Building Materials of the Hindu Temples in Cambodia,
Indonesia & India
Dr
UDAY DOKRAS Phd Stockholm
Architect
Srishti Dokras
Indo Nordic Author’s Collective, Tampere,Stockholm,Nagpur
1
Building Materials of the Hindu Temples in Cambodia, Indonesia & India
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
Building Materials of the Hindu Temples In Cambodia, Indonesia &
India-Stone-Rocks & Granite 4
India & Angkor 12
As an example let us study the Brihadeeswarar Temple Tamil Nadu 14
CHAPTER II
The spread of Hindu Culture and Religion 21
The temple at Mahabalipuram 21
Origin of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple 25
CHAPTER III-What does it mean?
How Sublime Vishnu Temple At Angkor Wat Is An Expression Of
Vedic Astronomy- Subhash Kak 30
CHAPTER IV-The Cambodian temples are also ‘Rock” temples 44
CHAPTER V-Sectional Perspective of Angkor Wat and Indian temple
51
CHAPTER VI Ancient Stone temples 54
By DAMIEN GAYLE article 64
Chapter VII Sandstone Stories 77
Tamil Influence 89
Chapter VIII INDONESIAN HINDU TEMPLE OF ROCK
The Hindu Masterpiece – Prambanan Temple 92
CHAPTER IX Oldest Hindu Temple is made of sandstone 107
CHAPTER X Building the Stone Pyramids 115
CHAPTER XI Stone Carvings
Chapter XII Erotic sculptures
PART II COSMOLOGY of the STONE STRUCTURES 159
CHAPTER XII Cosmology 160
PART III-STONE FRACTALS 170
2
Building Materials of the Hindu Temples In India &
Cambodia
Comparison of Angkor Wat with other Hindu Temples
Dr Uday Dokras
Architect Srishti Dokras
Dr. Uday Dokras
SRISHTI DOKRAS
B.Sc., B.A. (Managerial Economics), BGL( Mumbai
University) LL.B., Nagpur University, India
Certificat' en Droit, Queens University, Canada,
MBA CALSTATE, USA,
Ph.D. Stockholm University, Sweden,
Management and Efficacy Consultant, India
Interested in Astrology and predictive Sciences
B. Arch (IDEAS) India
Visiting Architect
DUBAI, USA & AUSTRALIA
Consultant Design & Architecture
3
PART I
Building Materials of the Hindu Temples In Cambodia,
Indonesia & India Stone-Rocks & Granite
4
CHAPTER I
Building Materials of the Hindu Temples In Cambodia, Indonesia & India
Stone-Rocks & Granite
x
5
1. Sailors named this Shore Temple as Seven Pagodas due to its tall structure
In short, Ancient Indian temples were built by quarrying and sculpting huge stones often granites
with huge manpower and animal power for logistics and building.
1. Quarrying Granites: - In ancient times, quarrying granites without steel was the toughest
task. But there was a solution which were prevalent among the whole of the ancient world. That
was to cut a series of pockets along the surface of the stone, and filling them with wood,
watering the woods regularly. As a result, wood swells and makes a crack along the holes. Now as
we've quarried the stones.
2.Splitting Granite:
In Hampi for example the the whole city was craved out of rock, not just a few sculptures. The
question is how did they manage to do such a mammoth task in those days A time when there
were no machines, no sophisticated tools…. That speaks of another story about human ingenuity
and dedication. Gigantic slabs of rocks were precisely cut from the boulder mountains and hills.
They were then moved to the construction sites. Well even today you would find it a bit difficult
to access most of these places. And we are talking about moving huge pieces of rocks weighing
many tons.As anywhere in the ancient India elephants were the power machines of the times.
They used hundreds of them -in construction sites, in battlefields. No wonder so many of the
elephants got its place in the carvings not only in Hampi bit many temples in India and abroadalong with gods and kings!
6
Cutting huge blocks of slabs itself was an art and science. What did they use to do that - Two lest
suspected items- wooden pegs and water!A series of holes were made on the surface of the rock
(along the line of cut). Then they pegged dry wooden pieces into it. Over these pegs water is
poured to soak it.The wood expands slowly by absorbing water and the shear force of these tiny
peg in a row made the rock crack apart. Once the crack was developed and the rock split, it was
the job of elephants and men to move them the construction site.
See the picture of the peg holes made on the rock surface. The left side of the rock is flat, means
they have had cut away a slab out of it.
7
At times, the quarrying place and place where the temple was built, were far from each other, as
temples were usually built at the center of a kingdom's capital city. The practice of breaking of
rocks during rainy season by inserting wooden pegs in them is based on the phenomenon of Imbibition
pressure generated during germination of seeds and spores is so enormous that it can break asphalt
roads and concrete pavements. In older times, the imbibition pressure was used in breaking the rocks
and stones. Dry wooden stakes, if driven into a small crack in a rock and then soaked, can develop
enough pressure to split the rock.
3. Moving the cut stones:- Stones were often huge to carry them manually. So ancient people
needed more power than normal manpower. And, What is the biggest animal found in the
jungles of Cambodia or India? Elephants. Men captured Elephants using wooden traps in the
forests and trained the strongest and huge elephants to move the quarried stones. Elephants were
used for various purposes in India and mainly for war since 6the century BC.
Nowadays, the conditions of domestic elephants in India have improved a lot. Also few temples
as you see, has caps of large stones (as big as 80 tonnes) placed on its vimana (central tower).
They would have been moved on a mud slope elevated at an angle for a length of 2 or 3 kms
using circular wooden logs. I particularly refer to the 'Big Temple' in Tanjore India which has a
80 tonnes granite cap (Kumbam) on top of it. It took just five years for the King to complete the
temple. It is hard to imagine now, even with the advent of modern techniques and machine
power.
4. Sculpting and carving:- Then comes the sculpting and the intricate carvings in the temple.
That was done by people who belonged to a particular Hindu community of sculpting and
building.
8
Elephant From the temple of 'Darasuram', nealry 800 years old.
There are also inscriptions around the temple which tells us about the King paying money and
giving land for people who lost their life in the accidents, during the construction activity.
Also what I heard is, In general, idle army men were used to work for the construction of a
temple in a kingdom. So a huge temple typically depicts the military might of the king.
Pradeep
Alagarsamy, QUORA
Horizontal
tie member
Timber
posts up to
lintel
Floor level
Beam at
first floor level
Plinth in
stone and brick
masonry
Timber
Brick masonry
Outer veneer-
with mud mortar
infill inside
fired clay brick
Brick masonary temples such as in Nepal with wooden beam support. Material used to
make temples (ABOVE)
9
1. MATERIALS USED IN CONSTRUCTION Rubble: In prehistoric and early historic times
rubble, naturally fragmented or deliberately chipped rock of no specific shape, was the most
frequent building material. Stones: It possesses good resistance against abrasion. It is quite
strong and durable building material. Wood: Another building material was wood, from both
coniferous and deciduous trees, especially poplar; for supports and roof construction in the
traditional architecture of India. Mud: Frequent building material in Indian cultural areas
which was available everywhere. It is used for plastering and even as a cooling material.
2.
TECHNIQUES USED Operating on Rocks: The stones were split using wooden wedges and
water to create thermal expansion during the day and then iron tools were used to chip and
form the stones into blocks. Method of Lifting Stones through the Ramp: Always top level of
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Ramp will match with the height of Temple Structure. Stones to be lifted will be shifted to
the plane area near the Ramp by using the Traditional Old technology used by Khalaasi
Team. Quarrying Granites: cut a series of pockets along the surface of the stone, and filling
them with wood, watering the woods regularly. As a result, wood swells and makes a crack
along the holes. Means of transportation: (Animals) castrated bull, dogs, elephants, horses,
donkeys and other cattle along with man power.
THE STRUCTURAL SYSTEMS Trabeated System: In the trabeated system, the various
arrangements between vertical elements (pillars and pilasters) and horizontal elements (cross
beams and lintels) are used to provide the stability to the system. The roofing was done by
laying horizontally the slabs of stone from one supporting beams or walls to another. .
Corbelling System: Each horizontal course is constructed in such a way that stone or bricks
in each layer are projected out to bridge the gap between the two walls. It was primarily used
to create interiors of the temple and stone shells of super structure above the sanctuary.
THE CONSTRUCTION TECHNOLOGY 1. The available information of temple
construction was collected from stone slabs, metal plates, palm leaves and manuscripts. 2. It
started with the selection of team headed by chief architect 3. The construction team
consisted of four, Sthapati -Main architect Sutragrahin who did the work assigned by
sthapati,Taksaka who did the carving and cutting of stone, Vardhakin is the mason. 4. The
first stage was the planning of the temple, The second stage was the craving of different parts
of the temples. 5. The third and the final stage consisted of assembling of the parts of temple
which consisted of the actual construction of the temple. 6. The tools required such as
hammers, chisel was locally made and sharpened regularly. STRUCTURAL PLAN AND
EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE Symmetrical forms are always preferred from earthquake
resistance as asymmetrical forms produces eccentricity between the centre of mass and centre
of rigidity which results in the torsion and tends to stress the concentration. The ground story
has dual purpose as apart from carrying its own lateral loads it also carries the shear force of
the upper floors which is similar to the downward building of vertical gravity loads.
DISADVANTAGES OVER MODERN CONSTRUCTION
1. much slower
2. Limited choices of materials
3. More Weight
4. Occupies more Space
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5. Limited height
6. Expensive
7. No commercial usage
If we visit Siem Reap, Cambodia or our very own Holy Temples at Mamallapuram, Hampi,
Khajuraho, KanchiPuram, Thanjavur or any such Holy place, what one gets to witness is sheer
brilliance of knowledge of human endeavours as learned and imbibed by the Indians; more
particularly those from the peninsular regions of our Country. The examples of that brilliance are
too numerous to be known to most of us. The Pallavas, Chalukyas or the Chola Kings were great
patrons of the elaborately knowledgeable Seers of the long bygone era. What was passed down
in oral tradition was pure intimate knowledge of human life, societal interactions and spiritual
wisdom. The so produced Yogis were consummate artists in Sacred Architecture, sculpting and
engineering. They had no sophisticated tools to work with as we might have today, but they
possessed dedication and courage to transfer onto stone the true feelings of human endeavours.
One example can here be cited with absolute certitude is that of the Temple of Angkor Wat in
Siem Reap, Cambodia. Brought from the Phnohm Kulen (mount Kulen) about 40 km from the
Angkor Wat, they employed over 4000 elephants and 300000 men to shape, sculpt and stack the
stone pieces to create this peerless monument over 37 years (only the Holy Temple of Angkor
Wat). And what monument??? It is where one feels electric divine energy in the air pervading
the entire thousands of square kilometers of those tropical forests. And Angkor Wat is just one…
There are well over four dozen masterpieces of their efforts in that region; one more astonishing
than the other.
Destruction: Joints at many places have opened up in most Temples; many temples have been
reduced to ruins by the savagery of human being (1976-77) and onslaught of natural forces. But
at numerous places one has to concentrate hard to locate a joint. Such was their perfection in
working on stone. In absence of upkeep and maintenance, algae and moss have dried up making
way into the tiny crevasses and stuck to the surfaces of stones. But, that hasn’t reduced any of the
liveliness of the sculptures and magnificence of the structures. The figures are as lifelike as we
humans are. The entire Temple structures are fully sculpted works of art. And even today, these
appear as divine and full of life, as might have been in 1296 AD when the first outsider (as per
available records), Zhou DaGuan, a Chinese diplomat went there (well 150 years after these were
created) only to get mesmerized at the magnificence of those Temples.
12
‘Now onto the Civil Engineering part. Civil Engineering isn't only what we have studied now.
It in fact is the way human being has lived since evolution of this creed. They, the YogiSculptors, knew the nuances as refined as the least count of measurement, the interplay of water
and soil, the dynamics of friction, strength of materials and the like to perfection. One need to
visit there to fathom the enormity that almost overwhelms one’s senses.If one reads the two
Books by Ms Stella Kramrisch on the Hindu Temples, one could fathom the depth of knowledge
of Civil Engineering, Sacred Architecture and the like entailed in our Shastras. That knowledge
was mastered by those men (and women) and then translated into such perfect monuments.
Therefore, wondering that ancient Indians might not have possessed such knowledge, is, at best a
flawed view. Our Vedas and our Shastras are unparalleled repositories of knowledge and wisdom
of all human endeavors. The only related aspect is that we the people of modern era aren’t aware
of such richness and thence not making use of that knowledge. Presently, some work, based upon
Vedas is being practiced, say, by practitioners of Vedic Architecture.eIndian temple builders
knew civil Engineering, Architecture, City planning, Water management etc from long ago,say,
6000 BP. This can be seen in Cambodia, Angkor Wat, a city bigger than Rome with efficient
hydraulics, built by Raja Raja’s descendants.The knowledge on Civil engineering was far
superior. We are unable to build such a marvelous temples which stands for thousands of years.
Our recently constructed bridge or any other buildings are not lasting for few hundred years.We
are constructing buildings and other structures without having complete knowledge on Civil
engineering and not our ancestors!
India and Angkor:
It is said that the sculpture in Mahabalipuram and that of Angkor Wat in Cambodia have striking
resemblance. The marvel of the sculptures within the temple complex is that with just a chisel &
a hammer, workers of that time carved not only beautiful statues and more but also tried to
narrate the stories of Gods & Goddess. This temple was constructed by the most famous rulers of
this region, Pallavas around 600-700 A.D. Theyused Mahabalipuram as a trading sea port and
this temple also acted as the landmark for navigation. This is also the reason that artisans from
many foreign lands worked on building of this temple and other monuments in Mahabalipuram.
13
Their cultural influence is quite evident here like the carvings of lion & dragon which is
characteristic of Chinese & other South-East Asian countries. It is one of the oldest stone temples
in South India.
When seen from a distance it resembles the Dharamraja rath (Chariot). The shore temple is a
collection of seven temples or seven pagodas as popularly known. Out of these seven temples
five temples are still visible while two temples are submereged in the water. The tip of one such
temple can be seen inside the water during a ferry ride which is available near to the beach area.
According to the legends and history books, Mahabalipuram or Mamallapuram was called
‘Kadalmalai’ meaning the land of sea and mountain. Later it got its popular name
Mahabalipuram after the the kind-hearted asura king Mahabali. However, when the Pallavas
started ruling the place, the name was changed again and kept after the name of one the first
powerful kings from this dynasty namely Narasimhavarman-I who was also known as Mamallan.
Here are the interesting facts about Mahabalipuram and the must visit places when in this coastal
town:
In the case of Angkor also, the five stone towers are intended to mimic the five mountain ranges
of Mt. Meru—the mythical home of the gods, for both Hindus and Buddhists. The temple
mountain as an architectural design was invented in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian architects
quite literally envisioned temples dedicated to Hindu gods on earth as a representation of Mt.
