificpracticesthatwill lead the devotee to the path of salvation. All these practices essentiallyinvolvedhighly ritualizedoperationswhose purpose is to move the practitionertoward a state of trance. Apartfrom ritualizedproceduresof recitation of syllables andmed(mantra), makingof appropriate gestures(mudra), itating upon concrete manifestation of deities (dhyana), these practices also include the construction of elaborate diagrams-the name mandalabeing applied both to the Since Arthur practiceas well as the diagramsthemselves.41 Avalon'srenowned translations of Tantric texts, several scholarshave written illuminatinglyon the practiceof the mandala;one of the most thorough of these treatmentsis undoubtedly due to Giuseppe Tucci.42His description of the mandalasand of the meditational practice associated with them, although written from the perspective of an insiderwith a strong empathyfor the subject,is analytical enough to providea useful insight into the natureof these enigmaticdiagrams. To the outsider,there appearsto be a bewilderingvariof ety mandalas. They vary,not just in their forms,but also in the varietyof media that they are drawnin; some mandalasaretemporarily drawnin coloredchalkupon a flatsurface, while others are permanently etched upon metal plates.In addition,while some mandalasare drawnas simof geometricalfigures,others,such as the ple configurations Buddhisttankas,are drawnas dazzlingcolored landscapes painted in psychedelic colors upon cloth. According to Tucci, all the mandalas,whatevertheir overt appearance, are constructed upon a common underlying structural framework. This structural framework consistsof one or more concentric circles, arrangedwithin an orthogonal enclosure. Inscribed within the innermost of these rings is a square with a characteristically inflected boundary.The squareis traversedby diagonallines, which divideit into four triangles. Five small circles, one placed at the center and one inside each of the triangles,carrywithin them emblemsor figuresof divinities.The intermediatespaces are also decoratedwith additionalfiguresof deities and evocativelandscapes. Within this framework,the complex and strictly prescribed symbolic scheme of the particular mandala unfolds. A brief description of the mandalaof the rDorjeac'an(the Holder of the Diamond)from the Tibetan Bud32 JSAH / 59:1, MARCH 2000

Figure 3 The mandalaof the rDorjeac'an

dhisttraditionillustratesone such scheme (Figure3).43The outermost circle, which displaysan uninterruptedline of that scrollwork, represents gnosis-the fire of consciousness to the inside of it is the destroysignorance.Just "girdleof diamonds." The diamond,or vajra(rDorje in Tibetan),eternal and unchanging,symbolizesthe "SupremeCognition," that is, illumination,which once attainedis never lost. The entire girdle of diamondsis the boundarythat the Tantric worshippermust cross in order to return to the phase of reintegrationwith the supremesoul. A ring of lotus leaves is placedinside this to indicatethe worshipper's accessibilto the secret. Within this lies a ity five-layeredsquare,the most secret and essentialpartof the mandala. The diagonal lines that traversethis squareform two opposed triangles, one pointing downwardand the other upward.This set of triangles, identified as the "Wellspring of the Law" indicatesthe two-stage ritual of meditationthat (dharma), the worshipper follows; the downward-pointingtriangle symbolizes the first phase of expansion from One to All, while the invertedtriangleindicatesthe phase of returnor

reintegration. Right at the center of the entire scheme is the diamondseat of the Buddha,the SupremeConsciousness. The five-layered square actually forms a boundary between two distinct areasof the mandala-the inner one, mystical and representative of the esoteric universe of the physicalworld, andthe outer one, representing "being," the world of "becoming."As a consequence of the intermediate space between two, the five concentric square boundaries areshowninhabitedby adoringdeitiesthatsymbolize "thelight imprisonedin the psyche,andwhich awakThe squareboundaries ens the primordialconsciousness." themselvesare not continuous,but broachedin the middle of the sides (coincidentwith the cardinaldirections)by four entrances,and modeled on the entrancestructuresof royal palaces.Between the squareand the outer rings are placed variousornaments,such as umbrellas,vases, and standards. These symbolizethe instrumentsof the ritualand offerings that honor sacredplaces, divine surfaces,and the territory of the king. Despite its detailed symbolic scheme, the mandalais not, strictlyspeaking,an iconic object;rather,it can be seen as an organized scheme of representation that has to be "read"in a particularmanner.The intention behind the exercise of reading is to achieve an altered state of consciousness,or, in Tucci'swords, to "movefrom the plane of samsara (the illusoryworld of reality)to that of nirvana."44 difficultexercise,callingfor much This is an understandably practiceand concentration.The mandalais an instrument or aid that helps the worshipper,particularlya neophyte, achievethis in a gradual,step-by-step,manner.Each stage is symbolized by images of particulardeities or attributes that the worshippermust mentallyreintegrateinto a single idea. The end stage is when the meditatoris able to reach a state of complete identification with the Supreme Consciousness,the Buddha. The natureof imageryand symbolismmayvarywithin the different Tantric traditions. In the Saiva schools of for instance,mandalas areconstructed with simTantricism, ple linear figures-triangles, squares, circles, and so on. Combined into complex arrangements, these diagrams, called yantras, may be drawn on paper or carved upon metallicmedallions.However,the underlyingconstruction of these diagramsis essentiallysimilarto the pictorialBuddhist mandalas.One of the better known of these yantras, the Sriyantra(Figure 4), is drawn as series of overlapping triangles-four pointing upward and five downwardplaced sequentially within two petalled enclosures, three circularones, and three squareswith the characteristic shivered (sisirita)profile.45 howDuring dhyana(meditation), ever, what appears as the set of overlapping triangles is

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Figure 4 The Sriyantra

polygons. actuallyreadas a concentricseries of star-shaped The innermost is a three-pointed figure, the next eightpointed, followed by two ten-pointed stars,and finallyby a fourteen-pointed one. The symbolism here is completely describedearlier. differentfromthat of the Tibetanmandala Each of these figures is associatedwith a set of attributes that go into makinga complete descriptionof Sri, the deity of the yantra. The generic mandala,then, can be describedas having a concentric arrangement of geometrical figures, either elaboratedpictoriallyor simplydepictedas lineardiagrams. A radial hierarchy dominated by the center governs the Enclosedwithin a squareoutline, the diagram arrangement. functionsmore or less like a mnemonicdevice,allowingthe worshipper to focus his concentration gradually and trancethat is the ultiachieve,step by step, the meditational mate goal of the practice. It is here that the description
coincides with that of the Vdstupurusaman.dala,whose

orthogonalgrids appear,at first,to be completelyremoved from the Tantric diagrams. It, too, features a group of deities arrangedin rings arounda dominantcenter with a radial hierarchy, with the entire arrangement being enclosedwithin a square.Althoughdrawnas a grid,the Vasis actually read as a concentric series of tupurusamandala squareshapes,in line with the generic idea of the mandala. Still, its symbolicscheme is completely different,and there would, at firstglance,seem to be nothing more than a strucAS A GOVERNING DEVICE 33

ON THE IDEA OF THE MANDALA

Saudhikagama. While these drawings of the yantras within temple planshelped promote the idea that the concept of mandala at large had an architectural dimension,it did not leave the matterfullyresolved.What exactlywas the role of the mandalawithin architecture? One interestingdirection,which Drawings in the Orissan Manuscripts and the have itself to mid-twentieth-centuryscholmay suggested Architectural Role of the Mandala ars of Indian architecture,could have come from discusThese drawingscome from texts that were discoveredby sions on the design methods of the Gothic mastermasons Rath Sharmaduringa surveyof some Oris- among contemporarymedievalist art historians. In 1945, PanditSadashiv san villages with Atharvavedicantecedents.46 Paul Franklwrote an influentialessayon the technicalcraft Out of 974 unearthedpalm-leafmanuscripts, seven were found to deal secret preservedby the medieval lodges.47In this he diswith the subjectof the Konarktemple, four of which concussed the 1487 publicationof a booklet on the design of tained factualcontemporarydescriptionsof different sub- steeples and pinnacles by Mathes Roriczer (the master jects related to the temple. The first of these texts is a mason associatedwith RegensburgCathedral),which was detailedarchitectural Deula ( the supposedto haverevealedthe "secretof the mastermasons" surveyof the Padmakesara main temple) and its surrounding shrines. The original to the world at large.48 Accordingto Frankl,the secret was datesfrom the seventeenthcentury,though the manuscript essentiallythe knowledge of constructionalgeometry and, at hand representscopies made by those of successivegen- in particular, the knowledge of "how to take the elevation erations. The bulk of the contents of this text consists of from a plan," an example of which is given in Roriczer's actualmeasureddrawingsof the temples,andincludescom- booklet (Figure6).49 The similarityof this diagram with the yantrasembedplete plans and elevations,as well as constructionaldetails. The drawingsare accompaniedby explanations,captions, dedwithinthe Orissanplansis uncanny, andit does not seem and an extensivecommentarythat enumeratesall architec- too far-fetched to supposethatsuch examplesmayhaveconturaldetailsalong their measurements. The second, shorter tributedto the assumption of a geometricalrole for the VdsArcana as In tuman.dala well.50 Vidhi, manuscript,known as the Trikala Mahamaya any case, an association with the describes the rituals for the worship of Mahamaya.The mandala-and by implication,with Tantricism-was to give third manuscript,BayaCakda,is the longest as well as the the padavinyds diagramsan esotericand magicaldimension. had alwaysbeen known for its secretivetendenoldest, dating from the thirteenth century. It provides a Tantricism chronological account of the constructionand the expen- cies and unconventionalritualisticpractices.As secrecyand diture of the building operationsof the Padmakesara tem- restricted distribution of knowledgewere already recognized the text does not of traditional the conceptionof a magple. Although explicitlydescribethe form attributes vdstudsstra, of the temple, it remainsa valuablesource for understand- ical diagramthat encodedsecretsrelatedto buildingtheory ing the organization of building operations during this and practiceappeared relativelyeasyto maintain.51 The fourth a of But what kind of information was the mandala supdocument, type priestly manual, period. describesritualsof worship,but refrainsfrom commenting posed to have encoded for the builder?Again,Kramrisch is an informative source on this point. According to her, at directlyon the architectureor the buildingsthemselves. Drawingswithin the first manuscriptare of particular least in the case of the temples, if not all buildings, the interest in that they are a rare survivingexample of tradi- squaregrid of the Vastupurusaman.dala provideda basicmettional measureddrawingsof a known, existing monument. ric for the built form. The squaresof the gridswere seen as Specificallypertinent here are the plan drawingsof these the basicmodules upon which the dimensions-not just of monuments. Each plan has embedded within it a small the plans,but also,like the geometricalmethodsof medieval Deula (Figure5), for masons, of their elevationsas well-were based (Figure 7). yantra.In the plan of the Padmakesara a smaller is instance, diagram placed within the sanctum As Kramrisch put it, "The drawingof the Mandalagives the the 'pitch' according to which the ground plan (talacchanda) (garbha grha) and identified as Bhdskarabhadra Yantra; one embeddedinside the plan of the mukhasala is captioned has its consistency."52 and the one associated with the natThe dimensionsof the temple superstructure, Mandala; Suryapancabja accord34
JSAH / 59:1, MARCH 2000