Meru. The galleries and the empty spaces that they created between one another and the moat are
envisioned as the mountain ranges and oceans that surround Mt. Meru. Mt. Meru is not only
home to the gods, it is also considered an axis-mundi. An axis-mundi is a cosmic or world axis
that connects heaven and earth. In designing Angkor Wat in this way, King Suryavarman II and
his architects intended for the temple to serve as the supreme abode for Vishnu. Similarly, the
symbolism of Angkor Wat serving as an axis mundi was intended to demonstrate the Angkor
Kingdom’s and the king’s central place in the universe. In addition to envisioning Angkor Wat as
Mt. Meru on earth, the temple’s architects, of whom we know nothing, also ingeniously designed
the temple so that embedded in the temple’s construction is a map of the cosmos (mandala) as
well as a historical record of the temple’s patron.
14
Kedarnath destruction after floods
As an example let us study the Brihadeeswarar Temple Tamil Nadu
15
Tag : Cultural UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built in : 1003-1010 AD. Year of Inscription 1987
Reasons for Inscription : It is a peerless piece of architecture and represents the culture PreChola Dynasty in India. Moreover, it is a significant Hindu Temple built in ancient times.
Peruvudaiyar
Kovil,
well
known
as
Brihadeeswarar
Temple,
RajaRajeshwara
and
Rajarajeswaram Temple, was edified by Raja Raja Chola I in the year 1010 AD. This ancient
shrine is situated at Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu. Brihadeeshwara Temple is a revered
temple for Hindus, which they bestow to Lord Shiva (The God of destruction). This temple is
one of the largest temples of India, and one of supreme brilliances of Indian architecture.
Category : Archaeological site and Southeastern Asian Religious structure of Hindus.
The
Nandi(sacred
bull)
facing
the
sanctum
is
also 13
feet in height and 16
feet in length which is the dwarapalaks (the guardians deities of temple) and deities around
the main shrine look elegant. The main attraction here is the huge tower above the sanctum
which is about 216 feet(66 meter). The tower stands tall and one can see this fabulous
structure even as one enters Tanjore.
MYSTERY OF THE TEMPLE:
16
The whole construction procedure of theTanjore big temple is that of a great mystery to the
archeologists. The great legends who made research on the Tanjore big temple couldn't find out
what is the actual fact behind the construction of the Tanjore big temple. Some of the
edible mysteries of the Tanjore big temple are
• Underground passages in Tanjore big temple
• Huge cap stone at the top of Tanjore big temple
• Painting in Tanjore big temple
• Granite stones used for the temple construction
UNDERGROUND PASSAGES:
The Tanjore big temple contains more than 100 underground passages to various places. The
underground passages also contain some secret passage that leads to various places like
thePalace of Raja Raja chola and also to other important places. The underground passages lead
to the other temples and also to the other places in and around Tanjore. Most of the underground
passages were sealed and if the people choose the wrong passage then there are possibilities that
the path may also lead to the dangers. This can also be a trap for the kingdom safety of Raja
Raja.
HUGE CAP STONE:
The biggest mystery of all the other mystery in Tanjore big temple is the huge cap stone in the
top of the Tanjore big temple. The weight of the cap stone at the top of Tanjore big
templeweighs 80 tons. The main exclamation about the cap stone is that how come the builders
of Tanjore big temple were able to place the cap stone at the top of the Gopuram in Tanjore big
temple. There were no cranes or any high end equipments used in those days to do these works.
The only thing that can help is the elephants. The huge cap of Tanjore big temple is constructed
such a way that the shadow of the Tanjore big temple Gopuram will not fall on the ground. It in
will just fall on itself. This particular planning and type of construction is not an easy task to go
with. The amazing construction in STONE
17
PAINTING:Painting in Tanjore Big temple
18
There are lots of high quality paintings in the Tanjore big temple that explain many things about
the kingdom of Raja Raja Chola and also the greatness of the Raja Raja Chola. Some paintings
also explain about the Raja Raja Chola's favorite God Shiva. There were also some stories
present in the painting present in Tanjore big temple. In the secret passage from Tanjore big
temple there were great paintings present that explain about many great things. The most
admiring part of thepainting in Tanjore big temple is the painting of Raja Raja Chola offering his
respect to his Guru. The colors chosen for the painting are great such that the paintings are still
good and healthy to see.
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GRANITE STONES USED FOR CONSTRUCTION:
Granite stones are one of the strongest stones in the world. With the strength of the granite stone
the stone is also equally heavy enough that it cannot be carried from one place to other place in
the easy way. The stones that are used in Tanjore big temple were brought from a place that is 50
miles away from the Tanjore big temple. Without elephants the work might not be possible for
the transportation of the rocks from that place. It is said that more than 1000 elephants were used
for the construction of the Tanjore big temple. The ancestors of Chola kingdom were good
enough to build temples with the granite stones.
20
CHAPTER II
The spread of Hindu Culture and Religion
we have harnessed the knowledge that Tamilians and their trade reached Cambodia amongst
other countries. Hence it would not be difficult to assume that the Temple architects of Chola
kings also participated in the construction of the Angkor complex. In The Indian twin of Angkor
Wat Cambodia, world's largest religious monument - it is mentioned that the temple at
Mahabalipuram resembles the Angkor temple.
The temple at Mahabalipuram
1. Sailors named this Shore Temple as Seven Pagodas due to its tall structure
21
2. A miniature shrine with the Bhu Varaha (Vishnu) image in a well type enclosure of the Shore
Temple/3. Durga on a lion with small carved shrine in the Shore Temple
4. Sivalinga with Shiva, Uma and their son Skanda in the Shore Temple complex
5. Pancha Rathas (Pandava Rathas) which is popular for its rock-cut architecture
6. Architectural feature on the Arjuna Ratha in the Pancha Rathas complex
22
7. Carvings on the Bhima Ratha, Pancha Rathas
8. Olakkannesvara Temple above the Mahishasuramardhini Cave Temple and view of the
lighthouse from there
23
9. Krishna Cave Temple is a testimony to the ancient art of Vishwakarma Sthapathis (wooden
sculpture)
10. Pictorial description of the descent of the Ganges and Arjuna's Penance, Krishna Cave
Temple
24
11. Lord Krishna lifting Govardhan Hill in the Krishna Cave Temple
12. Re-incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Varaha (boar) lifting Bhudevi, the mother earth from the sea,
Varaha Cave Temple
Another temple that is said to resemble Angkor Wat is the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple
Origin of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple
A
rare old aerial view of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple RIGHT) Angkor is at left
25
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. Of all the Hindu temples in India, the wealthiest by far is the
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. According to Guinness World Records, this temple replaced
the Tirupati Temple (also in India) as the richest Hindu temple in the world in 2011 due to the
discovery of secret cellars containing a vast treasure of gold, silver and precious stones.It is also
said to resemble Angkor and also is a temple built for Vishnu.
One of the Holiest Abodes of Vishnu
The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is located in Thiruvananthapuram, which is situated in the
south-western Indian state of Kerala. The principal deity worshiped at this temple is Vishnu.
According
to
one
source,
the
Sree
Padmanabhaswamy
Temple
is
one
of
the
108 Divya Desams in India. These 108 temples are mentioned by the Hindu Azhvars (saints)
between the 6th and 9th centuries AD as the holiest abodes of Vishnu. Therefore, the Sree
Padmanabhaswamy Temple has been occupying an important place in the Hindu religion for a
very long time.
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is located in Thiruvananthapuram on LEFT Angkor at right
26
Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple during ‘Lakshadeepam’
There is a blurring of lines between fact and myth, between faith and reason, but it remains an
enigma to the believer and non-believer alike, offering a protective carapace to the faithful.
27
Who constructed the temple and when?
Answers to both cannot be retrieved from the mists of time. References in old chronicles,
allusions in a few important Sanskrit, Tamil and Malayalam verse narratives, as well as popular
legends, have together created a distinct and unmistakable chronicle of its antiquity. Anything
connected to the temple was regarded in high esteem and was seen as a symbol of divinity. The
Lord’s was the last word!
Sage Vilwanangalam and Divakara Muni
Legends have woven dramatic and interesting tales about how it all came into being. Among the
lores associated, two stories run on parallel lines and are related to two saintly and devout figures
from different eras — Sage Vilwamangalam and Divakara Muni — the former a Namboothiri by
birth, and the latter a Tulu Brahmin from the northern end of Kerala. What they shared in
common was their intense devotion to Lord Krishna.
The Playful Krishna
It is said that Krishna assumed the form of a human child and was his playful self in the
hermitage, often a nuisance during their prayers. When this became a routine, the normally patient
sages scolded and punished the prankster. The child vanished, reminding them they would have to
travel long and hard to see him again at Ananthankadu.
Journey to Ananthankadu
The repentant mendicants are said to have been on a difficult journey of self-realization and
discovery, and it is believed that they reached the spot where the present temple stands,
presumably the densely wooded Ananthankadu. Both versions make mention of a pariah woman
ho
was
instrumental
in
helping
the
28
mendicants
identify
the
place.
‘Ananthashayanam’
The vision of the child returned, manifesting as Sree Padmanabha, or Mahavishnu, the Preserver.
Unable to internalize this extremely huge form, he pleaded that the vision shrink to just three
times the size of his ‘yogadand’ or staff which would mean 18 feet in length.
When the transformation took place, the presence of the God made the sage perform three
circumambulations and make an offering of raw mango (the only thing available on the spot) in a
coconut shell. And to this day every ritual offering to the deity consists of the salted raw mango in
the original coconut shell (now covered with gold) used by the hermit.
Presence of a Pariah Woman
The third legend has a leitmotif that combines a human story with an element of the miraculous.
A pariah woman working near the woods saw a lovely infant, protected by a hooded serpent. She
immediately alerted the villagers who reported it to the ruler. Court astrologers confirmed the
presence of divinity and a temple was built at this spot, where the ruler of the land subsequently
built the present edifice.
The Virupaksha temple (originally called Lokesvara temple) at Pattadakal in Karnataka
29
CHAPTER III
What does it mean?
How The Sublime Vishnu Temple At Angkor Wat Is An
Expression Of Vedic Astronomy
By author Subhash
Kak-
2016
https://swarajyamag.com/culture/how-the-sublime-vishnu-temple-at-angkor-wat-is-an-expression-of-vedicastronomyThis piece was first published as a paper titled ‘The Solar Numbers in Angkor Wat’ The other two
works brilliantly written by the author and quoted ad verbatim here are: The Classical Hindu Temple: An Embodiment Of The
Astronomical Knowledge Of The Time/The Hindu Temple Is A Representation Of The Cosmos And The Mystery Of Time
The Classical Hindu Temple: An Embodiment Of The Astronomical Knowledge Of The Time,bySubhash Kak2016 https://swarajyamag.com/culture/the-classical-hindu-temple-an-embodiment-of-the-astronomical-knowledgeof-the-time
Śāstric ( holy hindy) texts describing the plan of the Hindu temple allude to its astronomical
basis, and in this, Indian sacred geometry is not different from the sacred geometry of other
ancient cultures. If astronomical alignments characterise ancient temples of megalithic Europe,
Egyptians, Maya, Aztecs, Javanese and Cambodians, they also characterise Indian temples. For
example, the garbhagriha of certain temples is illuminated by the setting sun only on a specific
day of the year, or the temple may deviate from the canonical east-west axis and be aligned with
a naksatra that has astrological significance for the patron or for the chosen deity of the temple.
A part of the astronomical knowledge coded in the temple layout and form is canonical or
traditional, while the rest relates to the times when the temple was erected. The astronomy of the
temple provides clues relevant not only to the architecture but also the time when it was built.
The Agnicayana altar, the centre of the great ritual of the Vedic times that forms a major portion
of the narrative of the Yajurveda, is generally seen as the prototype of the Hindu temple and of
Vāstu. The altar is first built of 1,000 bricks in five layers (that symbolically represent the five
divisions of the year, the five physical elements, as well as five senses) to specific designs. The
Agnicayana ritual is based upon the Vedic division of the universe into three parts, earth,
atmosphere, and sky (Figure 1), which are assigned numbers 21, 78, and 261, respectively; these
30
numbers add up to 360, which is a symbolic representation of the year. These triples are seen in
all reality, and they enlarge to five elements and five senses in a further emanation.
The householder had three altars of circular (earth), half-moon (atmosphere), and square (sky) at
his home (Figure 2), which are like the head, the heart, and the body of the cosmic purusa. In the
Agnicayana ritual, the atmosphere and the sky altars are built afresh in a great ceremony to the
east. The numerical mapping is maintained by placement of 21 pebbles around the earth altar,
sets of 13 pebbles around each of the 6 dhisnya (atmosphere for 13×6=78) altars, and 261
pebbles around the great new sky altar called the Uttara-vedi. The Uttara-vedi is equivalent to the
actual temple structure. Vāstu is the remainder that belongs to Rudra, and Vāstupurusa, the
temple platform, is where the gods reside, facing the central square, the Brahmasthāna. Given the
recursive nature of Vedic cosmology, we know that the Uttara-vedi also symbolised the patron in
whose name the ritual is being performed, as well as purusa and the cosmos.
The underlying basis of the Vedic representation and ceremony are the notions
of bandhu (equivalence or binding between the outer and the inner), yajña (transformation),
and paroksa (paradox). To represent two more layers of reality beyond the purely objective, a
sixth layer of bricks that includes the hollow svayamātrnnā brick with an image of the
golden purusa inside is made, some gold chips scattered and the fire placed, which constitutes
the seventh layer (ŚB 10.1.3.7). The five layers are taken to be equivalent to the Soma, the
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Rājasūya, the Vājapeya, the Aśvamedha and the Agnisava rites. The two layers beyond denote
completion, since seven is a measure of the whole. The meaning of this is that the ceremonies of
the great altar subsume all ritual.
According to ŚB 7.4.1, within the hollow brick in the navel of the Uttara-vedi, a lotus-leaf is
placed upon which is then placed a gold rukma (a disk, with 21 hangings), which symbolises the
sun. The golden purusa (representing Prajāpati as well as the Yajamāna himself) is laid on the
back with the head towards the east on top the rukma.
On the sides of the golden purusa are two offering spoons, like two arms. Upon this image is
placed the already-mentioned svayamātrnnā (self-perforated) brick. In total, there are three such
bricks, in the centre of the first, the third, and the fifth layers. There are seven more bricks placed
to the east of the svayamātrnnā brick in the fifth layer. Next is a wooden mortar, and on top of
the mortar is placed the ukhā, the firepan which becomes the focus of the fire ceremony. The
“sixth layer is the heavenly world, and the seventh layer is immortality” (ŚB 8.7.4.17-18).
That the worship of Śiva, Visnu, and Śakti emerged from Agnicayana is described at length by
Viśvambharanātha Tripāthī in his Agnicayana, which was published by Sampurnand Sanskrit
University in Varanasi in 1990. The temple is not merely the buildings, the deity, but also the
complex of the yajña, pūjā, or ceremonies performed there so that in totality it represents both
the being as well as the becoming. The becoming, or the transformation, requires the use of a
special vocabulary related to inner processes. Briefly, Rudra is one of the names of Agni.
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According to Vājasaneyi S. 16.2, Agni has two forms, the auspicious Śiva and the fierce Rudra.
During the building of the altar, Agni appears in its raudra manner, and to propitiate it, the
Śatarudriya homa is performed. This propitiation of Agni-Rudra is also done literally by a stream
of water that drops out of an earthen pot hung over the linga. In one of the constructions of
Nāciketa Agni, 21 golden bricks are placed one top of another to form the linga (Taittirīya Br.
3.1.1.6).
In the Vaisnava tradition, the visualised golden purusa is Visnu-Nārāyana, who emerges from
the navel of the lotus on the Uttara-vedi that represents the waters, and for this reason is also
called Padmanābha. The golden disk upon the lotus is then the sudarśana cakra of Visnu.
In the building of the Uttara-vedi, seven special krttikā bricks (named ambā, dulā, nitatni,
abhrayantī, medhayantī, varsayantī, cupunīkā) together with asādhā, which is the eighth, are
employed. The firepan (ukhā), which symbolises Śakti, the womb of all creation, is taken to
constitute the ninth. Nine represents completion (as well as renewal, as in the very meaning of
the Sanskrit word for nine, nava, or “new”) and symbolises the power of the Goddess. In later
representation, which continues this early conception, the nine triangles of the Śri-Cakra
represent Prakrti (as a three-fold recursive expansion of the triples of earth, atmosphere, and the
sky).
The ritual is a sacred theatre that describes dualities to help one transcend them. Rather than the
indirect reference to two golden birds of the Rgveda, ŚB 10.5.2.9- 11 says directly that there are
two individuals within the body: the one in the right eye is Indra (representing articulated force)
and the one in the left eye is Indrānī (Indra’s consort representative of Prakrti). “These two
persons in the eyes descend to the cavity of the heart and enter into union with each other, and
when they reach the end of their union, the individual sleeps.”
But our objective here is not on the connections between Agnicayana and the traditional Śaiva,
Vaisnava, or Śākta systems. Rather, we wish to focus on the narrow question of the layout of the
Agnicayana structures and relate it to the specifics of the dimensions of the axis and the
perimeter of the classical Hindu temple. I have described the astronomy underlying Vedic ritual
earlier in several books and papers and it will not be further mentioned here.1
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Photo: Wikimedia Commons
The Śatapatha Br. informs us that the altar is to represent the mystery of time. Its dimensions are
to represent earth. “As large as the altar is, so large is the earth” (ŚB 3.7.2.1) indicates that it
symbolically represents objective knowledge. The Śatapatha Śāndilya says:
— Prajāpati is the year, and the bricks are the joints, the days and nights. The altar is the earth,
the Agnicayana the air, and the mahad uktham the sky. The altar is the mind, the Agnicayana the
air, and the mahad uktham the speech (ŚB 10.1.2.2-3).
— The Year, doubtless, is the same as Death. Prajapati said: “You do not lay down all my forms,
making me either too small or too large. That is why you are not immortal... Lay down 360
enclosing stones, 360+36 yajusmati (special) bricks, and 10,800 lokamprnā (ordinary) bricks
and you will be laying down all my forms, and you will become immortal.” (ŚB 10.4.3.8) The
10,800 count represents the number of muhurtas (48-minute interval) in a year.
The special yajusmati bricks are placed 98 in the first layer, 41 in the second, 71 in the third, 47
in the fourth, and 138 in the fifth layer. These add up to 395; the earth filling between the bricks
34
is taken to be the 396th brick. The sum of the bricks in the fourth and fifth layers together with
one space filling is 186 (half the tithes in the solar year), the number of bricks in the third and the
fourth layers equals one third the number of days in the lunar year, and so on.
Clearly, the objective is to represent the fact of the 360 divisions of the year (the additional 36
days represent the intercalary month) as well as other astronomical facts. The bandhurelationship of the outer with the inner cosmos of the individual required an accurate
representation of the outer so that a correspondingly accurate measure of the inner would become
possible.
To understand how 10,800 lokamprnā bricks can fit the Uttara-vedi altar when the total number
of bricks in the construction of the five-layered altar of 7½ square purusa altar is only 1,000, note
that the ritual concludes at the end of the 95-year progressive enlargements of the altar by one
square purusa per year. When we reach the altar of area 101½ square purusa at the end, the
number of bricks it will require is:
1,000 × 2/15 × 203/2 = 13,533
Since not all the bricks are of the same size, it leaves room to place more than 3,000 smaller,
suitably marked bricks on the fifth layer (ŚB 10.2.1.9-11). When the size of the altar was
smaller, chanted meters could have substituted for the missing bricks.
Some of the ritual directly presents astronomical information as in the arrangement shown below
which is described in the Śatapatha as representing the motion of the sun around the earth (the
nākasads, ŚB 8.6.1). It is striking that this arrangement sees (accurately) the two halves of the
year as being unequal by the use of 29 special bricks in the fifth layer of the altar.
Figure 3: The representation of the sky in the fifth layer
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In the Agnicayana ritual, the ritual was performed in a special area where first the three fires of
the yajamāna are established in the west in an area called Prācinavamsa, “Old Hall”, or Patnisālā,
“Wife’s Hall”, whose dimensions are in the canonical ratio of 1:2.
Figure 4: The ritual ground
The Prācinavamsa (also called Prāgvamsa) has dimensions of 20×10 (Figure Four). Three steps
(three purusa) from it to the east (ŚB 3.5.1.1) is the Mahāvedi, which is an isosceles trapezoid of
spine 36 and the two sides of 30 and 24 units. The perimeter of the Mahāvedi is 126.25 whereas
that of the Prācinavamsa, taken separately, is 60. But the Prācinavamsa and the Mahāvedi are
two components of the larger sacred ground and, therefore, they should be taken together. This
unitary representation, in my view, is the plan of the prototype temple.
To see the significance of the plan, we now draw the Agniksetra within a rectangular area. It is
appropriate here to be guided by the proportions that are clearly spelt out, such as that of 1:2 for
the Prācinavamsa, as also by numbers that are in terms of the metre numbers, which are used in a
parallel representation of the altar. Amongst the metres, gāyatri (24) is the head, usnih (28) the
neck, anustubh (32) the thighs, brhati (36) the ribs, pankti (40) the wings, tristubh (44) the chest,
and jagati the hips; virāj (30) is invoked in the description of the Mahāvedi.
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I think for accord with the measures which are multiples of six, the left area was increased by an
additional 1 purusas to the west to become 24×30 as in Figure Five, which is described as an
appropriate proportion for a house in later texts such as Varāhamihira’s Brhat Samhitā (53.4)
indicating that it is an old tradition. The Prācinavamsa’s share to the perimeter is 24+30+24=78,
which is the atmosphere number. This is also in accord with the notion that the Prācinavamsa is
tripled in size in the completion of the Mahāvedi, going from 10×20 to 30×60.
Figure 5: The temple plan
This is the basic temple plan, and it has the overall dimensions 60×30, with a perimeter of 180. The overall temple
proportion of 1:2 is attested in later texts such as the Brhat Samhitā and Śilpa Prakāsa.
In the Mahāvedi, first an area to make the six dhisnya hearths under the Sadas, the shed or the
tent, is marked at six purusa from the left (ŚB 3.6.1.3). To further east is Havirdhāna, the cart
shed, and still further east, the Uttara-vedi, the great altar, in a square shape. One is enjoined to
make the altar with each side the size of the yoke (ŚB 3.5.1.34), which is 86 a¡gulas (120 angulas
= 1 purusa), or in a measure of 10 feet. Eggeling explains that there is disagreement regarding
the location and size since there is another option “between four other measurements, viz. he
may make it either one third of the area of the large altar, or of unlimited size, or of the size of
the yoke or of tem of the sacrificer’s feet”. (Eggeling, Vol II, page 119)
I believe this ambiguity is deliberate since the location of the Uttara vedi would depend on its
size, which is going to vary from 7½ square purusa to 101½ square purusa. In its basic
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placement, one would expect the determining factor to be the symmetry with the Sadas of six
purusa width. This means that the Uttara-vedi will be built 54 purusas from the west, or six
purusas from the east.
Thus, the great square altar at the extreme east end of the Mahāvedi is marked off at a point
which is 54 units away from the west end.
As the Agnicayana altars are made progressive larger by one square purusa each year in a 95year sequence, symmetry requirements imply that the centre of the Uttara-vedi will come closer
to the west. Therefore, in advanced constructions, the measure of 54 purusa separating the centre
of the Uttara-vedi from the western edge will not hold. A few examples of the shapes of the
Uttara-vedi are given in Figure Six.
Kurmacit-----------------------------------------------------Syenacit
Kankacit -------------------------
Caturascit
Figure Six: Four examples of Uttara-vedi: Kurmacit, Śyenacit, Kankacit, Caturscit ABOVE
38
Three of these represent time as turtle, eagle, and kite; in the later Caturascit, the representation
is square, in the shape of the Vāstupurusa mandala, and it is easy to see how that could be the
prototype for the traditional temple plan. The Vāstupurusa is usually of 64 (or 81) squares in
which the outer squares symbolise the 28 (or augmented 32) naksatras. The eight directions of
space are presided over by eight planets and eight divinities of the naksatras; these squares,
therefore, preside over the daily and the annual motions of the sun and the moon. Within the
Vāstupurusa mandala, 12 more assignments are made in the case of the 81-square plan for a total
of 45 divinities. Utpala’s commentary on the Brhat Samhita 53.75 speaks of how the building
should not face the corners of the square (of the cardinal directions) and how the direction
chosen is related to the remainder when the perimeter is divided by eight, indicating the
importance given to the perimeter.
The Axis And The Perimeter
The Agniksetra or the later temple plan of the Vedic ritual represents two significant numbers,
180 and 54, which, when doubled, correspond to astronomical knowledge related to the 360 days
of the year (attested in the Rgveda) and the ubiquitous number 108, which shows up as the
number of beads in the rosary (japamālā), the number of dance movements (karanas) of the
Nātya Śāstra, the names of the God and the Goddess, the number of pithas, the number of dhāms,
the number of arhats, and so on.
This number 108 has traditionally been derived from the auspicious number nine when written as
1 + 8, from where it also become the auspicious number 18 of the number of Purānas, or the
chapters of the Bhagavad Gita. The number 108 is further seen as being auspicious since it is
27×4 where 27 is the number of naksatras.
Some have pointed to its noteworthy number theoretic properties such as the symmetry in its
representation as the product of the square of two with the cube of three. The number 1,008, also
considered auspicious, is viewed as the enlargement of 108 with the interposition of a zero, but
this argumentation is incorrect since 10,008 is not an auspicious number. In truth, the
auspiciousness of 1,008 is related to the fact that the Kalpa has 1,008 mahāyugas, and thus this
number symbolises completion of time.
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In my Astronomical Code of the Rgveda, I argued that the correct interpretation of 108 is the
distance to the sun and the moon from the earth in sun and moon diameters. This number codes a
fundamental measure related to our physical universe. Figure Seven presents these proportions.
Figure 7: The earth, sun, moon system
The currently estimated mean diameter of the sun, Ds, is 1,392,000 km; the mean diameter of the
earth, De, is 12,742 km; and the diameter of the moon, Dm, is 3,476 km. The estimated average
distance between the earth and the sun is 149,600,000 km, so that
Average Distance to Sun/ Sun diameter ≈ 107.5
The distance between the earth and the moon varies considerably from the average perigee of
363,300 km to the average apogee of 405,500 km, for a mean of 384,400 km.
Average Distance to Moon/ Moon diameter ≈ 110.58
Diameter of Sun/ Earth diameter ≈ 109.24
It is, thus, correct for these distances to be approximated by the figure of 108. The origin of this
number in ancient India may be the discovery that a pole of a certain height removed to a
40
distance of 108 times its height has the same angular size as the sun or the moon. Therefore, the
knowledge of the astronomical significance of this number in ancient India is not to be taken as
anomalous. But since such a comparison made by the naked eye can only be correct to one or
two percent, it seemed logical to take the number to be the round number 108.
This interpretation of 108 cannot be taken to be a coincidence since we also have the numbers
261 and 78 explicitly associated with the atmosphere and the sky. Taken together, they add up to
339, which is approximately equal to 108×π, in accord with the notion that the sun, 108 units
away from the earth, will inscribe 339 disks from rising to setting. These numbers also show up
in the very organisation of the Rgveda and other texts, as I have explained elsewhere, confirming
their centrality in Vedic cosmological thinking.
This measure is also at the basis of the estimated distance to the sun in ancient Siddhāntic
treatises. On the other hand, there is no evidence for the correct estimate of the size of the sun.
Discussion
The plan of the Hindu temple, as seen in its earliest form in the Agnicayana rite, is a
representation of the cosmos. Its axis, from the western gateway to the garbhagrha in the east,
represents the distance to the sun (or the moon), and its perimeter represents the duration of the
year in terms of the number 360. Specifically, the ratio 360/108 would characterise the standard
temple in the proportions related to perimeter and axis.
Some later temples deviate from this standard in a variety of ways; in some, the perimeter is not
the lunar year of 360 tithis (or civil year of as many days) but rather its count of 354 days. In
others, the representation of the axis and the perimeter is not in linear measure but rather
expressed symbolically. Eight such deviations from the prototype make the layout unique and
interesting and can tell us much about the cosmological ideas of its times.
The temple itself, in its three-dimensional form, codes several rhythms of the cosmos and
specific alignments related to the geography of the place and the bandhu of the deity and the
yajamāna. The architecture may also incorporate themes related to royal power if it was built at
the behest of a king.
But this does not mean that the relationship of the Hindu temple is to the physical cosmos alone.
The Vedic philosophy of bandhu takes the numbers 360 and 108 to be central to the inner
cosmos of the individual also. Therefore, walking 108 steps to the sanctum, or doing the 108
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beads of the rosary, is also a symbolic journey from the body to the heart of consciousness,
which is the inner sun.( - https://swarajyamag.com/culture/the-hindu-temple-is-a-representationof-the-cosmos-and-the-mystery-of-time 2016 )
Eleanor Mannikka also explains in her book Angkor Wat: Time, Space and Kingship that the
spatial dimensions of Angkor Wat parallel the lengths of the four ages (Yuga) of classical Hindu
thought.