turallink between the Vastupurusaman.dala and the Tantric yantrasor mandalas. A set of ancient drawingsfrom Orissa brought to the attention of modern scholarshipin the middle of this century,however,pointed to the possibilityof a direct connection-not only of the Vdstupurusaman.dala but of specifically, the generic idea of the mandalaitself-with architecture.

Mandala.The conmandapais the nine-squared Grhabja structionand use of these diagramsis describedin detailin two Tantric texts from the same region-Silpasarini and

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san temples-all went into the idea of the VstupurusamanAs we startto see the gradual form. emergencethroughthe middle dalaas a device governingarchitectural of as of this of the idea the mandala an archithe manuals the cast Vdstupurusamanyears century Ostensibly, silpa tecturalgoverning device, it becomes evident that the idea dalaas a figuraldevice representinga hierarchicalorder of was not so much discovered within traditional literatureas it the deities that were to be systematically propitiated to was constructed. Starting off as orthogonal schemes upon ensure successfultenure of a built form. Following Kramwhichthe functionsof townsor settlementscouldbe broadly risch'swork, it acquiredan additionalsymbolic dimension, thepadavinyds arranged, gridshad,by the middleof this cen- one that was both cosmological and anthropomorphic.It into complex diagramsembodying profound was seen as nothing less than the ideal built form of the tury, grown Hindus, simultaneously representing the shape of the thought on the nature of building and dwelling. The collected evidencefrom differentsources-the descriptionsof inhabited earth and the hierarchicalstructure of the elethe square Vastuman.dala in the architecturalmanuals;its ments constituting it. By constructing buildings or cities, mention in the context of the layout of complexesand set- the builderwas seen as the reproducing agentof this generic discussionsin the Puranas, form, creating, as some have argued, an identity with the tlements;the more explanatory Agamas,andothertexts;its relationto the legend of the Vds- Hindu cosmos at large.54To this extent, the mandala andthe enigmatic tupurusa; depictionof the mandalas/yantras remainedan iconic object, reproducedwithin the plans of insideplansof templesin the medievaldrawings of the Oris- cities and buildings. But the mandalacame to acquire an
36 JSAH / 59:1, MARCH 2000

reconstructionof the method for determining Figure 7 Kramrisch's the profileof the Nagarasikharaon the basis of a square grid

operativesignificanceas well; through its form and matrix of lines, it was seen as a device that significantlycontrolled structhe planning,form, and dimensionsof architectural tures-an opinion that continues to persist.55 The Challenge of Unsupportive Evidence How far is this theory supportedby evidence?As we have seen, textual evidence on this matter is neither clear nor decisive. On the one hand, there are explicit statements, such as those in Mayamatam, which direct the architectto use grids associatedwith the Vdstuman.dala for locating different buildings or functions while laying out complexes. Both in these and in the injunctionsregardingthe marnas there seems to be an assumption that a mandalais to be imaginedas havingbeen laid out to cover the entire site. In addition to this are the measureddrawingsof the Orissan temples, with the mandalasembedded suggestively inside the plans. On the other hand, much of this evidenceis troubling. There is, for instance,no descriptionwithin vdstusdstra literature of the actual practice of using the mandala as a dimensioningmodule,or even as a design aid. Scholarswho havepuzzledoverthis silence havegenerallyconcludedthat the exclusion of specific details was a standardpractice in the writing of traditional texts.56They hold that specific information in these texts was deliberately suppressed,

partly because such knowledge was already a part of the workingtrainingof the craftsmen,and partlybecausesuch informationwas to be preventedfrom falling into unqualified hands.This argumentis not completelytenable, however. There is no consistent suppression of precise measurements or of how-to-do instructions in the vastu manuals.While it is true that severaltexts were concerned with broader principles and classification, there do exist texts, such as NiranjanMahapatra's (c. 1500), Silparatnakosa that were written precisely to educate the literate sthapati in technical matters on the design and construction of that of temples.57 Such texts contain buildings,particularly measurements of details at places,speand, precise building cific step-by-step instructionson matters such as the construction of the gnomon or the testing of the soil. It is in these texts that the absenceof directionsregardingthe use of the mandalato generate forms is the most telling. Moreover, the injunctionsregardingthe employment of the mandalaarethemselvesstatedquite ambiguously. We have already seen that early scholars such as Dutt and Acharyahad encounteredmutuallycontradictoryopinions in the Mdnasara and other texts. Although these vastutexts containedseveralgeneric statementsprescribingthe use of the ritualpadavinyds schemes for particularbuildings, the instructions giving the shape and dimensions of plots or building plans did not, themselves, correspond to these "The adoptionof the foregoingthree genericprescriptions. schemes [Sthandila,Mandukaand Paramasayika] was not, an however, invariablepractice,"Dutt was forced to admit. "... Indeed there was no rigid rule on this point."58 In any case, the essentialtextualevidence for the governing mandala does not come from technical manuals. Ratherit is in the more encyclopedicor ritualistictextsthe Agamas,the Puranas,and so on-that are more often invoked as sources of evidence for the genetic role of the mandala. Among these, the Brhatsamhitahas become increasingly important, partly because of the amount of space devotedwithin it to mattersrelatedto the design and constructionof buildings,andpartlybecauseit is one of the few early Sanskrittexts aboutwhose date there seems to be a comparativeaccordamong scholars. The Brhatsamhitd devotes two chapterson silpasastra: on 54 is and chapter 56 on Prasddalakchapter Vastuvidya The chapter (the characteristicsof temples).59 sanddhyaya on Vastuvidya is the most extensive one within the whole text. It begins with a version of the legend of the V-sand, after briefly describingthe diagram(yantra) tupurusa within which the vastu deities are to be worshipped,goes on to discusstypes of houses, their classification and appropriatenessfor differentcastes,their dimensions,location of
ON THE IDEA OF THE MANDALA AS A GOVERNING DEVICE 37

openings (relatedto the location of sensitivepoints), selection of site, and constructionmaterial.The other chapteris much shorter, enumeratesa list of temple types, and discusses the characteristics of each. Nowhere is a direct connection made between the diagramson which the deities are propitiatedand the typology of house plansor temples. The only placewhere these diagramsareindicatedas being with the plansof houses is within the presentcoincidentally section that dealswith the topic of marmas; the mainuse of the diagrams,in this case, is to locate the marmasupon the plan of the built structure. The chapter on temples is of even less help, since it does not even mention the diagrams. It does contain a classification of temples on the basis of their shape, such as garuda(hawk),simha(lion), or padma(lotus). But none of these shapesbear a formalcorrespondencewith the square All this is significant because several Vastupurusamandala. scholarsreferto Brhatsamhita preciselyas the text thatillustratesthe use of mandalas with respectto house particularly In reality,however,the only placewhere the author plans.60 of Brhatsamhita discusses the issue is in verses 71 to 75.61 he Here, points out the effects on the house and its occupantsof locatingdoorsin the partsof the house occupiedby variousdeities. All that this implies, though, is that different areasof the house are identified accordingto the presiding deities of that area; in other words, a latent is assumedas being coterminouswith Vastupurusamandala the house. There is no direct evidence for such a mandala actuallybeing used as a grid for planningthe residence. Those who cite the Brhatsamhita as a source of evidence for the governing role of the mandalado not draw an adequatedistinction between the two separateviews of the mandala-the mandala as an iconic devicerecordingthe relativelocation of deities, and the mandalaas a generative or design tool. Evidence pointing to the one is interpreted as evidence for the other. It is quite possible, however,that the plan of any given building may be read as being coextensive with the mandala,without it having been designed using the mandala,or even conformingto its shape. An even greater challenge to the idea of a governing mandalacomes through the evidence from practice.If we were to accept that the mandala was typically used as a design tool, then actualbuilt examplesmust show evidence of planningbasedon the mandala.However, scholarshave found it extremelydifficultto relate forms of existing historical buildings to the Vastupurusaman.dalas, except in a cursoryor schematicmanner.A good illustrationof this is an attemptmade by Alice Boner. In a 1975 articlediscussingthe contentsof Silpasarinian Orissantreatise on the constructionand descriptionof
38 JSAH / 59:1, MARCH 2000