A yuga or 'age' in Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism), is a large period of time, as it relates to the
past, present and future. It is mostly used to describe one of the four dharmic ages - Satya
Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga or Kali Yuga -, or a cycle of the four ages, Chatur
Yuga.Depending on context, it can refer to one of the seasons, generations, reigns, kalpas (days
of Brahma), stages of creation (manifest, maintain, unmanifest), or 1,000 year periods.The
archaic form of the Sanskrit word "yuga" is "yug". Other forms are "yugam", "yugānāṃ" and
"yuge". In latin language, "juga", or "jug", is used from "jugum", meaning "yoke", used to
connect two oxen (e.g. cali-juga = kali-yuga). The word "yuga", as well as "yoga", is derived
from Sanskrit: युज्, romanized: yuj, lit. 'to join, or yoke', believed to be derived from proto-IndoEuropean language yeug, 'to join or unite'.
There are a total of four yugas: Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali Yuga, each
having 1/4th less duration and dharma than the previous (Satya most, Kali least). The descending
yugas see a gradual decline of dharma, wisdom, knowledge, intellectual capability, lifespan,
emotional and physical strength.
1.Thus the visitor to Angkor Wat who walks the causeway to the main entrance and through the
courtyards to the final main tower, which once contained a statue of Vishnu, is metaphorically
travelling back to the first age of the creation of the universe.
2. Like the other temple-mountains of Angkor, Angkor Wat also replicates the spatial universe in
miniature. The central tower is Mount Meru, with its surrounding smaller peaks, bounded in turn
by
continents
(the
lower
courtyards)
and
the
oceans
(the
moat).
The
seven-
headed naga (mythical serpent) becomes a symbolic rainbow bridge for humankind to reach the
abode of the gods.
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3. While Suryavarman II may have planned Angkor Wat as his funerary temple or mausoleum,
he was never buried there as he died in battle during a failed expedition to subdue the Dai Viet
(Vietnamese). It has long been known that the Angkor Wat temple astronomy is derived from
Puranic and Siddhantic ideas. The Vedic roots for the division of the solar year in Angkor Wat
run into two unequal halves. This division is across the equinoxes and that number has not
changed very much during the passage of time from the Brahmanas to the construction of the
Angkor Wat temple, so it is not surprising that it figures so prominently in the astronomy. It also
appears that the count of 189 days may have been obtained by doubling the measured period for
the spring season.
4. The astronomy of Angkor Wat has the lesson that the medieval and ancient Indian temple
complexes, which were also built with basic astronomical observations in mind, should be
examined for their astronomical bases. Read my papers on the subject them on
academia.edu,researchgate.net and scribd
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CHAPTER IV
The Cambodian temples are also ‘Rock” temples
Angkor Wat as a Mandala
According to ancient Sanskrit and Khmer texts, religious monuments and specifically temples
must be organized in such a way that they are in harmony with the universe, meaning that the
temple should be planned according to the rising sun and moon, in addition to symbolizing the
recurrent time sequences of the days, months and years. The central axis of these temples should
also be aligned with the planets, thus connecting the structure to the cosmos so that temples
become spiritual, political, cosmological, astronomical and geo-physical centers. They are, in
other words, intended to represent microcosms of the universe and are organized as mandalas. In
our paper
Angkor Wat, the front side of the main complex (Bjørn Christian Tørrissen/Wikimedia Commons)
The great Visnu temple of Angkor Wat was built by the Khmer Emperor Suryavarman II, who
reigned during AD 1113-50. This temple was one of the many temples built from AD 879-1191,
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when the Khmer civilisation was at the height of its power. The Visnu temple has been called
one of humankind’s most impressive and enduring architectural achievements.
More than 20 years ago, Science carried a comprehensive analysis by Stencel, Gifford and
Morón (SGM) of the astronomy and cosmology underlying the design of this temple. The
authors concluded that it served as a practical observatory where the rising sun was aligned on
the equinox and solstice days with the western entrance of the temple, and they identified 22
sighting lines for seasonally observing the risings of the sun and the moon. Using a survey by
Nafilyan and converting the figures to the Cambodian cubit or hat (0.435 m), SGM demonstrated
that certain measurements of the temple record calendric and cosmological time cycles.
In addition, SGM showed that the west-east axis represents the periods of the yugas. The width
of the moat is 439.78 hat; the distance from the first step of the western entrance gateway to
balustrade wall at the end of causeway is 867.03 hat; the distance from the first step of the
western entrance gateway to the first step of the central tower is 1,296.07 hat; and the distance
from the first step of bridge to the geographic center of the temple is 1,734.41 hat. These
correspond to the periods of 4,32,000, 864,000, 1,296,000, 1,728,000 years for the Kali,
Dvapara, Treta, and Krta yuga, respectively. SGM suggest that the very slight discrepancy in the
equations might be due to human error or erosion or sinking of the structure.
In the central tower, the topmost elevation has external axial dimensions of 189.00 hat east-west,
and 176.37 hat north-south, with the sum of 365.37. In the words of SGM, this is “perhaps the
most outstanding number” in the complex, “almost the exact length of the solar year.” But SGM
were not able to explain the inequality of the two halves, which is the problem that we take up in
this paper. We will show that these numbers are old Satapatha Brahmana numbers for the
asymmetric motion of the sun.
The Historical Background of Angkor Wat
The kings of the Khmer empire ruled over a vast domain that reached from what is now southern
Vietnam to Yunan, China and from Vietnam westward to the Bay of Bengal. The structures one
sees at Angkor today, more than 100 temples in all, are the surviving religious remains of a
grand social and administrative metropolis whose other buildings - palaces, public buildings, and
houses - were all built of wood and are long since decayed and gone. As in most parts of India,
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where wood was plentiful, only the gods had the right to live in houses of stone or brick; the
sovereigns and the common folk lived in pavilions and houses of wood.
Over the half-millenia of Khmer rule, the city of Angkor became a great pilgrimage destination
because of the notion of Devaraja, which has been explained by Lokesh Chandra as a coronation
icon. Jayavarman II (802-850) was the first to use this royal icon. According to Lokesh Chandra,
Devaraja means ‘King of the Gods’ and not ‘God-King’. He is Indra and refers to the highly
efficacious aindra mahabhiseka of the Rgvedic rajasuya tradition as elaborated in the
Aitareyabrahmana. It was not a simple but a great coronation, a mahabhiseka. It was of
extraordinary significance that Jayavarman II performed a Rgvedic rite, which lent him
charismatic authority.
The increasingly larger temples built by the Khmer kings continued to function as the locus of
the devotion to the Devaraja, and were at the same time earthly and symbolic representations of
mythical Mt Meru, the cosmological home of the Hindu gods and the axis of the world-system.
The symbol of the king’s divine authority was the sign (linga) of Siva within the temple’s inner
sanctuary, which represented both the axes of physical and the psychological worlds. The
worship of Siva and Visnu separately, and together as Harihara, had been popular for
considerable time in southeast Asia; Jayavarman’s chief innovation was to use ancient Vedic
mahabhiseka to define the symbol of government. To quote Lokesh Chandra further,
The icon used by Jayavarman II for his aindra mahabhiseka, his Devaraja = Indra (icon), became
the symbol of the Cambodian state, as the sacred and secular sovereignty denoted by
Prajapatısvara/Brahma, as the continuity of the vital flow of the universal (jagat) into the stability
of the terrestrial kingdom (raja = rajya). As the founder of the new Kambuja state, he contributed
a national palladium under its Cambodian appellation kamraten jagat ta raja/rajya. Whenever the
capital was transferred by his successors, it was taken to the new nagara, for it had to be
constantly in the capital.
Angkor Wat is the supreme masterpiece of Khmer art. The descriptions of the temple fall far
short of communicating the great size, the perfect proportions and the astoundingly beautiful
sculpture that everywhere presents itself to the viewer.
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As an aside, it should be mentioned that some European scholars tended to date Angkor Wat as
being after the fourteenth century. The principal reason was that some decorative motifs at
Angkor Wat show a striking resemblance to certain motifs of the Italian Renaissance. This
argument, which is similar to the one used in dating Indian mathematical texts vis-a-vis Greek
texts, has been proven to be wrong. In the words of Cœdes, “If there is some connexion between
the twelfth-century art of the Khmers, the direct heirs to the previous centuries, and the art of the
Renaissance, it must have been due to a reverse process, that is to the importation of oriental
objects into Europe.”
Astronomy of Altars and Temples
To understand the astronomical aspects of Angkor Wat, it is necessary to begin with the Indian
traditions of altar and temple design on which it is based. And since the Angkor Wat ritual
hearkened to the Vedic past, it stands to reason that its astronomy was also connected to the
Vedic astronomical tradition.
In a series of publications I have shown that the Vedic altars had an astronomical basis. In the
basic scheme, the circle represented the earth and the square represented the heavens or the deity.
But the altar or the temple, as a representation of the dynamism of the universe, required a
breaking of the symmetry of the square. As seen clearly in the agnicayana and other altar
constructions, this was done in a variety of ways. Although the main altar might be square or its
derivative, the overall sacred area was taken to be a departure from this shape. In particular, the
temples to the goddess were drawn on a rectangular plan. In the introduction to the Silpa
Prakasa, a ninth-twelfth century Orissan temple architecture text, Alice Boner writes, “[the Devı
temples] represent the creative expanding forces, and therefore could not be logically be
represented by a square, which is an eminently static form. While the immanent supreme
principle is represented by the number ONE, the first stir of creation initiates duality, which is
the number TWO, and is the producer of THREE and FOUR and all subsequent numbers upto
the infinite.” The dynamism is expressed by a doubling of the square to a rectangle or the ratio
1:2, where the garbhagrha is now built in the geometrical centre. For a three-dimensional
structure, the basic symmetry-breaking ratio is 1:2:4, which can be continued further to another
doubling.
47
The constructions of the Harappan period (2,600-1,900 BC) appear to be according to the same
principles. The dynamic ratio of 1:2:4 is the most commonly encountered size of rooms of
houses, in the overall plan of houses and the construction of large public buildings. This ratio is
also reflected in the overall plan of the large walled sector at Mohenjo Daro called the citadel
mound. It is even the most commonly encountered brick size.
There is evidence of temple structures in the Harappan period in addition to iconography that
recalls the goddess. Structures dating to 2000 BC, built in the design of yantras, have been
unearthed in northern Afghanistan. There is ample evidence for a continuity in the religious and
artistic tradition of India from the Harappan times, if not earlier. These ideas and the
astronomical basis continued in the architecture of the temples of the classical age. Kramrisch
has argued that the number 25,920, the number of years in the precessional period of the earth, is
also reflected in the plan of the temple.
According to the art-historian Alice Boner,
[T]he temple must, in its space-directions, be established in relation to the motion of the
heavenly bodies. But in as much as it incorporates in a single synthesis the unequal courses of
the sun, the moon and the planets, it also symbolises all recurrent time sequences: the day, the
month, the year and the wider cycles marked by the recurrence of a complete cycle of eclipses,
when the sun and the moon are readjusted in their original positions, anew cycle of creation
begins.
It is clear then that the Hindu temple is a conception of the astronomical frame of the universe. In
this conception, it serves the same purpose as the Vedic altar, which served to express the
motions of the sun and the moon. The progressive complexity of the classical temple was
inevitable given an attempt to bring in the cycles of the planets and other ideas of the yugas into
the scheme.
A text like the Silpa Prakasa would be expected to express the principles of temple construction
of the times that led to the Angkor Wat temple. Given the prominence to the yuga periods in
Angkor Wat and a variety of other evidence, it is clear that there is a continuity between the
Vedic and Puranic astronomy and cosmology and the design of Angkor Wat.
Solar and lunar measurements
Some of the solar and lunar numbers that show up in the design of the Angkor Wat temple are
the number of naksatras, the number of months in the year, the days in the lunar month, the days
of the solar month, and so so. Lunar observations appear to have been made from the causeway.
48
SGM list 22 alignments in their paper, these could have been used to track not just the solar and
lunar motions but also planetary motions.
The division of the year into the two halves: 189 and 176.37 has puzzled SGM. But precisely the
same division is described in the Satapatha Brahmana. In layer 5 of the altar described in the
Satapatha, a division of the year into the two halves in the proportion 15:14 is given. This
proportion corresponds to the numbers 189 and 176.4, which are just the numbers used at
Angkor Wat.
Consider the physics behind the asymmetry in the sun’s orbit. The period from the autumnal
equinox to the vernal equinox is smaller than the opposite circuit. The interval between
successive perihelia, the anomalistic year, is 365.25964 days, which is 0.01845 days longer than
the tropical year on which our calendar is based. In 1,000 calendar years, the date of the
perihelion advances about 18 days. The perihelion was roughly on 18 December during the time
of the construction of Angkor Wat; and it was on 27 October during early second millennium
BC, the most likely period of the composition of the Satapatha Brahmana. In all these cases, the
perihelion occurs during the autumn/winter period, and so by Kepler’s 2nd law we know that the
speed of the sun in its orbit around the earth is greater during the months of autumn and winter
than in spring and summer.
During the time of the Satapatha Brahmana, the apogee was about midway through the spring
season, which was then somewhat more than 94 days. The extra brick in the spring quadrant may
symbolically reflect the discovery that this quarter had more days in it, a discovery made at a
time when a satisfactory formula had not yet been developed for the progress of the sun on the
ecliptic.
It is possible that the period from the spring equinox to the fall equinox was taken to be about
189 days by doubling the period of the spring season; 176 days became the period of the reverse
circuit.
49
Why not assume that there was no more to these numbers than a division into the proportions
15:14 derived from some numerological considerations? First, we have the evidence from
the Satapatha Brahmana that expressly informs us that the count of days from the winter to the
summer solstice was different, and shorter, than the count in the reverse order. Second, the altar
design is explicitly about the sun’s circuit around the earth and so the proportion of 15:14 must
be converted into the appropriate count with respect to the length of the year. Furthermore, the
many astronomical alignments of the Angkor Wat impress on us the fairly elaborate system of
naked-eye observations that were the basis of the temple astronomy.
But since precisely the same numbers were used in Angkor Wat as were mentioned much earlier
in the Satapatha Brahmana, one would presume that these numbers were used as a part of
ancient sacred lore. We see the count between the solstices has been changing much faster than
the count between the equinoxes because the perigee has been, in the past two thousand years,
somewhere between the autumn and the winter months. Because of its relative constancy, the
count between the equinoxes became one of the primary ‘constants’ of Vedic/Puranic astronomy.