FD L

Figure 8 Boner's drawingof a MahaprasastaPancarathatype of temple superstructurefrom its description in the Silpasarini

temples-Boner showshow well-knownhistoricalexamples such as the Padma Kesara Deula at Konark correspond closely to the sastric prescriptions.62For instance, she relates the dimensions of the temple superstructure, both in plan and section, to a measuringscheme based upon a indicatedin Silpasarini, a vdstu tripletof modules(mulasutra) manualfrom the region (Figure8). However,when she tries to account for the presence of the three yantras depicted within the measuredplans of these temples in documents from the seventeenth century,she is forced to admit that the text is not very informative(Figure 9).63 She suggests that a correspondence existsbetweenthe mandaladiagrams and eachof the plansof the sanctumandthe outerpavilions; but this is sketchyat best. For example,nothing of the elaborate layering of the Saurabhadrayantra, drawnwithin the sanctum plan, can be traced to the actual structureof the sanctum. The only correspondence is that between the

Figure 9 Boner's reconstructionof the yantras indicatedwithin the plans of the ParamaSuryatemple at Konark

square outline and the four parsvadevatds (the major supporting deities)of the yantra,which are placedin niches on the outside walls of the sanctum.Correspondenceis similarlyvaguein the case of the planof the mukhasal (the middle pavilion) and the Saurapancabjaman.dala underlying it. One may match the four lotuses drawnwithin the corners of the mandala to the four columns that support the but beyond that, nothing of the actualarchitecmukhasala, tural detail necessary to the mandala can be discerned within the plan. Boner points out how some of the deities placed aroundthe peripheryof the pavilion correspondto the positionsmarkedon the mandalas, yet not all the deities of the mandalacan be identifiedin the mukhasald. The most fundamentaldisagreement,however,is metrical;the mandala is drawn is upon a grid of 5 x 5 squares, while the in accordancewith the method describedin Silmukhasald, is constructed pasdrini, upon a gridof 12 x 12 modules.Very

little, besides obvious gross details,is found in the description or in the use of the mandalato have a bearingupon the form. rich architectural who hasexplored this MichaelMeisteris anotherscholar was used to found that mandala issue at length, maintaining mechabut as an architectural the temple "not just ritually, In a nism used to plan andproportionthe ... monument."64 series of studies,he has carefullymeasuredplans of several Hindu temples (and in a few cases,the elevations)and subSeveral of jected them to detailed geometrical analysis.65 Meister'sgeometricalexerciseshave been designedto show can that even the complexoutlinesof templesuperstructures be constructedupon squaregrids.In general,this argument seems to bearout quitewell, and a numberof templesshow signs of having been designed upon an orthogonal grid chambers. This is not always the case, aroundsquaresanctum however.A good exampleare the "stellate" plans discussed the exterior forms of in which in a 1982 Meister paper, by the sanctum chambersappearto be based on rotations of havebeen deriveddirectlyfrom andcannotobviously squares To resolvethis, the orthogonalgrid of the vdstudiagrams.66 Meisterproposesthattwo differentgeometrieswereusedfor dimensioningthe templeplans.While the squareinteriorof was basedon the simpleorthogonalgridof the the sanctums the exteriorwas composedusingwhathe calls Vastumandala, basedon "peg-and-string" of the sulva-sutras," the "geometry constructions.67 For all its ingenuity,this is a somewhatpuzzling argument. There are no indicationswithin the literatureon the texts, history of Indian mathematics,or within vastusastra that therewere two separatetechniquesof geometricalconstructionsprevalentat any time. Rather,some silpamanuals specificallyrecordpeg-and-stringoperationsto ensurea precisely oriented constructionof the squareperimeterof the Vastupurusamandala itself. Diagonals appear,furtherindimore, within the drawingof the Vdstupurusamandalas, a that strict of lines was never use cating orthogonal criterionfor the constructionof the Vastumandala. Clearly, an a prioriacceptanceof the idea that the squareinteriorof the sanctumscan only derive from the strictly orthogonal forcesMeisterto proposean altergrid of the Vastuman.dala native geometry for the exterior, where orthogonality is inadequateto explainthe form. It would, perhaps,be simpler to acceptthat a single geometricalmatrixunderliesthe superstructuresof these temples and generates both the orthogonalinteriorsof their sanctumsas well as their stellate exteriors.But if so, the ritualsignificanceof such a geometrical grid (and its symbolization of the Vdstupurusa) would come into question.After all, the Vastuman.dala diamust be oriented to be efficacious. gram cardinally Rotating
ON THE IDEA OF THE MANDALA AS A GOVERNING DEVICE

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it arbitrarily would completely alter the relationshipsand locations of the variousdevatasmounted upon it. There is one case where Meister is able to make a persuasiveargumentfor a lurking,almostimperceptible,presence of the Vdstuman.dala within the plan of a temple. The in is a temple question seventh-century shrine to Siva at Mundesvari It has an atypicaloctagonalsanctum, in Bihar.68 both in the interior as well as the exterior,and neither the 8 x 8 grid (generallyprescribedfor temples) nor the 9 x 9 grid (prescribedfor towns and palaces)is able to account for the size andproportionsof the temple (Figure 10).69 But the does not appearas the generative Vdstumandala though grid of the temple, its presenceis felt within a differentcontext. A carefulinvestigationleads Meister to the observation that the outer octagon deviatesslightly from a perfect figure, so that the diagonal sides are slightly smaller than the orthogonal ones. Meister argues that the deviation could be attributedonly to a carefulavoidanceof the marmas on the plan of temple, identified upon an underlying
40
JSAH / 59:1, MARCH 2000

Since the many vastu texts do not specVdstupurusaman.dala.

ify unequivocally where on the square plan the marmas shouldfall,there is no textualverificationpossiblefor Meister's argument.70 However, given the general precision in the constructionof the plan, the tiny deviationof 10 centimetersin sides measuringaround5 metersis undoubtedly deliberate (Figure 11). If so, Meister'sargumentseems to providethe best explanation. The Theory of the "Ritual Grid" So many existing temple superstructuresseem to deviate from the generativemodel of the Vdstupurusaman.dala, that Kramrisch herself was forced to admit that the Vdswas merely an idealized model, more tupurusaman.dala ignored than followed in the design of majortemples:
When the Vastupurusamandala is drawn on the square floor of the Prasadato be builtthe number of its squares is also that of

continued to exert its influence in the Vastupurusamandala form of a "ritualgrid"whose origins he traces back to the The only differenceis that in constructionof Vedic altars.74 and the masthe latertemples, the designers-the sthapatis ter masons-seem to have evolved ingenious ways of overcoming its restrictions, particularly its constraining orthogonality. He points out, for instance, that from the seventh centuryonward,the externalcornersof manytemples are recessedfrom their usualposition at the outer corners of the regulatinggrid, althoughthe projectionson the center of the faces continue to align themselves with the grid. This "recessionof corners"seems to give some leeway to the designersby allowingthem to varythe thickness and position of walls-and, in effect, the dimensionsof the plan-while still maintainingan alignmentwith the grid. The idea of a flexible"ritualgrid"also helps to account for the design of stellate plans,whose nonorthogonalprofile Meister tried to explainawayby proposing an alternative "peg-and-string" geometry.If the grid itself is takento =1 I10c be of ritualsignificance,then it could be rotated as desired without disturbingits symbolic,protectiveaura. to In short,by using the idea of the Vastupurusamandala of an 11 Meister's Siva Mundesvari. enlarged drawing temple, Figure the variation in the Hindu Meister x andy)from detailof the plan,showingthe tinydeviations (marked explain temple form, to its grid. In the regular octagon effectively reduces the Vdstupurusamandala order for the grid to be effective as a tool and to admitformal experimentation, however,Meister gives a subtleinteris howeveris pretation to its use and significance. It was, according to the divisions of the ground plan of the temple. Thi in practice not the case in the latertemples; the sic Jeof the prin- him, not so much a constructional aid as a tool for the cipal Vastupurusamandalaof a Prasada is divided into 8 or 9 designer, one that was used to control the proportions of the design ratherthan its measure.75 "The ritualgrid of the whereas the vision of the di\ etc., equal parts, respectively, Vedic he in a the later mediaeval uires at least square KSetra temples req altar," writes,"provides continuityof significance for the Vedictemple;it sanctifiesthe temple and also guards 10 parts.71 it."76 The use of the grid, in this view, is not only a means For Kramrisch,the discrepancybetween ttheprescrip- but an end in itself-its significance predicated on the notion of its protective qualitiesand its mimesis of the act tions of the Vastupurusaman.dala and the exis;ting temple plansis explainedby the gradualdecline in the understand- of creatingthe Vedic altar. Meister'sargumentis sophisticatedand persuasive: the ing of its concept until the mere formalritualremained.As she puts it: "When the great temples were bulilt, after the grid is only a regulativetool and the very act of embedding ninth centuryandwhich still stand,the drawin1 g of the Vas- it is auspicious.There is, therefore,a great deal of flexibilhad become an architectural rite without ity in its use; the grid can be rotated, and elements of the tupurusamandala with the out of the ground design can be shifted from it. But, in formulatingthis idea, necessarily coinciding laying of the Prasada."72 he seems to have moved a good deal away from the strict plan What Meister, however,has chosen to explainthe deviation orientationand hierarchyof the Vdstupurusamandala. with a differenttheory,claimingthat the generative poten- is possible with the ritualgrid is not possible with the Vdstial of the Vastupurusaman.dala, as well as its 'significance, tupurusaman.dala-that cannot is, the Vastupurusamandala were never lost. He has elucidatedthis not sc much with be rotatedwithout losing all its significance,and,moreover, detailed studies of individual plans as with ( comparative the shifting of the positions of elements placed upon it morphologicalstudies of a broadsampleof ternple plans.73 would move them from an areacontrolledby one deity into Accordingto Meister, these plans indicate a cc)nsistentuse that of another.In other words, the two devices that Meisof an 8 x 8 grid, showing, in effect, that the ter conflates together-the "ritual grid" and the VasON THE IDEA OF THE MANDALA AS A GOVERNING DEVICE 41