The equinoctial half-years are currently about 186 and 179, respectively, and were not much
different when Angkor Wat temple was constructed. Given that the length of the year was known
to considerable precision, there is no reason to assume that these counts were not known. But it
appears that a ‘normative’ division according to the ancient proportion was used.
As it was known that the solar year was about 365.25 days, the old proportion of 15:14 would
give the distribution 188.92 and 176.33, and that is very much the Angkor Wat numbers of 189
and 176.37 within human error. In other words, the choice of these ‘constants’ may have been
determined by the use of the ancient proportion of 15:14. How The Sublime Vishnu Temple At
Angkor Wat Is An Expression Of Vedic Astronomy.(Subhash Kak- 2016,https://swarajyamag.com/culture/howthe-sublime-vishnu-temple-at-angkor-wat-is-an-expression-of-vedic-astronomyThis piece was first published as a paper titled ‘The Solar
Numbers in Angkor Wat’
50
CHAPTER V
Sectional Perspective of Angkor Wat and Indian temple
Sectional Perspective of Angkor Wat and Indian temple at RIGHT Indian Temple
Comparison between Angkor Wat and an Indian Buddhist temple at Paharpur
Somapura Mahavihara in Paharpur, is among the best known Buddhist Viharas in the Indian
Subcontinent and is one of the most important archeological sites in the country. Somapura
Mahavihara, an ancient Buddhist monastry was built between 700-800 A.D during the reign of a
Buddhist empire According to the Bengali Vocabulatory, the name Paharpur (Pahar = hill, pur =
51
locality) means a locality of hill. World-famous Angkor Wat temple of Cambodia was inspired
by this Somapura Mahavihara Paharpur.Comparative Analysis of Paharpur Temple and Angkor
Wat.
Within the walls is a courtyard containing the remains of a traditional Buddhist stupa.
Each side of the monastery measures some 900 feet (270 metres) in length and is
composed of monks' cells;
Each worshipping point, excepting the southern one, has a staircase connection with the
monastery courtyard in front.
The monastery is square in plan, being 281m on each side. The structure holds more than
170 such cells and 92 altars of worship.
Two entrance provisions on the north and one in the east. Temple plan of Paharpur
The central shrine is a terraced structure springing from a cruciform ground plan and
expanding from a mid-pile of square configuration. The unflustered wall surfaces of the
lower two terraces are decorated with friezes containing terracotta plaques showing
different scenes. The courtyard around the central shrine is dotted with several units of
straggling structural ruins. Of them, Panchavede , a group of five votive stupas. Evidence
of other sacred objects and shrines is found throughout, including the Jaina chaturmukhar
structure, which displays the artistic and religious influences of the monastery's three
main residential groups: images of Jaina deities abound on its main walls, and Buddhist
terra-cotta artwork and sacred Hindu sculptures are found on its base walls.
During rain, the excavated place becomes a lake, completely placing the lower areas of
the underground room wall together with their unique rock and clay relieves, resulting in
52
damage by the activity of salt and dangerous plants growth, while water increasing by
capillary activity impacts the higher areas.
Entrance in Paharpur is from north and east whereas in Angkor Wat it is from the west.
Sikhara of Angkor Wat ws terraced wheres in Paharpur it could have been terraced but it
is still unknown.
Paharpur was of brick and Angkor Wat was of stone.
Paharpur monastery is much older than those and more importantly Buddhism spread to
south-east asia via bengal, so is the architecture and its not the whole monastery, only it's
ruins.
The 3d image of assumed Paharpur compared with Angkor Wat could have been like
this- Paharpur complex is similar but much smaller in scale to Angkor Wat.The basic
idea is the same, massive central stupa surrounded by smaller and more and more
numerous stupas. Some other diffrences we get are –
Bas reliefs speak of Hindu God Vishnu in Angkor Wat and in Paharpur it speaks
of more or less Buddhist culture. Comparative Analysis
Angkor wat has a huge water moat for protection whereas Paharpur does not have it.
REFERENCES
2https://swarajyamag.com/culture/the-hindu-temple-is-a-representation-of-the-cosmos-and-the-mystery-of-time
2016
3. Eleanor Mannikka explains in her book Angkor Wat: Time, Space and Kingship Angkor Wat: Ars Orientalis,
Published By: The Smithsonian Institution
4.Read them on academia.edu,researchgate.net and scribd
5 https://in.musafir.com/Blog/the-indian-twin-of-angkor-wat-cambodia-worlds-largest-religious-monument.aspx
6. How The Sublime Vishnu Temple At Angkor Wat Is An Expression Of Vedic Astronomy
Subhash Kak- 2016,https://swarajyamag.com/culture/how-the-sublime-vishnu-temple-at-angkor-wat-is-anexpression-of-vedic-astronomyThis piece was first published as a paper titled ‘The Solar Numbers in Angkor
Wat’
The other two works brilliantly written by the author and quoted ad verbatim here are: The Classical Hindu Temple:
An Embodiment Of The Astronomical Knowledge Of The Time
The Hindu Temple Is A Representation Of The Cosmos And The Mystery Of Time
53
CHAPTER VI
The temple of Angkor Wat, the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge, and the famous statues on Easter
Island were all built without the conveniences of modern technology. Ancient peoples didn't have
access to forklifts, hydraulic cranes, or flatbed trucks. So how did they build the temples and
statues that we admire today?
In some cases, all they needed was rope, a little manpower, and some ingenious carving. Other
construction projects required harnessing the seasons, people, and animals to transport stone
blocks weighing many tons to construction sites.A new study published this week in the
journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that ice roads lubricated with
water enabled workers in 15th- and 16th-century China to slide stone blocks to Beijing in order
to build palaces in the Forbidden City. (See "Beijing's Forbidden City Built on Ice Roads.")
Making nature work for them is a common theme in the techniques experts think ancient
peoples used to build their monuments and temples."We forget that ancient people are just as
smart as we are," said Terry Hunt, an archaeologist at the University of Oregon who studies the
Polynesian culture of Easter Island. "In fact, they may have been better focused because they
didn't have our distractions."Here are some of the ingenious ways in which ancient workers
hauled, slid, and walked the huge stone pieces needed for their big engineering projects from
quarries to construction sites.
Easter Island Statues
Harnessing physics and gravity may help explain an enduring Polynesian myth about how the
stone statues of Easter Island (map), otherwise known as moai, "walked" from the quarries to
the coast.Erecting stone statues is common in Polynesian cultures as a way of paying respects
to the ancestors..When Polynesians first arrived on Easter Island—or Rapa Nui—in the 1200s,
they brought the practice with them. They carved and erected the moai pretty much from the
time they arrived on the island until sometime between 1722, when Europeans first arrived,
54
and 1774, said Lipo.But how they managed to move statues carved from volcanic rock—
weighing 5 to 80 tons (4.5 to 73 metric tonnes)—the 6 to 8 miles (10 to 12 kilometers) from a
quarry to their resting places has been a contested subject for some time.Theories range from
simply dragging the moai to a display area, or ahu, to mounting them on a kind of sled and
rolling them on tree trunks. One hypothesis, put forth by noted researcher, author, and National
Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Jared Diamond, posits that Easter Island residents used a
kind of "ladder" to help transport their statues.First suggested by Jo Anne Van Tilburg at
UCLA, the ladders consisted of two wooden rails attached by fixed crosspieces that were laid
down on the ground. In Diamond's book Collapse, he describes how the Rapanui would lash a
statue to a wooden sled and then slide the entire package along the ladder to the display areas.
Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl and Czech engineer Pavel Pavel have both suggested the moai
walked from the quarries to the ahu in the mid-1900s and in 1990. But in 2011, Lipo and Hunt
published a fleshed-out explanation of their hypothesis about how, rather than being dragged in
one way or another, the statues of Easter Island were walked to their destinations.In their
book The Statues That Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island, they argue that the
shape of unfinished statues—with their forward-leaning bellies and D-shaped bases—would
have allowed people to rock a statue from side to side as it tipped forward. It's similar to how
one might rock a refrigerator across the floor, said Lipo.
In 2011, funded by a grant from National Geographic's Expeditions Council, Lipo and Hunt
demonstrated this movement with a ten-foot-tall, five-ton replica statue and a team of 18
people.They were able to walk their statue 330 feet (100 meters) in 40 minutes. The Rapanui
probably could have gone across the island with a statue in a matter of weeks in this fashion,
said Lipo.Once a statue arrived at an ahu, Hunt and Lipo believe workers would refashion the
base so that the monolith could stand on its own. They would also add eyes and, on some of
the statues, a headpiece.One of the more surprising things, according to Hunt, was how easy it
was once the team of people got the statue rocking. "It sort of starts walking itself," he said.
"It's a little eerie—this multi-ton thing is walking and we're not trying very hard to make it
move."
Temple of Angkor Wat
55
The seat of the Khmer kingdom from the 9th to the 15th centuries, the ancient city of
Angkor—in what is now Cambodia—is perhaps best known for the temple of Angkor Wat.
(See the city of Angkor in 3-D.)"Angkor Wat is only one temple among others," said
Christophe Pottier, an archaeologist and architect with the French Institute for Asian Studies in
Bangkok and an expert on the ancient city.But it is the largest temple, and its design is heavily
influenced by Indian and Chinese cultures, he explained.Trade relations with India and China
ensured they left their mark on the Khmer, said Pottier. "Angkor is really at the crossroads of
two giant civilizations, and [the Khmer] benefited from both."Indian religion played a
prominent role in the design of many of Angkor's temples, Pottier said. "They are not palaces;
they are not places for the living. They were houses for gods."The Khmer gods lived on top of
a mythical mountain called Mount Meru. And so Angkor's temples were built as monoliths to
symbolize that mountain.The city is situated in an alluvial plain, said Pottier. So when the
Khmer first started building their temples in the ninth century, they used bricks made of clay
dug up from the surrounding areas.
But starting in the tenth century, they began to use stone blocks in their construction.The
quarries that produced those blocks were about 31 to 43 miles (50 to 70 kilometers) away in a
sandstone plateau.Of the blocks used in Angkor's temples, 90 to 95 percent were between 440
and 660 pounds (200 to 300 kilograms), said Pottier. And initially, experts thought ancient
workers used roads to transport the stones to the city.But about 30 to 40 years ago, researchers
identified canals linking Angkor to the quarries, Pottier explained. Most likely, the Khmer u sed
rafts to float the blocks down to the city, especially during the rainy season, he said."During
the dry season, [they] would have concentrated more on carving the blocks and assembling
them."
Once the blocks reached construction sites in Angkor, workers could have rolled the stones on
wooden rollers for short distances, the archaeologist explained. A system of scaffolding,
levees, and pulleys likely enabled the Khmer to position the blocks while constructing their
temples,
Pottier
added.
(Learn
more
about
the city
of
Angkor in National
Geographic magazine.)
Stonehenge
It seems the mysteries surrounding this Stone Age monument are endless. But one of the more
down-to-Earth questions that has tugged at the imagination of experts, and the public, is how
56
early Britons managed to move the monument's enormous stones into place.Two main kinds of
stone were used to build Stonehenge: bluestones, which make up the monument's inner ring,
and sarsen stones, which populate the outer ring. The sarsens have been moved about 40 to 50
kilometers [25 to 31 miles] from essentially local sources. They were most likely moved over
land routes mounted on sleds, which then slid across rollers or rails, he explained. Some of the
bigger sarsens weigh about 40 tons (36 metric tonnes) and would need about 150 people to pull
them along, Darvill added. Stonehenge sarsens weigh about 20 tons [18 metric tonnes] or
more, and sliding the stones on rails can be slightly unstable.
The favorite theory is that stone-carrying sledges slid along logs lubricated with water. Such a
method appears in Egyptian and Mesopotamian depictions, although Pearson doesn't think
there
is
any
connection
between
Stonehenge
and
Egypt
or
Mesopotamia.The
bluestones, sourced 155 miles (250 kilometers) away in Wales, needed to travel much farther
along different routes to Salisbury Plain (map)"There are various route options, but all involve
crossing major rivers or using the sea routes around the coast," he said. Experiments show that
even the largest bluestones, which weigh in at 4 tons (3.6 metric tonnes), could travel
waterways via rafts.
Egyptian Pyramids
Theories abound on how ancient Egyptians moved the enormous limestone and sandstone
blocks into place for their pyramids. But how did they transport these blocks, some weighing
hundreds of tons, from the quarries to the construction sites? The use of Nile whenever
possible enabled the stone movement from mainly quarries in ancient Egypt were located
along the Nile, so the transportation distances were relatively short. But for quarries located
tens to hundreds of miles from construction sites, ancient Egyptians probably used a
combination of manpower, sleds and rollers, and waterways to transport their building
materials, Basalt quarries in Egypt's northwestern Faiyum desert (map), about 31 to 37 miles
(50 to 60 kilometers) southwest of Cairo, produced blocks that weighed up to ten tons (nine
metric tonnes).In the Old Kingdom, about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago, workers would wedge a
block out of the side of a Faiyum quarry and let it fall onto a paved road, explained Storemyr.
The road wended its way southward for seven miles (12 kilometers) until it reached a nowdried-out lake that connected to the Nile River.Workers would then take their stone block up
the Nile to the intended construction site.Some sort of railway could have been made with
57
some type of wood with fixed beams that a sledge that the stone is mounted on could be
dragged on with lots of people, lots of rope, lots of animals.The railway, mounted on top of the
paved road, would enable workers and animals to lug a stone on top of its sled to the lake and,
eventually, up the Nile to the emerging pyramids.
1
Once upon a time, or around 1580, while cutting a path through the thick Cambodian jungle,
Portuguese missionaries came upon huge towers carved into rocks that were in ruins and covered
in roots and vines. Continuing on, they discovered an ancient lost city that was twice as large as
Manhattan and that nature was trying to swallow. The missionaries had discovered abandoned
Angkor Wat—the 500-acre site is one of the world’s largest religious monuments and the most
elaborate of the Angkor’s temples. There are more than 1,000 Temples of Angkor which were
built from the 9th to 13th centuries during a time when the Kingdom of Cambodia was one of the
most powerful civilizations on the planet. There were rarely any inscriptions found in later
centuries after 1431, when Angkor was seized by the Thai army. During its prime, as many as
750,000 – one million people lived in Angkor, making it one of the greatest vanishing acts of all
time. Archaeologists now know that Angkor Wat and many of its surrounding structures were
built to appease “devas” and “asuras” which are angelic demi-Gods of the Hindu religion.