actuallyat odds with each other, and tupurusamandala-are the question of the use of Vastupurusamandala as a design or constructionaltool remainsunresolved.

A Critique of the Theory of the Governing Mandala: Some Questionable Premises

Not only was the idea of the governing mandala,then, a constructedidea, but it also seems to have been promoted in the face of a troubling lack of corroborating evidence building. At first glance, this aspect of the mandalaseems to be from survivingbuilt structures.What made it possible to sustainthis argument,and even more, to popularizeit? Carl best supportedby availableevidence. As discussedearlier, Hempel had once written that there is a tendency within texts such as Mayamatamare explicit in their injunctions science to supporttheoriesfarbeyondtheir evidentialbasis, regardingthe use of particularmandalasin laying out the providedthey offer a simple and neat model that systemat- plans of temple complexes.But it is also common for writically orders a mass of disparate factual data; a similar ers to see the evidenceof an underlyingmandalain the typThe interpretative, ical featuresof traditionalcity layouts-the location of the process seems to have operatedhere.77 or iconographical,turn that Indianart history had takenin palacein the center,or the presence of residentialquarters the early years of this century was founded essentially on belonging to specific castes. Such conclusionsare a bit too the idea of a constant, almost immutable, philosophical facile. Even if there is a matchbetween the location of pargroundunderlyingall Hindu artisticproduction.For schol- ticular deities in a mandalaand the location of particular ars such as Coomaraswamyand Kramrisch, the role of programmatic elementson the actualsite, it does not immewas to reconstruct the follow that the mandalawas used to organize the iconographical analysis original diately roots from which the various artistic forms site; it is quite as possible that a common spatial scheme philosophical had emerged.78The notion of a geometrical device with organizedthe layout of both the mandalaand the site. It is symbolic dimensions underlying all architecturalproduc- also worth noting that the impact of the Vdstupurusamantion throughthe ages very naturallyfitted such a paradigm. dala,as far as its organizational role goes, may not at all be Since the idea of the all-governingmandalawas a premise formal.The zoning producedby the use of the squaregrid of the theory ratherthan an idea to be proved through it, may determinethe programmatic layout of a site or buildevidence had to be interpretedselectivelyto supportit. not the forms of structures constructed ing, upon it. We Once the premiseis broughtinto question,however,it have alreadynoted that scholarssuch as Dutt found it conbecomes possibleto interpretthe availableevidence differ- venient to differentiate betweenfolk planningand site planwere more influentialin ently. For analyticalpurposes,it is useful to restructureall ning, and arguedthat the mandalas this evidenceinto threebroadcategories: evidencefromtexts determiningthe formerthan the latter.79 that refersdirectlyto the Vastupurusamandala, indirecteviAnother role popularlyassignedto the mandalais regdence referringto specificaspectsof the mandala(particu- ulatory; the gridlines upon which the mandala is drawnconlarly the square grid), and evidence that refers to other strain the superimposed built structure. In more crude relatedto the Vastupurusaman.dala. versions of this idea, the mandalarestrictsthe plan of the diagrams only tangentially built structureto an orthogonal,grid-likeform. But, in the more sophisticatedversions, the role of the mandalais far 1. Direct Evidence from Texts and Practice more subtle. As we have seen, a few vital lines and points The first point to emerge, when the idea of the generative (marmas) areidentifiedon the Vdstumandala and act as locamandalais questioned, is that this notion subsumesthree tions where buildingis to be altogetheravoided. different ways in which the mandala is typically held to Let us takethe lattercase first.There is good reasonto influence the built form. This is important,because direct believe that a mandalathat is coextensivewith the planmay evidence on this matter supports these three roles of the influence severalaspectsof the built form. The role of the mandalato varyingdegrees. Vastupurusamandala, however, is somewhat negative here; The first kind of role that the theory accords to the ratherthan suggestinga specificform, the Vdstupurusamanis organizational: the grid of the Vas- dalaacts as a constrainingdevice, either restrictingthe final Vastupurusamandala is held to order the distribution of pro- form of the building, or causing minor distortions in it. tupurusaman.dala
42
JSAH / 59:1, MARCH 2000

grammaticelements over a built site or an individualbuildmoding. The premisehere is that the Vastupurusamandala els the site (or in the case of individualbuilding,its ground plan) and can be seen as a schematic representationof it. Thus, different areas of the site acquire different associations by their correspondencewith the differentsquaresof the Vdstupurusamandala grid. This, in turn, dictates such decisions as the layout of functionsover a site or the organization of iconographical material over the surface of a

theoretical sourcesarenot unequivocal on how 2. The Evidence of the Grid Interestingly, of the generativemandala-Meister's this is to be achieved in practice.Varioussources reveal a Most demonstrations varietyof methods,fromleavinggapsin wallswhereverthey theory of the ritualgrid is a good example-are basedupon overlaidon the idea of the overlayingof a grid (preferably cross over a diagonalof a Vdstupurusamandala the 8 x 8 grid the site, to shifting entire walls so that they avoid the mar- of the Vdstupurusaman.dala) on a plan and the matchingup mas. In additionto this, the very location of the marmason of its elementswith those of the plan.The reasoningbehind is matter of contention. Typi- this procedurefollows from two premises:(1) if a grid can the body of the Vdstupurusa the vital lines arelocated be successfully matched with the parts of a built form, it (sirds) uponwhichthe marmas cally, but must have been used as a design tool; and (2) the presence do not occur along the grid of the Vastupurusamandala, Kramrisch of a grid is a strong sign of the mandala,and in the presdiagonally,along the body of the Vdstupurusa. offers a revealingcomparativetable that lists the different ence of ancilliaryevidence, such as the presenceof the diklocationsof the marmasdescribedin varioustexts.80 palaimages in correctlyorientedniches, it is a virtualproof is much more the first for the presence of an underlying Vastupurusaman.dala. Evidence for case, however, But both these premises, as discussed below, have a uncertain. Statementsabout concentric square enclosures and built considerablepotentialfor doubt. in temple complexesin texts like the Mayamatam, examplessuch as the persistentlysquareinterior of temple sanctums provide the best argumentsto support the idea The Grid as a GenerativeTool is replete with plans-of towns, temple that the mandalais used to constrainbuilt form to orthog- Indianarchitecture onal or grid-likeforms. But there is enough variation,both complexes,houses, shrine chambers-upon which orthogin traditionalbuilt form and in describedform, to seriously onal gridsof varioussizes can easilybe madeto fit. It is quite challengethe idea. As we have seen, Meister'stheory of the possible, however, that such forms may result from the ritualgrid seems to be the most coherentanswerto this;but employmentof a modularproportioningand dimensioning this accordsthe mandalaa role that exceeds its charge as a system ratherthan the actualuse of a grid. In fact, so far as goes, the employmentof a modregulatorydevice and brings it closer to its third role, that evidence from vastusastra ularsystemmay be even more likely.From Boner'saccount of a generativediagram. According to the generativerole of the mandala,the we see how three sets of modules are used in the planning is believed to pro- of Orissan temples. A similar approach,which Kramrisch square grid of the Vastupurusamandala It is importantto note vide a metric that governsthe shapes,dimensions,and pro- describes,has also been mentioned.81 This the of built forms. is most in both that these the undoubtedly descriptions, operationalprocedures portions since it appearto constructcenterlinesor boundariesand to delinsignificantrole accordedto the Vdstupurusamandala, is given the status of a truly genetic diagram-an encoded eate the unit modulesupon these. Such a systemis different in principlefrom one in which an orthogonalgrid is drawn general blueprint with parametersthat may be varied to kind of built form. and the featuresof plans and elevationsplaced with refergenerate any It is in this casethatthe evidenceappears to be the most ence to it. Practicallyspeaking,a grid is a cumbersomeand problematic.For one, directevidence,either in the form of complicatedtool for the laying out of plans;it is extremely explicitinstructionsexplaininghow a mandalamay be read susceptibleto errorsunless checkedby diagonals,and does for measures, andlayoutof structures, or in the not providethe requiredprecisionunlessspecifiedwith very proportions, form of existing structures,is, in actuality,notable by its small divisions, or accompanied by a great deal of conabsence.Instead,the evidencethatmainlyrefersto the orga- structivescaffolding.In contrast,the centerlinesystemthat nizationaland regulatory use of the Vdstupurusaman.dala has is frequentlydescribedwithin vdstumanualsis a far more been adaptedto servethe theory of the generativemandala. direct, simple, and accuratetool. Such a centerline system Since the theory of the architecturaluse of the mandala is still used by traditionalcraftsmenin Keralato compute includesits organizational, regulative,and generativeroles the proportionsof statues.82 within a unifiedconception,it is generallyacceptedthat any This is not to suggest that grids were never employed of the first two that a Vdstumandala as planningor design tools, but simplythat their use was, in sign implies generative underliesthe structurein question. all likelihood, related to a specific task-that of zoning. A The essential argument for the generative mandala, good place to note this distinction is in the Vdstusutra This highly originaltext outlines the method of however,comes from indirect evidence, almost all of which Upanisad.83 is predicatedon the assumptionthat the generativepower composing paintings and relief panels, accompaniedby a of the mandalalies within its grid. rare discussionon the symbolismof diagrammatic devices
ON THE IDEA OF THE MANDALA AS A GOVERNING DEVICE