Thousands upon thousands of these demi-god beings are carved into every single rock temple at
the site. Both Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones Temple of Doom were filmed here. Angkor
Archaeological Park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992. New research claims
to have solved the mystery of how the huge stones of Angkor Wats were moved. “The massive
sandstone bricks used to construct the 12th-century temple of Angkor Wat were brought to the
site via a network of hundreds of canals. The findings shed light on how the site’s 5 million to 10
million bricks, some weighing up to 3,300 pounds, made it to the temple from quarries at the
base of a nearby mountain.” The mystique of Angkor may cry out to the adventurer in us all, but
the roots and trees are now being cut back as Angkor is being restored. So many people come
here, about 2 – 3 million a year; all that walking and climbing on the (mostly) sandstone
monuments caused additional damage to the archaeological sites at Angkor. These photos
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1.From Angkor Wat to Stonehenge: How Ancient People Moved Mountains. From temples to pyramids
to statues, ancient techniques moved giant blocks. J A N E J . L E E , N A T I O N A L
G E O G R A P H I C ,2013.
58
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/11/131106-how-ancient-people-moved-huge-
structures-archaeology/
hearken to ancient Angkor as the Temples of Doom for a Tomb Raider to explore.
“Echoes of Silence; the beauty and mystical ambiance of Ta Prohm. Angkor, Cambodia,” the
photographer wrote. Photo #1 by Peter Nijenhuis
Buddhist monks in front of the reflection pool at Angkor Wat, Cambodia, the city’s most notable
edifice. It was built to represent the Hindu “Mountain of the Gods,” and served as a funerary
temple. The main temple of Angkor Wat was built between 1113 and 1150 “by King
Suryavarman II.” Suryavarman ascended to the throne after prevailing in a battle with a rival
prince. An inscription says that, in the course of combat, Suryavarman leapt onto his rival’s war
elephant and killed him, just as the mythical bird-man Garuda slays a serpent.” Photo #2 by Sam
Garza
59
Aerial of Angkor Wat. The Earth Observatory explains, “Tucked deep in the Cambodian
rainforest, the ancient Angkor Wat temple is considered one of the most valuable architectural
sites in Asia. Angkor Wat is the pinnacle of the city of Angkor, capital of the once-powerful
Khmer Empire of Southeast Asia. The temple was built by Suryavarman II between 1113 and
1150 AD. Dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, Angkor Wat is a representation of Mount Meru,
home of the gods and the center of the Hindu universe. In addition to its unique pyramid temple
architecture, Angkor Wat is covered with intricate bas-relief carvings of Hindu epics. At the
center of Angkor Wat are five towers that represent the five peaks of Mount Meru. The round
towers mark out the corners and the center of the innermost square of the complex. Like the
mountain peaks they represent, the towers are pointed on top. The pinnacle of each tower is
slightly lighter than the surrounding black stone in this image
60
The Iconic tree at Ta Prohm, Siem Reap, Cambodia. According to Wikitravel, “Built during the
time of king Jayavarman VII and is best known as the temple where trees have been left
intertwined with the stonework, much as it was uncovered from the jungle. It might be
considered in a state of disrepair but there is a strange beauty in the marvelous strangler fig trees
which provide a stunning display of the embrace between nature and the human handiwork. This
is one of the most popular temples after Angkor Wat and the Bayon because of the beautiful
combinations of wood and stone.”
The massive sandstone bricks used to construct the 12th-century temple of Angkor Wat were
brought to the site via a network of hundreds of canals, according to new research.
The findings shed light on how the site's 5 million to 10 million bricks, some weighing up to
3,300 pounds (1,500 kilograms), made it to the temple from quarries at the base of a nearby
mountain.
"We found many quarries of sandstone blocks used for the Angkor temples and also the
transportation route of the sandstone blocks," wrote study co-author Estuo Uchida of Japan's
Waseda University, in an email. In the 12th century, King Suryavarman II of the Khmer Empire
began work on a 500-acre (200 hectare) temple in the capital city of Angkor, in what is now
Cambodia. The complex was built to honor the Hindu god Vishnu, but 14th-century leaders
converted the site into a Buddhist temple.
One of the big questions about the construction of Angkor is how the stones were transported to
the building sites from quarries in the Kulen hills to the north. For years there’s been a theory
that the blocks took a rather round-about route, moving by water southward to the Tonle Sap,
61
Cambodia’s great lake, then along the lake’s shoreline, then up the Siem Reap River (against the
current, no less) to Angkor.
Now comes a study that concludes the route may have been much more direct, and made no use
of the lake. Geologist Estuo Uchida of Japan’s Waseda University, co-author of the study, says
that analysis of satellite images suggests the presence of an ancient canal that connected Kulen
quarries pretty much straight to the Angkor area. During the Angkor period, there were five
Royal Roads linking the capital city of Angkor with provincial principal cities. Seven Temples
d'étape, six Fire Shrines, and 25 masonry bridges were constructed along the East Royal Road to
Preah Khan of Kompong Svay.Most of the sandstone blocks for the bridge balustrades were
supplied from quarries in the southeastern foothills of Kulen Mountain, but that the bridges close
to Preah Khan of Kompong Svay have sandstone balustrades supplied from nearby quarries.
There were five sources of supply of ranges of laterite blocks were narrower than those of the
sandstone blocks. Judging from magnetic susceptibilities, supply ranges, shapes, orientations of
bedding planes, and stacking methods of the stone blocks, it was concluded that the construction
age of the bridges is highly likely to have been in the early Angkor Wat period.
Supply ranges of stone blocks used in masonry bridges and their construction period along the East Royal
Road in the Khmer Empire, Cambodia,Etsuo Uchida's Lab,Heritage Science 8(38):1-16, April 2020
Over the years, quite a lot of academic brainpower has gone into trying to answer questions
of which stones came from where. Have a look at the website of the Cambodia Stone Project, a
fascinating consortium of experts from many countries of the world. Their job requires both a lot
of field research and skill at theorizing and connecting dots. There are no records from the era to
tell how stones were transported the long distances, and the temples’ bas reliefs of daily life
aren’t much help, including only a few scenes that appear to show construction workers.
A stream-bed quarry near Beng Mealea temple
62
The skills of Khmer sculptors and master masons were remarkable, but I’ve always been
moved too by the handiwork of the less celebrated people who birthed the stones. A great place
to see that is a humble little quarry on the banks of a stream near Beng Mealea temple. Over the
centuries, the flow of water softened sharp edges, but you can still see what resembles a ghostly
staircase leading down to the stream, where block after block were removed in sequence. Here
and there individual chisel strokes are visible. Probably the blocks were floated downstream to
Beng Mealea to take their allotted places as the great monument rose in the 12th Century. The
quarry’s easy to reach if you’d like to take a look. About a kilometer past Beng Mealea on the
road to Koh Ker, you come to a bridge across the stream. The quarry’s right beneath it.1
Floating stones-(Image: Richard Nowitz/NGS)
___________________________________________________________________
Mystery of Angkor Wat Temple's Huge Stones Solved, Tia Ghose,
LIFE
IT IS never too late to find a shortcut. Centuries after the construction of Cambodia’s Angkor
Wat, archaeologists have uncovered traces of a series of canals that suggest the 5 million tonnes
of sandstone used to build the temples took a far shorter route than previously thought.
The sandstone blocks each weigh up to 1.5 tonnes and originate from quarries at Mount Kulen. It
was thought they were taken 35 kilometres along a canal to Tonlé Sap Lake, rafted another 35
km along the lake, then taken up the Siem Reap River for 15 km, against the current.
Thinking this was unlikely, Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda of Waseda University in Tokyo,
Japan, used satellite images to search for a shortcut. The canals they discovered led from the foot
of Mount Kulen to Angkor – a gentle 34-km route, as opposed to the arduous 90-km trek
63
previously suggested. The pair also uncovered more than 50 quarries at the foot of Mount Kulen
and along the route. The stones they found matched those in the temples (Journal of
Archaeological Science, doi.org/jhf).
It is believed by researchers like Uchida that all the stone used for the monuments was probably
transported along these canals.However, Some others believe the canals were used for several
purposes, including the transportation of important minerals such as iron.1
The huge stones from which the Cambodian temple complex Angkor Wat is built were carried to
the area by a series of since-filled in canals, a new study claims.The 12th century temple complex
is built from five to ten million sandstone blocks weighing up to 1.5 tons that were hewn from
quarries at the base of nearby Mount Kulen.It was built during the reign of just one king, raising
the question of how so many stones where transported from the sacred mountain to the temple site
in just a few decades.
Mystery of the Khemer stones solved - they were 'brought to the area by a massive network
of canals'-Findings reveal how 12th century temple complex was built out
of millions of stone blocks weighing up to 1.5tons in just a few decades.By DAMIEN GAYLE
The Sandstone Quarries of the Angkor Monuments in the Southeastern Foothills of Kulen
Mountain.
More than 50 sandstone quarriethe were discovered on the southeastern foot of Mt. Kulen, which
is approximately 35 km northeast of the Angkor monuments quarried at different times. A canal
64
was identified by satellite images, connecting quarry sites at the foot of Mt. Kulen to the Angkor
monuments and there is a high probability that the canal was used for the transportation of
sandstone blocks from Mt. Kulen. This lithotype,( an etched stone surface for printing a design
in reliefalso : an imprint made from it ) which has also been called grey or green sandstone,
arkose, or gray to yellowish brown sandstone, is occurring extensively in architectural elements
and stone blocks of the Angkor period and has been also identified in most of the decorative
sculptures of Angkor styles collected in the Musée Guimet and at the National Museum of
Cambodia. This stone, which constitutes the main subhorizontal tablelands of Northern
Cambodia, was the preferred building material during the highly centralized Angkor kingdom.
A specific role in the Angkor sculptural production is played by a volcanic-rich graywacke
According to the existing data, the stone used for the images of deities placed inside the
sanctuaries continued to be different from building and decorative stone material also during the
Angkorian period- graywacke green to bluish greywacke, very fine, compact, feldspar-rich
sandstone.. This sandstone, markedly immature and rich in volcanic rock fragments, was
predominantly used during the reign of Jayavaraman VII for Bayon style statuary (ca. 1180–ca.
1230).Finally, quartz arenite of different color and grain size is found predominantly in
decorated architectural elements of pre-Angkor and Angkor period and this particular lithotype
represents the favorite stone material for the architectural element of intricate details. In this
case, the choice of a specific stone seems to have been influenced mostly by technical
motivations rather than geographical or historical reasons.
The 2009 Survey of Khmer Quarries in Siem Reap and Preah Vihear Provinces to acquire and
analyze rock samples shows where this stone is used in architectural elements, lintels and
columns of different periods2
Restoration of the Angkor monuments by Japanese Government Team for Safeguarding Angkor, Etsuo Uchida Et
al. JOURNAL OF MINERALOGY PETROLOGY AND ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 93(11):411-426,998
2.Federico Carò, "From Quarry to Sculpture: Understanding Provenance, Typologies, and Uses of Khmer Stones."
New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–, http://www.metmuseum.org/research/conservation-andscientific-research/scientific-research/khmer-stones (June 2009, updated January 2014)
65
Buddhist or Hindu temples built mainly of sandstone and laterite.Angkor was built from
sandstone quarries from 145 locations in an area around a 2 km east-west bank in Kulen
Mountain's southeastern foothills. Seven Angkor quarrying areas (Areas A to G) which pointed
towards the fact that in the Angkor period , sandstone block quarrying began near the bank's
eastern end, then moved counterclockwise to the north side of the bank. 1
A 2012–2013 pilot archaeological excavation by the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO)
and University of Sydney in the World Heritage Site of Angkor has discovered the location of
the first historical bronze workshop in all Southeast Asia. Located next to the Royal Palace of
Angkor Thom, the first identified royal workshop of Angkor and the region was of considerable
importance to the political elite who commissioned its products to furnish its palaces and temples
with
objects,
and
to
legitimize
its
rule
with
images
of
the
gods.
The Artisans: Between the 9th and 15th centuries CE the builders and artisans of Angkor and its
territories furnished their landscapes with thousands of temples and tens of thousands of sacred
sculptures, yet the operational behaviour of these craft specialists is little known. Appraisal of
the procurement of raw materials, manufacturing methods, and sites of production for the makers
66
of temples and sculptures reveal that a production site associated with the temple of Bakong was
identified by surface remains of sandstone debitage and unfinished sculptures.
Excavation revealed a 9th-century building associated with large-scale sandstone waste deposits
and another phase of sculpture production in the 12th and 13th centuries. The site was likely
used as a dump for construction of nearby temples and later to produce images of the gods
destined for veneration. Moreover, the workshop was part of a network of craft specialists who
sourced many thousands of tons of specific sandstone across the Angkorian landscape.
Quarries and transportation routes of Angkor monument sandstone blocks
The Angkor monuments are the World Cultural Heritages constructed in the 9th century to the
13th century. Sandstone, laterite and brick are the main stone materials used in the monuments.
In a study, the sandstones used in the 28 main monuments were investigated and compared to
each other. the quarry of the sandstones changed with the times. For the grey to yellowish brown
sandstones, there is however no significant difference in regard to the constitutent mineral, bulk
chemical composition and chemical compositions of plagioclase and garnet. The percentage of
the sandstone blocks with the vertical bedding plane decreased abruptly after West Mebon
construction. This fact means that the monuments have began to be constructed with taking
account the orientation of the bedding plane of the sandstone after West Mebon construction.
The sandstones can be divided into three types : (1) grey to yellowish brown sandstones, (2) red
sandstone and (3) greenish greywacke. The grey to yellowish brown sandstone is most popular
and used in almost all monuments. Based on the magnetic susceptibility of the grey to yellowish
brown sandstone, the investigated monuments can be divided into 8 groups except for Banteay
Srei. From the ninth to the thirteenth century, Angkor was one of the most advanced urban
centres in the world. Some estimates suggest that the population numbered close to a
million people, making Angkor by far the largest city in this period. Water was the
lifeblood of the Khmer Empire and sustained the great metropolis of Angkor.
The Khmer people that inhabited Angkor had a complex and multi-dimensional
relationship with water. As their empire grew, so did its thirst for water. Alongside its
importance in sustaining agriculture and thus the expansion of the Khmer Empire, the
Khmers had a more immediate interaction with water on a daily basis.
67
“hydraulic city”: In the 1950s, the French archaeologist Bernard-Philippe Groslier introduced
the “hydraulic city” hypothesis, arguing that Angkor was built on a vast water management
system of canals, reservoirs and tanks that provided a constant supply of water for crops.
Carving at the Capital: A stone workshop at Hariharālaya, Angkor, Martin
Polkinghorne,January 2015-Bulletin de l Ecole française d Extrême-Orient 101(1):55-90
The Sandstone Quarries of the Angkor Monuments in the Southeastern Foothills of Kulen
Mountain, Etsuo Uchida,Ryota Watanabe,Motoki Murasugi et al Archaeological
Discovery 8(03):207-227 May
Author links open overlay panelEtsuoUchidaaIchitaShimodaJournal of Archaeological
Science.Volume 40, Issue 2, February 2013, Pages 1158-1164
Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda, “Quarries and transportation routes of Angkor
monument sandstone blocks,” Journal of Archaeological Science 40, no. 2 (2013):
1158-1164.
B.P. Groslier, “The Angkorian Hydraulic City: Exploitation or Over-Exploitation of the
Soil?” trans. Terry Lustig and Cristophe Pottier, Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême
Orient 66 (1979): 161-202
Groslier suggested that the Khmers had established an agricultural system that was capable of
sustaining a population of over a million who in turn served as the labour force that constructed
the massive symbols of Khmer power in the form of the grand temples of Angkor. After he
presented his theory, a fierce debate erupted over the validity of the “hydraulic city” hypothesis.
Groslier’s opponents argued that Angkor’s canals and reservoirs were not part of an elaborate
irrigation system but were designed purely for religious purposes. The debate raged for decades
up to the twentieth century and was only settled when researchers, using advanced mapping and
remote sensing technology, were able to demonstrate that Angkor was indeed a “hydraulic city”
served by an advanced water management system that stretched across much of Cambodia.
The work of the Japanese Government sponsored team lead by Etsuo Uchida in Determining the
construction sequence of the Preah Vihear monument in Cambodia from its sandstone block
68
characteristics,Etsuo Uchida et alHeritage Science volume 5, Article number: 42 (2017) and I
am quoting adverbatim:
“The Preah Vihear monument in Cambodia, located close to the border with Thailand consists of
masonry buildings constructed of siliceous sandstone blocks. Five construction stages were
identified to reveale that the Western Annex Hall (N2) is the oldest edifice in the Preah Vihear
monument. We also reconfirmed that the Preah Vihear monument was constructed over a range
of years, spanning the Bakheng style period to the Angkor Wat style period (the end of the 9th
century to the end of 12th century). It was clarified that during the construction of Preah Vihear,
the style of pediment ends changed from pediments ending in scrolls made from one block, to
pediments ending in scrolls made from two blocks, and finally to pediments ending in fiveheaded nagas. Over the same time span, the size of the sandstone blocks used in construction
Plan view of the Preah Vihear showing the name and symbol of each building. The five
construction stages established in this study based on sandstone characteristics and pediment end
style are shown as different colors, grading from blue to red, corresponding to oldest to newest
edifices. Arrows indicate the construction sequence with respect to adjacent buildings. Location
of the representative Khmer monuments, including the Preah Vihear monument The provenance
of sandstones used for constructing the Khmer monuments is also shown in this increased
markedly.
Photograph of the southern face of the Western Annex Hall (N2) showing sections constructed
during various stages. The central part (the platform and upper structure), the lower platform of
the eastern part, and the platform of the western part were constructed first (first stage); the upper
69
structure and upper platform of the eastern part followed (second stage); and finally, the upper
structure of the western part was constructed (third stage)
70
71
Using sandstone block chemical and magnetic characteristics, as well as stone arrangement and
decoration, a construction sequence for the buildings in the Preah Vihear monument was
established comprising five stages. The buildings and their distinctive stone characteristics are
outlined below in order of their construction:
1. First stage (the Bakheng style period:the end of the 9th century to the beginning of the
10th century): initial construction of the upper structure of the central part and platform
of the Western Annex Hall (N2) took place to form the oldest edifice in the Preah Vihear
monument. The sandstone blocks in this stage are characterized by low magnetic
susceptibilities, small block size, with a high percentage of vertical bedding planes. The
stone block characteristics of the Western Annex Hall (N2) are completely different from
the other buildings in the Preah Vihear monument. Previous works by Parmantier [9] and
Sahai did not recognized that this building was the oldest one in the construction
sequence of the Preah Vihear monument.
2. Second stage (the middle Khleang style period:the early 11th century): ongoing
construction of the upper structure of the eastern part of the Western Annex Hall (N2),
Eastern Annex Hall (N1) (around AD 1024 or AD 1026), Western U-shaped Extension
(O2), and the platform of the Western L-shaped Gallery (K2) took place. The sandstone
blocks used in this second stage are relatively enriched in K, Ti, Fe, Zn, Rb, and Zr and
have high magnetic susceptibilities.
3. Third stage (the late Khleang style period:the early 11th century to the mid-11th century):
construction of the upper structure of the western part of the Western Annex Hall (N2),
Eastern U-shaped Extension (O1), the upper structure of the Western L-shaped Gallery
(K2), and Gopura V (W) took place. All buildings, except for the Western L-shaped
Gallery (K2) constructed during the second and third stages, have pediments that end in
scrolls made from one block. The sandstone blocks in the third stage are relatively
depleted in K, Ti, Fe, Zn, Rb, and Zr. They also have low magnetic susceptibilities.
4. Fourth stage (the end of the Khleang style period to the Baphuon style period:the mid11th century to the end of the 11th century): construction of the Gopura III (P), Eastern
L-shaped Gallery (K1), Gopura II (L) (around AD 1038 or AD 1049), Hall (J), Gopura I
(G), and Mandapa (C) took place. The sandstone blocks used for these buildings are
72
characterized by high magnetic susceptibilities and high K, Ti, Fe, Zn, Rb, and Zr
contents. The pediment terminations changed from scrolls to five-headed nagas.
5. Fifth stage (the Baphuon style period to the Angkor Wat style period:the mid-11th
century to the end of the 12th century): construction of the Western Building (E), Eastern
Building (F), Gopura IV (T), Libraries (H1 and H2), South Gopura (A), Central
Sanctuary (B), Gallery (D), Walls (Z1 and Z2) near Libraries, and Tower (Q) took place.
Fifth-stage buildings are characterized by large sandstone blocks and pediments with
five-headed nagas.1
The construction sequence described above is almost in harmony with the change of pediment
end styles from pediments ending in scrolls made from one block, to pediments ending in scrolls
made from two blocks, and finally to pediments ending in five-headed nagas. In addition, the
construction sequence suggests that the sandstone block size increased over time. The Angkor
monuments in Cambodia are mainly constructed of grey to yellowish‐brown sandstones. No
differences in the constituent minerals and in the chemical composition of the sandstones have
been confirmed among the monuments. However, we have found their magnetic susceptibility a
useful parameter by which to distinguish them. The principal monuments of Angkor Wat, Ta
Prohm, Preah Khan, Banteay Kdei and Bayon, constructed from the Angkor Wat period to the
Bayon period (from the beginning of the 12th century to the beginning of the 13th century AD),
were investigated in detail using a portable magnetic susceptibility meter. We succeeded in
dividing the periods of construction into stages. This elucidated the enlargement process of the
monuments and correlated their construction stages.
___________________________________________________________________________
Determining the construction sequence of the Preah Vihear monument in Cambodia from its
sandstone block characteristics,Etsuo Uchida et alHeritage Science volume 5,
Article number: 42 (2017)
Uchida, E., Mizoguchi, A., Sato, H. et al. Determining the construction sequence of the Preah
Vihear monument in Cambodia from its sandstone block characteristics. Herit Sci 5, 42 (2017).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-017-0155-0
The Construction Process of the Angkor Monuments Elucidated by the Magnetic Susceptibility of
Sandstone. E. Uchida et al,
2003https://scholar.google.com/scholar_lookup?title=Voyage%20au%20Cambodge.%20L%E2%
80%99architecture%20khm%C3%A8re&publication_year=1880&author=Delaporte%2CL
73
The 12th century temple complex is built from five to ten million blocks sandstone blocks
weighing up to 1.5 tons - with their means of transportation to the site a long-standing enigma.King
Suryavarman II of the Khmer Empire started work on the 500-acre temple in the 12th century and
work ended just after his death in circa 1150.Situated in the imperial capital Angkor, the complex
was initially intended to honour the Hindu god Vishnu but by the 14th century later rulers had
converted the site into a Buddhist temple, in which use it continues today.It is so deeply engrained
in the Cambodian national consciousness it appears on their national flag and a rumour that a Thai
actress had claimed the temple belonged to Thailand sparked riots in 2003.
Scholars had previously assumed the Khmers must have floated the stones used to build Angkor
Wat 22 miles down a canal to Tonle Sap Lake, carried on rafts another 22 miles to the Siem Reap
River, then arduously rowed upstream the final 10 miles to the site.But the difficulty of moving so
many stones via this 56 mile route led Etsuo Uchida and Ichita Shimoda of Waseda University in
Tokyo, Japan, to scour satellite images to see if there could have been a shortcut.
Ancient artisanship: Angkor Wat is situated in the capital of the once great Khmer empire,
which held sway over huge parts of south-east Asia for hundreds of years
74
The Khmer empire was noted for its use of canals as a means of transportation, and the
archaelogists discovered traces of a network leading directly from the foot of Mount Kulen to
Angkor.
Field surveys confirmed their findings, and the pair now believe this gentle 21 mile route was a far
more likely proposition than the journey of more than twice that length previously suggested.They
also discovered a series of quarries along the way with stones that matched those of the
temples.Mike Hendrickson of the University of Illinois, Chicago, told New Scientist that the
Japanese researchers' could be confirmed by hunting down any blocks that may have fallen
overboard while in transit on the canals.
75
This locator map shows the relative locations of Angkor Wat and Cambodia: Archaeologists
scoured satellite images to discover traces of a network of canals linking the two sites
In its day, the Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in south-east Asia, at its height
spreading across parts of modern day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma and Malaysia.
Angkor, the imperial capital, is its greatest legacy and bears testament to the Khmer empire's
immense power and wealth with recent satellite imaging revealing it to be the largest pre-industrial
urban centre in the world.After a series of wars and invasions, the story of Angkor faded from
historical accounts from about 1350, with the capital of the Khmers moving south and east to the
site of the modern Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh.Ecological failure is the latest theory as to the
final fall of the Khmer kingdom, with population growth placing the society's elaborate system of
canals, reservoirs and paddy fields under massive strain.To adapt to the growing population, trees
were cut down from the Kulen hills and cleared out for more rice fields. That created rain runoff
carrying sediment to the canal network, stifling their civilisation's lifeline.Angkor Wat is unusual
among the Angkor temples in that although it was somewhat neglected after the 16th century it
was never completely abandoned.Archaeologists believe it's remarkable state of preservation is
partly due to to its moat which provided some protection from the encroachment of the
surrounding jungle.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2226195/Mystery-Angkor-Wats-massive-stones-solved--brought-areamassive-network-canals.html3.Icon of Khmer civilization, Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Building blocks of Angkor
Wat were shipped in by canal- P H O T O G R A P H B Y R O B E R T C L A R K , N A T I O N A L
GEOGRAPHIC
76
CHAPTER VII
Sandstone stories
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mostly of quartz sand, but it can also contain
significant amounts of feldspar, and sometimes silt and clay. Sandstone that contains more than
90% quartz is called quartzose sandstone. When the sandstone contains more than 25% feldspar,
it is called arkose or arkosic sandstone. When there is a significant amount of clay or silt,
geologists refer to the rock as argillaceous sandstone. The color of sandstone varies, depending
on its composition. Argillaceous sandstones are often gray to blue. Because it is composed of
light colored minerals, sandstone is typically light tan in color. Other elements, however, create
colors in sandstone. The most common sandstones have various shades of red, caused by iron
oxide (rust). In some instances, there is a purple hue caused by manganese.
Type
Rock
Description
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mostly of quartz sand, but it can also contain
significant amounts of feldspar, and sometimes silt and clay. Sandstone that contains more than
90% quartz is called quartzose sandstone. When the sandstone contains more than 25% feldspar,
it is called arkose or arkosic sandstone. When there is a significant amount of clay or silt,
geologists refer to the rock as argillaceous sandstone. The color of sandstone varies, depending
on its composition. Argillaceous sandstones are often gray to blue. Because it is composed of
light colored minerals, sandstone is typically light tan in color. Other elements, however, create
77
colors in sandstone. The most common sandstones have various shades of red, caused by iron
oxide (rust). In some instances, there is a purple hue caused by manganese.
Relation to Mining
Loosely consolidated material can be mined using a high-pressure hydraulic monitor. Sand
washed from the working face is collected in a sump, from which it is usually pumped to a
dewatering/surge pile, where the material is allowed to free drain. Once drained, the sand reports
to a plant.
Well-consolidated deposits can be mined using conventional drill-and-blast methods. Once
blasted, the sandstone is “mucked” using a front-end loader, placed into haul trucks, and
transported to a primary crusher. Following crushing, the material may report to a secondary or
tertiary crushing plant. The sized material is then transported to a processing plant, usually by a
conveyance system.
Uses
Sandstone has two major applications, as crushed stone and as dimension stone.
Dimension stone is any rock material that is cut into specific sizes, typically as blocks and slabs.
Crushed stone is used in the construction of roadways and road structures such as bridges, and in
buildings, both commercial and residential.
Related topics:
Silicon Element Quartz/ Limestone
Shale,Silica
78
The Angkor monuments are the World Cultural Heritages constructed in the 9th century to the
13th century. Sandstone, laterite and brick are the main stone materials used in the monuments.
In this study, the sandstones used in the 28 main monuments were investigated and compared to
each other. the quarry of the sandstones changed with the times. For the grey to yellowish brown
sandstones, there is however no significant difference in regard to the constitutent mineral, bulk
chemical composition and chemical compositions of plagioclase and garnet. The percentage of
the sandstone blocks with the vertical bedding plane decreased abruptly after West Mebon
construction. This fact means that the monuments have began to be constructed with taking
account the orientation of the bedding plane of the sandstone after West Mebon construction.
The sandstones can be divided into three types : (1) grey to yellowish brown sandstones, (2) red
sandstone and (3) greenish greywacke. The grey to yellowish brown sandstone is most popular
and used in almost all monuments. Based on the magnetic susceptibility of the grey to yellowish
brown sandstone, the investigated monuments can be divided into 8 groups except for Banteay
Srei. This may suggest that
From the ninth to the thirteenth century, Angkor was one of the most advanced urban
centres in the world. Some estimates suggest that the population numbered close to a
million people, making Angkor by far the largest city in this period. Water was the
lifeblood of the Khmer Empire and sustained the great metropolis of Angkor.The Khmer
people that inhabited Angkor had a complex and multi-dimensional relationship with water.
As their empire grew, so did its thirst for water. Alongside its importance in sustaining
agriculture and thus the expansion of the Khmer Empire, the Khmers had a more immediate
interaction with water on a daily basis.