43

The Mandalaas a Grid It is common nowadaysto translatethe term mandalaas a The hole in the center, [it is to be] considered as a Brahman. diagram.The term has even found its way into ordinary The compartments in the measure of the sixteenfold grid are English usage as implying "anyof various ritualisticgeoknown to be of five types: the field of Brahman, of the gods metric designs symbolic of the universe,used in Hinduism of secondary divinities (updaiva), and Buddhismas an aid to meditation."86 Such a meaningis (daiva),of livingbeings (jaiva), and of worshippers (stuvaka).84 widely accepted even within more scholarly writing. In a glossary at the end of her translation of the Vastusutra on one level this recalls the Alice Boner describesthe term as meaning"acirVdsdescription Although Upanisad, the khilapanjara is indeed a different cle, diagram,any circularcircumscribed tupurusamandala, area,but also used entity.There areno deities associatedwith it, exceptfor the for squareyantras."87 Within its typical Sanskritusage, however, the term subject matter depicted on the composition. The panel is not stringentlyrequiredto be square,and althoughthe cen- mandalais considerably more polysemic. The Sanskrittral squaresare devoted to the majordeities, the scheme of English dictionaryof Monier-Williamsrecordsthe followdivision recognizes positions in terms of lower and upper ing meaningsof the term:circular,round, globe, orb, ring, sections as well as those to the right and left. In additionto halo (according to the Brhatsamhita);also, territory, the khilapanjara, the text also describesseveraldiagrams that province, country,the circle of king'sfriends, a multitude, may be constructedas an armature upon which the compo- group, band, collection, whole body, society, company sition may be planned.These diagramsare not orthogonal (accordingto usage in Mahabharata and Yajnavalkaya). One but rather constructions of the oldest instances of the term in the grids geometric involvingsquares, appears R.gVeda, triangles,and circles.The text prescribeshow the limbs of where it is appliedto denote the majorsubdivisions(chapthe beings representedwithin are to be placed in relation ters) of the text. Presumably, the term refersto the "group" to this armature.85 of slokas(verses) that were gathered together within the Arthasastra uses the term in anothervery Clearly, there is a distinction of use between the chapter.Kautilya's and the geometricallyconorthogonal grid (khilapanjara) peculiarsense-to model certainpoliticalsituationsfor any structed armatures. The khilapanjara is simply used to given prince.The princeis placedat the center of a scheme mark off certain zones within which different catcalled the rdjamandala. All the neighborsimmediatelysurroughly of deities can be while the other the central egories depicted, diagrams rounding kingdom are takenas enemies, and all are explicitlyutilized to determinelines of composition. the neighbors who are in proximity to this ring (that is, Besides this distinction, two other charactersticsof forming another circle) are taken as enemies of the kingthese diagramsneed to be noted. First, these diagramsare doms on the inner ring, and by implication, taken to be more or less practicaldevices;they were not used to repre- friendsof the king.The overallconceptionvisualizesa comsent, or symbolize,anylargeridea thatunderlaythe artwork plex concentric arrangement,formed by alternatingrings beyond its subjectmatter.Second, not one but severaldif- of friends and enemies. This use of the term is similar to ferent diagramscould be used as aids for a single composi- the one found in the epics. In the Mahabharata, the term is tion. In other words, the fact that these diagrams were used used to imply a group of friends-a use that, incidentally, to compose paintingsor relief panelsdoes not give the dia- has persistedinto modern Indian languagessuch as Hindi grams a symbolic or representational charge. Whatever and Gujarati.In none of the aboveusages of the term is the symbolic value the composed artworkpossesses is derived mandalaconsidered to be a specific geometrical diagram. from the subjectmatter,not from the deployment of par- The closest occurrence of this term as a reference to any ticulardiagrams. kind of a geometric entity is found in the Sulva Sutras, The example of the khilapanjara, of course, does not where it is used to refer to the figure of the circle. Apart prove that the use of the mandalagrids in buildings had a from this, the mandalaas a diagramor a pictorialdevice is
44 JSAH / 59:1, MARCH 2000

that are employed to organize the composition. One such diagrammaticdevice is in the form of a 4 x 4 orthogonal a linearskeleton).The khigrid calledkhilapanjara (literally, is used to divide the lapanjara panel on which the image a or a is relief) drawn into sixteen parts (either painting within which differentdeities are placed, a procedurethat has some affinitywith that of the drawingof the Vastumandala.As the text itself reads:

similarrole. Still, it does providea precedencefor the practicaluse of diagrammatic devicesand thereforemakesproblematic any unverifiedclaim that the sign of a geometrical construction or a diagrammaticdevice within a composition is an indicator of some special symbolism associated with the composition.

almost exclusivelyconfined to Tantricliterature,where, as we have seen, it is used in the context of a specific meditational practice. it is, perhaps, In the case of the Vastupurusaman.dala, for the group of more accurateto reservethe term mandala deities arrangedconcentricallyupon the body of the VdsThe squaregrid would then be simply an instrutupurusa. ment-a yantra-used for the coded depiction of the vastu deities. Although the legend of the Vastupurusa and the deities occupying his body has its origins in Brahmanical texts,the earliestwritingsthatmentionit-the Brhatsamhita and the Puranas-are datedto aroundthe middleof the first millennium.It is preciselyduringthis time that a resurgent Hindu religion, reformulatingits traditions from its Brahamanicalroots, is said to have come under an extensive Given this, it does not stretch influence of Tantricism.88 matters to see the grid, or yantra, as a Tantric element durincorporatedinto the conception of the Vastuman.dala in of Hinduism India. this the What implies ing resurgence is that the grid itself maynot be the key ideawithin the conFrom discussions above, we ception of the Vastumandala. know that the essentialstructureof the mandalais concentric and that the grid as such does not featureitself within a reading of the mandala.The grid, moreover, may even serve to hide the true structureof the mandala. This distinction between the diagrammaticgrid and the set of deities that constitutethe mandalagains even further meaning on two counts. First, it seems to accordquite well with the makeshift manner in which the deities are located within the grid. Since the forty-five deities cannot be placedeach to a cell within any of the grids,this requires an allotmentof two or more cells to particular deities. Furthermore, the forty-four deities surrounding the central deity are dividedinto four groups,each of which is assigned to a cardinaldirection. In order to assign these deities to individualcells, it is first necessaryto partitionthe cells of the squaregrid into four groups, each to be associatedwith one side of the outer square.This createsyet anotherprobare already lem, since the sides of the Vdstupurusamandala oriented to the cardinaldirections.The lines partitioning the diagram into four symmetrical components would thereforefall along the diagonalsof the squareratherthan along the orthogonal lines of the grid, splitting the cells lying on the diagonalaxes into two. This problem is tackled differentlyin differenttexts;in each case, the cells occupied by the deities vary not only in size but also in shape-from oblong rectangularto square to triangular. From this, it seems quite reasonableto presume that the idea of the squaregridswith their squarenumbers(1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, 49, 64, 81, and so on) developed independently

of the idea of the Vdstumandala with its forty-fivedeities. this distinction also accountsfor the differences Second, in the treatmentof the topic ofpadavinyas from texts of different architectural traditions. It has been noted, for and instance, that the southern texts, such as Mayamatam were the ones to feature a Manasara, completesequence only of square grids associatedwith the Vastupurusaman.dala.89 Further,it is also largelythese texts that explicitlyadvocate the use of the gridsfor planninglayouts.In comparison, only the 64- and 81-squaredversionsof the Vastupurusaman.dala are discussedwithin the vastusastric literaturefromwestern India, and even then it is limited to the issue of identifying the marnas. It is possiblethat once the associationbetween the set of deities of the vastuand the diagrammatic device was made, differentarchitectural traditionselaboratedand modifiedit in differentways.The southernschools,perhaps alreadyrelying on a buildingtraditionemployingorthogonal grids, found it easy to incorporatethe Vastupurusamandalaas a conceptualizationof the planning grid, while the westernschools allocateda more restrictedrole to it. To summarize, the gridis neitheran effectivegenerative tool, not is it central,from a formalperspective,to the idea of the Vastupurusamandala. In other words,signs of orthogin need not onality buildings imply a grid, and evidenceof a gridbeing employedneed not implya mandala; anyevidence that aims to establishconclusivelythe use of a mandalaas a design tool must, therefore,be much more direct. 3. Evidence of the Yantras A finalpiece of evidencepointing to a generativerole of the mandalaremainsas yet unexplained: the yantrasembedded within the traditionaldrawingsof temple plans. What are we to makeof these?Clearly,these arenot Vastupurusamandalas and have no connection to the traditionaltheory of building. Still, these mandalasare not only drawndirectly within the plans, but they also seem to bear an undeniable relationship with the superstructures.Were they not the basis of the design for the plan and elevation of the mandala?If not, how can their presencewithin temple plansbe accountedfor? The most plausibleexplanationis that the superstructures surmountingthese diagramsare a three-dimensional manifestationof the mandalas.In other words, the temples were built deliberatelyas mandalas. This is by no means an As far back as the 1940s, Zimmer original proposition. drawnupon paperwere just one manarguedthat mandalas ifestation of the device, and that for an initiate an iconic image or an entire buildingcould serve as a mandalajust as well. He proposedthat the pyramidal structureof the wellAS A GOVERNING DEVICE 45

ON THE IDEA OF THE MANDALA

known temple of Borobudur was itself a vast mandala, dalasimplyappears as the bodyof the Vastupurusa, withwhich is associated a the initiates or within it to of deities. If it needs at all to meditahost, mandala, practice allowing moving tion in much the same way as they would sitting down in be described the of diagrammatically, simplestway describing front of a drawn one. Of late, several scholars have pre- it is as a hierarchically concentricstructure, further organized sented strong evidencein supportof the view that Buddhist articulated orientedradialsegmentation. It is by a cardinally is understoodto be caves,Hindu shrines, and even sculpturesembody specific in this form that the Vastupurusamandala with traditional built forms,the essentialpoint of John Huntington, for instance,shows associated yantrasor mandalas. how a set of cavesat Ellora can be ascribedto a rareIndian associationbeing the assignation of relativemerit, or auspiThe topologTantrayanasect, by showing how their iconography and ciousness,to differentpartsof built structures. structurecorresponds to two mandalas-Vajradhattumandalaical flexibilitythat is inbuilt within this diagramallows the and Mahakarunadhatumandala.90 In another interesting Vastupurusamandala to act as an organizingand regulating paper,DevanganaDesai has suggestedthat the erotic sculp- guide, without giving it the additionalonus of determining turesof Khajuraho were essentially yantrasgiven a provoca- the dimensionsof the builtform. tive iconographyto distractthe noninitiatedobserver.91 The grid, from this point of view, plays no part in the And Bettina a Baumer presented convincinganalysisof functioningof the Vastupurusamandala-even the sensitive recently, a yet unattributed Orissan temple, known locally as the regulatinglines and points (marmas) are more consistently it as a Devi of defined the of the rather Rajarani temple, identifying temple-a type directly upon body Vastupurusa, to local was to be than the on the This raise immediate texts, temple that, according supposed grid. may objections. constructedliterallyas a mandala.92 Afterall, it cannot be denied that the Vastupurusamandala is All these argumentsare quite differentfrom the claim invariablydefined upon a grid; if nothing more, the term that the mandala in particular) was padadevatas, the collectivename given to the outer divinities (the Vastupurusaman.dala, the key to generatingthe forms of built structures.In these arrangedupon it, reflects this. Furthermore,there is the direct evidence that explicitlylinks the grid with the Vascases, temples and other structureswere constructed,not so much from formalinformationdecoded from the man- tupurusamandala. How can all this evidence be accounted versionsof them, and, for? And, what, to be more precise, is the relationship dala,but simplyas three-dimensional more significantly,as forms that serve to hide the actual between the grid and Vastupurusaman.dala? embedded mandalas. In other words, the form of these To begin with, the grid servesas a useful device for the structureswas not supposedto be derivedfrom these man- Vastupurusaman.dala. The purpose of the grid in this sense dalas.The only requirement was that they providepoints of is twofold: first, to give a rigid "structure" to the looser, with the so correspondence underlyingmandala, that an ini- more flexible, anthropomorphic conception of the Vastiate could mentallyreconstructthe mandalaotherwisehid- tupurusamandala; and, second, almost paradoxically,to den from view. The mandalaitself carriedno information "hide" this structure from the inauspicious eyes of the about the architectureof the superstructure. Here, instead uninitiated. Together, these two uses give the Vastupuof the mandalaencoding informationaboutthe superstruc- rusamandala a sufficiently preciseand guardedform that can forms that encode information be used for meditational or oblatoryrituals.But, at the same ture, it is the architectural aboutthe mandalas.The mandalasremainwhat they aretime, the built structureitself can also performthis rolemeditationalaids. canboth providea structure for an embeddedmanbuildings dala,andalso serveto hide it. In otherwords,the gridactsin placeof the building,ratherthan servingas thebasis of it. Conclusion: The Historical Diagram the Vastupurusaman.dala Conversely, may be used to What remains,then, of the idea of the Vdstupurusamandala?sanctify a grid and guard it from evil influences, much in arerequiredin the way it is cur- the same way that it sanctifiesa built structure.Such a use Clearly,some modifications While we do not yet have a sufficient of the Vastupurusamandala rentlyconceptualized. is, to my mind, a relativelylate basis for a full-fledged theory of the mandala-evidence one that was development, largely favored among the from modernversionsof traditionalpracticeis one signifi- southern schools of architecture.It is in the Mayamatam cantomissionin this essay-it is possible,at least, to suggest and the Manasara that a comprehensivelist of padavinyas a potential outline of one. firstappears, andit is also in these (aswell as in the diagrams The most useful point of departure is to recognizethe Agamictexts)that suggestionsregardingthe organizational of the from the use of these diagramscan be found. Given this, it is quite Vastupurusamandala conceptualseparation within which it is inscribed. The Vatstupurusaman-possible that the tradition of using grids to organize and grid usually
46 JSAH / 59:1, MARCH 2000

schematicallylay out sites, buildings,and complexesin the south may have an independentlineage apartfrom that of However conthe conception of the Vdstupurusaman.dala. some of the differsuch an idea does account for jectural, ences between the southern and northern texts, as well as of grid-likearrangements in the southern the predominance tradition-both in theory as well as practice.The theory of the Vastupurusaman.dala would have been a welcome graft onto the traditionalsouthernidea of the grid. Admittedly,the revisednotion of the Vdstupurusamandalathat I have proposed does appearsomewhatad hoc; it idea of a unified, all-perlacksthe neatness of Kramrisch's and reguvasive entity that had generative,organizational, latorypowers.Still, it has its virtuesof(1) providinga better of the available evidence,and (2) lendinghisaccountability torical depth to the idea of the Vdstupurusamandala. For, ultimately,if any idea related to the currentconception of needs to be sorely challenged,it is the Vdstupurusaman.dala the notion of a single, conceptuallypureentity that has persisted unchangedthrough the developmentof architecture in the subcontinent. Instead, it would be far more useful as an and insightful to look upon the Vdstupurusamandala idea that has been constantly redefined and exploited throughhistory,andwhatwe havemade of it now is merely a recently constructedunderstanding.

Notes
I wouldlike to thankDr. RonaldLewcockandDr. Raymond Allchin,whose criticismhelped shapethe argumentspresentedhere. AaratiKanekarcontributedextensivelyto the initialresearch,and SudhaShahto the finalediting of the document. 1. A prominentcase is the eighteenth-centurycity of Jaipur,where a rare regulargridironplanningof its roadsis often takento imply an underlying whichimpartsa cosmicsenseto its conceptualization. See Carmen mandala, Vistara: The Architecture India and Satish ed., Delhi, (New 1986), Kargal, of Davar, "A filigree city spun out of nothingness,"Marg 30, no. 4 (1977): 35-58. G.H.R. Tillotson, The RajputPalaces(New Haven, 1987), and in India (London, 1991), also ChristopherTadgell,Historyof Architecture to endorse this without view, appear though citing much evidence. For a more balancedview, see A. Roy, "The Dream and the Plan,"Marg 30, no. 4 (1977):25-26. 2. The discussionsin Tillotson, Rajput Palaces,80-84, and AndreasVol(New York,1969),50-57, aregood illuswahsen,LivingArchitecture-Indian trationsof the problemsof relatingthe mandala to actualbuildingplans."It is not difficultto find the geometrickey to the groundplan. But when it is a matterof interpreting the esotericcontent of these graphicconstructions, we arereducedto conjectures," writesVolwahsen(55). Similarly, Tillotson admitsthat "in the Bundelkhand palaces,this prescription,the fundamental point of mandala planning,is totallyignored"(83, originalitalics). 3. The termvastutraditionally refersto both the habitable site as well as the associated with means it; "spirit" silpaspecifically sculpture,but is also used for artsin general; sastra is usedin the senseof a practical bodyof knowledge. 4. Much of the materialon vdstusastra still remainsto be translated and cat-

alogued,but some effortshave been made to summarizethe basic texts. A can be very comprehensivelisting of Sanskrittexts relevantto vastusastra found in Stella Kramrisch,The Hindu Temple (Calcutta, 1946), 437-442. Alice Boner, SadashivaRath Sharma, and Bettina Baumer, Vdstusutra (Delhi, 1986), and Bruno Dagens, trans., Mayamatam (Delhi, Upanisad litera1994), also give good comprehensivesummariesof the vastusastric valuableas it is fairlyrecent. ture, with Dagens'sreviewbeing particularly Anothervery useful,but somewhattendentious,surveyis given in Devendra Nath Shukla, Vastushastra: Hindu Science (New Delhi, of Architecture 1995; rep. of 1960 ed.), 67-85. Tarapada importantreview, Bhattacharya's A Studyon Vastuvidya or Canons (Patna, 1947), was of IndianArchitecture broughtto my notice by my anonymousreviewer. 5. Many of these are as technicaland detailedin their discussionon vastu andsilpaas anyof the "technical treatises." In the Kamikdgama, for instance, sixtyout of seventy-fivechaptersare devotedto these topics. 6. Dagens, trans.,Mayamatam, xli. a recentlydiscoveredtext 7. A recentcaseis that of the Vdstusutra Upanisad, which claimsto be relatedto the Atharvaveda. But given its colloquialand, at times, faulty language,and the fact that traditionsof figuralart that it describesdid not develop until much later,this claim does not have much in "The position of the Vastusutropanishad," standing.See Bhattacharya, Boner et al., Vastusutra 30-36. Upanisad, 8. Chaps.258-270 onpratimalaksanam and vastuwere addedto Matsyapurana around A.D. 550-650 and chaps. 252-257 around A.D. 650-1000. were all added Chaps. 21-106, 263-272, and 317-326 of the Agnipurana in thePuranic afterthe ninth century.See R. C. Hazra,Studies Records onthe HinduRitesandCustoms 176. (New Delhi, 1987), 9. The date of the Arthasdstra is a matter of much contention, with dates Literature ranging from late fourth century (B. Keith, Historyof Sanskrit [Oxford, 1928], 452-462, on linguistic grounds),to as early as third cenon the basisof its tury B.C. (Dr. F. R. Allchinin a personalcommunication, Thomas Trautmann's thatthe text However, content). descriptive argument had multipleauthorshipandwas compiledin its final form about the third See Trautmann, andthe century,seems to be the most satisfactory. Kautilya A statistical and the evolution ArthasIstra: of the authorship investigation of the text (Leiden, 1971). I would like to thankmy anonymousreviewerfor this information. 10. Accordingto Kramrisch, HinduTemple, 5, the sixthcenturyBrhatsamhita is the earliestexistingand databletext that dealswith vastusistra, followed of the seventh century. by the Visnudharmottara 11. Shukla,Vastushastra, 25-26. 12. Dagens, trans.,Mayamatam, xli. 13. Although dating of most Tantrictexts is still a matter of debate, it is generally accepted that the South Indian Agamic texts (including the Saivagmasthat are such rich sources of architectural writings) are a uniformly late production,dating mostly from the later half of the first millennium A.D. See T. Goudriaanand S. Gupta, Hindu Tantric and Sukta Literature (Wiesbaden,1981). 14. Ernest BinfieldHavell, TheAncient andMedieval Architecture A ofIndia: the Civilization of 1915 (New Delhi, 1972; Studyof Indo-Aryan rep. original ed.), 9-17. 15. The first translationwas a summarypublishedfrom Leiden in 1917. The completetranslation entitledTheArchitecture waspuboftheManasara lished in 1934 by the OxfordUniversityPress.The following discussionis basedon a reprintof the 1934 edition. 16. P. K. Acharya,TheArchitecture (New Delhi, 1980;rep. of theManasara of 1934 originaled.). 17. From the Sanskrit verb vinyas which meansto arrange,or to distribute. 18. See the index entry for site plansin Acharya, Mdnasdra (1980), 764.
AS A GOVERNING DEVICE 47

ON THE IDEA OF THE MANDALA

19. The readingof the two texts, which containvery similarmaterial,has fluctuatedconsiderably over time. Since RamRaz'sEssay ontheArchitecture the Hindoos Manasara was held to be the (London, 1834), of representative vastusastra treatise,at any rate the most complete one available. According to Acharya,Mayamatamwas a later copy of Manasara.More recently, xliv-xlv) has arguedthat the currentversion of the Dagens (Mayamatam, Manasara is very recent althoughbasedon an earlier,incompleteworkthat may come from the same traditionas the Mayamtam. 20. Dagens, trans.,Mayamatam, 387 (23.2-3). 21. Ibid., 65 (9.32). 22. Refer,for instance,to Mayamatam (10.1-12) for dimensionsof towns, and to Mayamatam (9.41-56) for the layoutof streetsin villages. 23. "Pecakabhagadyasanabhagantam canditam proktam. Sutradinyath visamasthanani ca varjayenamatiman." 10.16b-17a (Dagens's Mayamatam translation). 24. For instance,in Mayamatam caturmar(7.49):"Sadvansamekahrdayam mam caturgiram viduh." vastupurusam medinayam nikubjam praksiram 25. "Nivasata sarvadevanam vasturitiabhidiyate." Matsyapurana, chap.226. 26. "Yatra ca yane grhitamvibhutenadhisthitah sa tatraiva." Brhatsamhita 53. 3. 27. See, for instance,Mayamatam, 7.55-56. 28. B. B. Dutt, Town Planningin AncientIndia (New Delhi, 1977; rep. of 1925 originaled.). 29. Ibid., 148-150. 30. For instance,Acharya, Manasara, 44, 46. 31. Kramrisch, HinduTemple, 65-98. 32. Ibid., 67. 33. Ibid., 40-43. Kramrisch's sourcesfor this are actuallynot so clear.Most Vedicliteraturedoes not adequately distinguishbetweensquaresand other quadrilaterals-the only differencebeing the technicalliteratureon constructivegeometryin the variousSulvasutras. There, the squareis accorded no more significancethan the other geometricalfigures-rectangle, triangle, circle, and trapezium-that were used in the constructionof altars. 34. What these "aspects" are, Kramrischfails to clarify.The Adityasare actuallyinterpretedslightly differentlywithin Vedic literature.See n. 38. 35. For a convenientdiscussionon this, see AlainDanielou,HinduPolytheism(New York,1964), 79-138. For an exampleof originalmaterial,see the accountingof the numberand typesof gods recordedin the Brhadaryanaka 3.9.1-9. Upanishad 36. Danielou, HinduPolytheism, 233f. 37. There have been attemptsto interpretthese padadevatas as manifestations of other regulardeities (see VibhutiChakrabarti, Indian Architectural [Richmond,Surrey,1998], 63-86), but it is doubtfulwhether such Theory are of any significantantiquity. assignations 38. The Adityas,originallysix in number (Rg Veda, 2.27.1), were initially identifiedwith the fundamental principlesthat structuredhuman society, and only in the Brahmanical and later literatureacquiredtheir astronomical association.See Danielou, HinduPolytheism, 112-127, for a comparative discusion.The attemptto link the padadevatas to the nakiatras is made in Visnudharmottara 29.18-30. See Kramrisch, HinduTemple, 32-34. Purana, 39. Severalexcerptshave been compiledin K. P. Sankara Somayaji,Vastuvidhana Kalpa(Bangalore,1989). 40. Kramrisch, HinduTemple, 22. 41. It is not possible to defineTantricliteratureunambiguously since severalschools,sects, or literarytraditions, Buddhism,SaivincludingJainism, andPancratra drawheavilyupon elementsof "Tantricism." Siddhanta, Most of whatcan be identifiedexclusively asTantricliterature includestwo major subdivisions-the Saivatantrasfromthe northandthe slightlylaterAgamic literature fromthe south.For an overview, see Goudriaan andGupta,Hindu
48 JSAH / 59:1, MARCH 2000

Tantric and SuktaLiterature, 1-3. 42. Tucci'swork has largelyfocused upon the Tibetan Buddhisttradition. The following descriptionis basedprimarilyon GiuseppeTucci, TheTheoryandPractice of theMandala,trans.Alan Brodrick(London, 1969). 43. Ibid., 135. 44. Ibid., 29. 45. See HeinrichZimmer, FormandYoga Artistic in theSacred Images ofIndia (Princeton, 1984), 158-180. Zimmer'sdescriptionis based upon a comon the Nityasodasikarnava. mentaryof Bhaskararaya 46. Alice Boner, SadashivaRath Sharma,and RajendraPrasadDas, New Fourunpublished tothe ofKonark: LightontheSun Temple manuscripts relating construction and ritual the (Varanasi, 1972). history of temple 47. Paul Frankl, "The secret of the medieval masons,"Art Bulletin27 (1945):46-60. 48. Mathes Roriczer, Biichleinvon der Fialen Gerechtigkeit (Regensburg, 1486) publishedin English translationin Lon Shelby,Gothic DesignTechnotebooks Roriczer andHannsSchmutniques: Fifteenth-century design ofMathes (Carbondale,1977). Shelby (46-61) challengesthe notion of the termayer "masons' secret,"claimingthat the medievallodges did not have the organizationalstructureto preservesuch a trade secret, but this idea seems to have been well acceptedduringthe forties and fifties. 49. Frankl,"The secret of the medievalmasons,"46. 50. I have not been able to find a direct evidence for such a claim, and, so faras I can ascertain,no one has explicitlyproposeda connectionbetween the geometrical methods of the master masons and the use of Vastupurusamandala. However,the similaritybetween Indian(or Oriental) artandthe medievalartof Europewas a key theme in the interpretive studies of Indian art history of the early twentieth century,and historiansof Indian art were quite awareof scholarshipon medievalart and even contributedto it. See Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, "ThePhilosophyof Medieval and OrientalArt,"Zalmoxis1 (1938), reprintedin A. K. Coomaraswamy, Traditional Art and Symbolism, ed. R. Lipsey (Princeton, Coomaraswamy: 1977), 43-70. 51. Most earlytranslators and scholarstryingto locate and interprettraditional manualscomplainedabout the secrecyand closed-mindedness with which such textswere guardedby the familiesand guildsof craftsmen.See, for instance,lettersfrom RamRazto his sponsorP. Clarke(dated13 October 1727 and 13January1728) in Ram Raz,Essay, xi-xii. 52. Kramrisch, HinduTemple, 228. 53. Ibid., 227-230. 54. On this, besidesKramrisch, HinduTemple, see MichaelW. Meister,"On the Development of a Morphology for a Symbolic Architecture," Res 12 (Autumn1986): 33-50. This argumenthas a wide appeal;see alsoJoseph (Princeton,1976). Rykwert,TheIdeaof a Town 55. Although many refer to the mandalain this operativesense, few writers have chosen to discussthe matterin any great depth. Those that have include Michael W. Meister, "Mandala and Practicein Nagara Architecture in North India,"Journal of the AmericanOrientalSociety99 (1979): 204-219; and, idem, "Measurementand Proportion in Hindu Temple Science Reviews 10 (1985):248-258. VolwahArchitecture," Interdisciplinary sen, LivingArchitecture: Indian,43-58, althoughwriting for a more popular audience,providesquite a detaileddiscussionon the matter. 56. For recentviewson this issue, see AnnaL. Dallapiccola, Traed., Sastric ditions in Indian Arts(Stuttgart,1989).Dallapiccola, in her introduction (xv), for instance,comparesthe instructionsin the vastumanualsto those given in Renaissance cookbooks.In these books,she writes,"Suchthingsas quantities and timingsarementioned,if at all, only vaguely,the authorspresupposing a sound practicalknowledge." 57. NiranjanMahapatra,Silparatnakosa, trans. B. Baumerand R. P. Das

(New Delhi, 1994). 58. Dutt, Town Planning,144. 59. Bhat,Brhatsamhita, 450-499, 536-546. 60. See, for example,Meister,"Developmentof a Morphology,"37. 61. Bhat,Brhatsamhita, 477. in PramodChandra,ed., Stud62. Alice Boner,"Extracts from Silpasarini," iesin IndianTemple Architecture (Varanasi, 1975), 57-79. 63. "No groundplan of a temple is complete without the yantraunderlying its foundations.In this respect, however, the Silpasariniis no help." Ibid., 66. 64. MichaelW. Meister."De- andRe-constructing the IndianTemple," Art 49 395. (Winter 1990): Journal of templeforms:Indor," Artibus 65. See MichaelW. Meister,"Analysis Asiae Forts in Central India:Temples in 43 (1982): 302-320; also idem, "Siva's Daksin Kosalaand Their 'Daemonic'Plans,"in Michael W. Meister, ed., on Siva (Philadelphia,1984), 119-142. Some of these views are Discourses summarized in Meister,"De and Re-constructingthe Hindu Temple." of temple forms."The stellate plans were first dis66. Meister, "Analysis "Ancient cussedin D. Stadtner, Kosalaandthe StellatePlan,"inJ. Williams, Studies in Indian Art (New Delhi, 1981), 137-146. American ed., Kaladarsana: of TempleForms,"311-312. 67. Meister,"Analysis in the analy68. MichaelW. Meister,"Mundesvari: andcertainty Ambiguity sis of a temple plan,"in Williams,ed., Kaladarsana, 77-89. 69. AlthoughMeister does not dwell on the fact, this temple illustratesthat to have square interiors of sanctums-although the norm-was not an to the square absoluteimperative andthat alternatives grhasdo exist. garbha in specifyingthe 70. Despite the factthat the vastutextsareratherparticular width of the lines (siras)that intersect to form marmas,there seem to be of the distances at whichtheselinesshouldbe drawn almostno specifications in the diagram. Moreover,there is a considerable upon which disagreement lines (if any) of the Vastupurusamandala diagramconstitute the siras. See HinduTemple, of the marnasspecifiedin Kramrisch, 53-55, for a comparison some of the texts.In general,it needs to be clarified that the sirasof the Vasare as defined the lines which his limbsareplaced.They tupurusa only along of the Vastumandala. may or maynot coincidewith the subdivisions 71. Ibid., 232. 72. Ibid., 228. 73. Meister,"Measurement and Proportion." 74. Ibid., 248. Meister has adoptedthis idea from Kramrisch. 75. Ibid., 252. 76. Ibid., 249. 77. C. G. Hempel, Mindand Cosmos (Pittsburgh,1966), 132. 78. Kramrisch's idea of the generic"Hindutemple"is an obviousandtelling views on this are more subtlebut no productof this view.Coomaraswamy's less explicit. See AnandaK. Coomaraswamy, "Rapeof a Nagi," Bulletinof theMuseum ofFineArts 35 (1937);reprintedin Lipsey,ed., Coomaraswamy, 331-340. 79. See n. 29. 80. Kramrisch, HinduTemple, 50-57. Refer especiallyto TableB.

81. See n. 53. 82. See John Mosteller, "Textsand Craftsmenat Work,"in Michael W. Meister,ed., MakingThingsin SouthAsia:TheRoleofArtistsand Craftsmen (Philadelphia,1988),24-31. 83. Boner, Sharma,and Baumer,Vastusutra Upaniiad. 84. Ibid., 81. 85. Ibid., 61. 86. American Electronic 1992 (2nd edition). Dictionary, Heritage 87. Boner, Sharma,and Baumer,Vastusutra Upanisad. 88. Hazra,Studies in thePuranic 260-264. Records, 89. Not quitecompletein its description, but at leastlistingthe entireseries. Textssuch as the Brhatsamhita mention only two grids. See Acharya, Manasara,44-45. He does not point out the distinctionbetween the southern and northernschools, but Dutt (Town India,149) does: Planningin Ancient Itis the authorsof the SilpaSastraswho have madetheirfolk-planning hinge whereas Kautilya, andthe authorof Agnipuuponpadavinyasa, Sukracharya ranado not referto padavinyasa.... Theirmethodof allocating sites andfolk is thereforequite independentof padavinyasa and the variousclasses and selected professionshave been representedin theiridealtowns in quarters onlywith referenceto the site of the royalmansions.The latterauthorities allbelongto Northern India. Do we get herea glimpseof two schools, Northern and Southern? 90. John Huntington,"CaveSix at Aurangabad: A Tantrayana Monument," in Williams, ed., Kaladarsana, 47-56. 91. DevanganaDesai, "Placementand Significanceof Erotic Sculptures in in Michael W. Meister, ed., Discourses on Siva (Philadelphia, Khajuraho," 1984), 143-156. 92. Baumerand Das, Silparatnakosa, 10-12.

Illustration Credits (Calcutta,1946) Figures 1, 7. From StellaKramrisch,TheHinduTemple Indian Architectural (Richmond, Figure2. FromVibhutiChakrabarti, Theory Surrey,1998) 3. FromGiuseppe and Practice oftheMandala Tucci,Theory (London, Figure 1969) FormandYoga Artistic in theSacred Figure4. FromHeinrichZimmer, Images ofIndia(Princeton, 1984) Rath Sharma,and Rajendra Prasad Figure 5. From Alice Boner, Sadashiva Fourunpublished Das, New Light on the Sun Temple of Konark: manuscripts andritualof thetemple (Varanasi, 1972) relatingto theconstruction history 6. Lon From Gothic Figure Shelby, DesignTechniques: Fifteenth-century design notebooks Roriczer andHannsSchmuttermayer (Carbondale, Ill., 1977) ofMathes in Pramod Figures 8, 9. From Alice Boner, "Extractsfrom Silpasarini," in IndianTemple Architecture Chandra,ed., Studies (Varanasi, 1975) Figures 10, 11. From Michael W. Meister, "Mundesvari: Ambiguityand certaintyin the analysisof a temple plan,"in J. Williams,ed., Kaladarsana: American Studies in Indian Art (New Delhi, 1981)

ON THE IDEA OF THE MANDALA

AS A GOVERNING

DEVICE

49