The Angkor monuments in Cambodia are mainly constructed of grey to yellowish‐brown
sandstones. No differences in the constituent minerals and in the chemical composition of the
sandstones have been confirmed among the monuments. However, we have found their magnetic
susceptibility a useful parameter by which to distinguish them. The principal monuments of
Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, Preah Khan, Banteay Kdei and Bayon, constructed from the Angkor
Wat period to the Bayon period (from the beginning of the 12th century to the beginning of the
13th century AD), were investigated in detail using a portable magnetic susceptibility meter. We
succeeded in dividing the periods of construction into stages. This elucidated the enlargement
process of the monuments and correlated their construction stages.
79
Angkor wat is shrouded in mystery- however much one may deny that. As archaeologist and
anthropologist Charles Higham explains, “Curiously, there are no direct references to it in the
epigraphic record, so we do not know its original name and controversy remains over its function
and aspects of its symbolic status.” Originally dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu, the complex
was later converted to Buddhist use (the word “wat” typically refers to Buddhist monasteries),
and continues to be a site of religious pilgrimage today. Symbolically, west is the direction of
death, which once led a large number of scholars to conclude that Angkor Wat must have existed
primarily as a tomb. This idea was supported by the fact that the magnificent bas-reliefs of the
temple were designed to be viewed in an anticlockwise direction, a practice that has precedents
in ancient Hindu funerary rites. Vishnu, however, is also frequently associated with the west, and
it is now commonly accepted that Angkor Wat most likely served both as a temple and as a
mausoleum for Suryavarman II.
Wall detail of apsara figures, Angkor Wat © Felix Hug / Lonely Planet
Celestial nymphs
Angkor Wat is famous for having more than 3000 beguiling apsaras (heavenly nymphs) carved
into its walls. Each of them is unique, and there are 37 different hairstyles for budding stylists to
check out. Many of these exquisite apsaras were damaged during efforts to clean the temples
with chemicals during the 1980s, but they are being restored by the teams with the German
Apsara Conservation Project. Bat urine and droppings also degrade the restored carvings over
time. These 1,200 square meters of carved bas reliefs at Angkor Wat, representing eight different
Hindu stories. Perhaps the most important narrative represented at Angkor Wat is the Churning
80
of the Ocean of Milk , which depicts a story about the beginning of time and the creation of the
universe. It is also a story about the victory of good over evil. In the story, devas (gods) are
fighting the asuras (demons) in order reclaim order and power for the gods who have lost it. In
order to reclaim peace and order, the elixir of life (amrita) needs to be released from the earth;
however, the only way for the elixir to be released is for the gods and demons to first work
together. To this end, both sides are aware that once the amrita is released there will be a battle to
attain it.
The level of detail
Visitors to Angkor Wat are struck by its imposing grandeur and, at close quarters, its fascinating
decorative flourishes. Stretching around the outside of the central temple complex is an 800mlong series of intricate and astonishing bas-reliefs – carvings depicting historical events and
stories from Hindu mythology.
Henri Mouhot’s etching from 1804
81
Eleanor Mannikka explains in her book Angkor Wat: Time, Space and Kingship that the spatial
dimensions of Angkor Wat parallel the lengths of the four ages (Yuga) of classical Hindu
thought. Thus the visitor to Angkor Wat who walks the causeway to the main entrance and
through the courtyards to the final main tower, which once contained a statue of Vishnu, is
metaphorically travelling back to the first age of the creation of the universe.3
Like the other temple-mountains of Angkor, Angkor Wat also replicates the spatial universe in
miniature. The central tower is Mount Meru, with its surrounding smaller peaks, bounded in turn
by
continents
(the
lower
courtyards)
and
the
oceans
(the
moat).
The
seven-
headed naga (mythical serpent) becomes a symbolic rainbow bridge for humankind to reach the
abode of the gods.While Suryavarman II may have planned Angkor Wat as his funerary temple
or mausoleum, he was never buried there as he died in battle during a failed expedition to subdue
the Dai Viet (Vietnamese).
How was Angkor Wat built?
The sandstone blocks from which Angkor Wat was built were quarried from the holy mountain
of Phnom Kulen, more than 50km away, and floated down the Siem Reap River on rafts. The
logistics of such an operation are mind-blowing, consuming the labour of thousands. According
to inscriptions, the construction of Angkor Wat involved 300,000 workers and 6000 elephants. It
was not fully completed.
Moat
The outermost boundary of a Khmer temple was often surrounded by a moat, a body of water
symbolic of the Cosmic Sea (blue highlights above).This is the Moat. Angkor Wat is surrounded
by a 190m-wide moat, which forms a giant rectangle measuring 1.5km by 1.3km. From the west,
a sandstone causeway crosses the moat. For Hindus, the Cosmic Sea is the source of creative
energy and life, the starting point for the journey toward salvation.The temple visitor begins his
journey by crossing the sea on causeways lined with serpents, beasts similarly intimately
associated with both Hindu and Khmer myths of creation (we explore the serpent in detail in our
guidebook to Angkor).
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Outer wall- Enclosure Walls as Sacred Mountain Ranges
Angkor Thom was the capital and walled city built in the late 12th to early 13th century by
Jayavarman VII, the greatest of the Khmer rulers. Within its boundaries are enclosed
temples such as Bayon and Ta Prohm.
From the quite intact and vast environs of Angkor Wat to the tree coiled ruins of Ta Phrom
is a simple journey in terms of miles. But a much more intense one in terms of atmosphere
and mood. Huge trees have the late 12th century temple built by Jayavarman VII, who was
a Mahayana Buddhist, in their octopus like grip. It is a combat once again here — between
the gigantic roots and the crumbling stones. The ruins look eerie yet picturesque which is
why they are the scenic locales for films. For Indians this temple with its many apsaras and
branches torn-asunder walls, has a special significance: The Archaeological Survey of
India (ASI)has helped restore the temple, and conserve it.
Continuing on his way to the center of the temple, the visitor passes through a series of massive
enclosure walls; these walls recreate sacred mountain ranges, symbolic of obstacles that must be
overcome on the path to enlightenment (green highlights in Fig. 1below ). Monumental tower
gateways, called gopurams, grant the visitor passage through the walls, each successive one
revealing a more sacred area, farther removed from the outside world.
The combination of concentric enclosure walls with large gateways was derived directly from
South Indian Hindu architectural precedent. Enclosure walls make their first appearance very
early in the Khmer building tradition — at the late 9th century pre-Angkor site of Roluos in the
temples of Preah Ko, Bakong and Lolei — and are a constant feature in all subsequent temples.
The rectangular outer wall, which measures 1025m by 800m, has a gate on each side, but the
main entrance, a 235m-wide porch richly decorated with carvings and sculptures, is on the
western side. There is a statue of Vishnu, 3.25m in height and hewn from a single block of
sandstone, located in the right-hand tower. Vishnu’s eight arms hold a mace, a spear, a disc, a
conch and other items. You may also see locks of hair lying about. These are offerings both from
young people preparing to get married and from pilgrims giving thanks for their good fortune.
Bas reliefs
Bas reliefs of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, hundreds of metres long and adorned by
hundreds of delicately carved devas, asuras and apsaras that are so varied in their poses,
83
expressions and attire. Thus, while Angkor Wat’s architecture is distinctly Khmer, its inspiration
is essentially Indian.
A section of the outer wall at Angkor Wat © Tushar Dayal / CC BY 2.0
Avenue
The avenue is 475m long and 9.5m wide and lined with naga balustrades, leading from the main
entrance to the central temple, passing between two graceful libraries and then two pools, the
northern one a popular spot from which to watch the sun rise.
Central complex
The central temple complex consists of three storeys, each made of laterite, which enclose a
square surrounded by intricately interlinked galleries. The Gallery of a Thousand Buddhas
(Preah Poan) used to house hundreds of Buddha images before the war, but many of these were
removed or stolen, leaving just the handful we see today.
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85
Towers
The corners of the second and third storeys are marked by towers, each topped with symbolic
lotus-bud towers. Rising 31m above the third level and 55m above the ground is the central
tower, which gives the whole grand ensemble its sublime unity. Five Sanctuary Towers as Mount
Meru
At the center of the temple stand sanctuaries with tower superstructures (red highlights above
picture ).
The mountain residence of the gods. Under Hindu cosmology, the gods have always
been associated with mountains. The sanctuary’s form, dominated by its large tower,
recreates the appearance of the gods’ mountaintop residence, Mount Meru. The mountaintop
residence of the gods carried particular symbolic resonance for the Khmer people.
God’s cave. The sanctuary proper, located directly under the tower, is where an image of
the deity resides (see exhibit at right). Its dark interior is designed to represent the cave into
which god descends from his mountain home and becomes accessible to human beings.
The sacred intersection. At the Hindu temple’s sanctuary, the worlds of the divine and
living connect: the god’s vertical axis (mountaintop to cave) intersects with the visitor’s
horizontal axis (temple entrance to cave). The entire universe emanates from this
intersection, as unity with god is the goal of earthly existence. In Hinduism, god is believed
to temporarily physically inhabit his representation in the sanctuary; the Hindu temple is
arranged to enable the direct devotee-to-deity interaction that necessarily follows. Unlike
other faiths, there is no religious intermediary and no abstraction; god is manifest before the
devotee’s eyes, a profound encounter.
It is here, among the peaks of Mount Meru, that the visitor’s symbolic journey ends in nirvana:
the pairs of opposites characteristic of worldly existence (e.g., good versus bad, right versus
wrong) fuse into a single infinite everythingness beyond space and time.
Upper level
The stairs to the upper level are immensely steep, because reaching the kingdom of the gods was
no easy task. Also known as Bakan Sanctuary, the upper level of Angkor Wat is open to a
limited number per day with a queuing system.
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There is very little direct historical evidence of Angkor Wat complex in Kampuchea having any
links with Southern India. The links, however, are part of a larger cultural flora and fauna as
will be discussed below. There is evidence that Angkor Wat, the intriguing temple complex of
Cambodia was inspired by Mahabalipuram sculptures. When one compares the sculptures of
Angkor Wat and the ancient temples of Mahabalipuram, one can find a number of similarities.
The ancient, Indian traders sailed to the South-East Asian countries from the seaport of
Mahabalipuram- interacting socially and commercially with people of many countries in IndoChina and south East Asia. Khmer King Suryavarman II who was a descendant of the Tamil
Kings Cholas, the rulers of Tamil Nadu is supposed to be responsible for building this huge
complex in the 12th century. Tamil-Brahmi Inscription and sacred prayers in Sanskrit on the
walls of these unique temples are still the “writing on the wall” literally to bear testimony to this.
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From the historical perspective, it is widely acknowledged by everyone that the Angkor Wat
temple is uniquely Cambodian heritage.”Khmer king Suryavarman II began construction on
Angkor Wat shortly after ascending to the throne in 1113. Although the names of any architects
or designers are lost to history, it is likely that Suryavarman’s chief priest and spiritual advisor
Divakarapandita was highly influential in the temple’s construction”. AD Classics: Angkor Wat
Hindu temple architecture is governed by ‘Vaastu Shastra’ written in Sanskrit. Hindu temples are
consecrated by following Vedic rituals, which are basically Indo-Aryan in its core. There is
nothing Dravidian or South Indian about Vaastu Shastra and Vedic rituals.
The principles of Vaastu Shastra allows some variation in the architectural styles. So there are
various regional styles of Hindu temples. Angkor Wat is an example of Khmer architecture,
which is different from the Southern Indian temple architecture. This aspect has been already
acknowledged by UNESCO experts,
“Khmer architecture evolved largely from that of the Indian sub-continent, from which it soon
became clearly distinct as it developed its own special characteristics, some independently
evolved and others acquired from neighboring cultural traditions. The result was a new artistic
horizon in oriental art and architecture”. From UNESCO site, Angkor
The old name Kambojadesa (Kampuchea) is itself is derived from Sanskrit.According to
Encyclopedia
Britannica,
“the
ancient
Kingdom
of
Cambodia
is
known
as
Kambujadesa”. Kambuja-desa | ancient kingdom, Cambodia. There is a Khmer legend, - Hindu
prince of unknown origins, Kambu Swayambhuva, married a Naga princess named Mera. The
combination Kambu and Mera became Khmer. In Sanskrit the descendants of Kambu became
Kambu’ja’ (meaning born of Kambu), their country became Kambujadesa. Kambojadesa
Khmer and South Indian Temple Architecture Styles have many glaring differences, obvious
even to a casual tourist. Just compare the South Indian on the left and Khmer on the right.
88
1. Angkor Wat has five central towers in ‘quincunx’ pattern that symbolises the five
peaks of Meru Mountain, unlike the single pyramid shaped tower in South Indian
temples.
2. South Indian temples have characteristic gate towers (gopurams), not found in Khmer
temples (see the photo above).
3. Angkor Wat is surrounded by a water-filled moat, without a central water tank, while
South Indian temples have central water tank.
4. The most glaring difference being Angkor Wat has mountain like towers (gopuram)
representing Hindu mythological Meru Mountain. Unlike the pyramid shaped towers
(gopuram) of South India.
Tamil Influences: There's Tamil brahmi scripture in Anghor wat . There's history of a Tamil
king who went to East Asian countries for trading and to be correct in cholan period . He ruled
Cambodia under a Cambodian king . There's a similar building knowledge and influence it
mixed with another culture and their knowledge of building . ofourse Tamil can't take the full
credits for the temple. But its influence undeniable. Tower looks different but the way if building
it's the same technology unlike pyramid. Carved or moulded it maybe melting . Who knows but
the truth we know is just after the cholan's in the Cambodia the anghorwat was built. That's the
same period as the most of the south Indian temples built which is similar to that . It could have
been built by khemer people but the technology came from south India and mixed with local or
other technology of building. There's still words of old Tamil And culture.In conclusion, Angkor
Wat was built by Jayavarman-II, a Khmer king, a fact that is well attested by history. There is
nothing to suggest otherwise. Hindu temple architecture including that of Angkor Wat is
governed by ‘Vaastu Shastra’ written in Sanskrit text, and consecrated according to Vedic
rituals, which are basically Indo-Aryan in its character.
Angkor Wat follows the same principles of Indo-Aryan temple architecture but it has uniquely
Khmer style, unrelated to Southern India. There are several glaring differences between South
Indian and Angkor Wat architecture, obvious even to a casual tourist.For more on tamil
Influences read our books-4
1. Hindu temples of Bharat Cambodia and Indonesia
89
2. Ancient Maritime Trade of the Tamilians & Kalingans
3. DEVRAJA Parts I,II & III
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The gates with or without gopurams or towers just denotes entries or opening , which also
denotes 9 opening in a human body. The above picture shows 4 openings in the external
compound, 4 on the inner compound and 1 entry to the central body . ( garbhagraha )
Water around the temple for defence . There are quite of few temple in india in such style
especially south india ( For eg. Ananthapura Lake Temple). More over water around the
temple is more of an convenience, if you see none of the other khmer or angkor dynasity
temples has water around it.During Raja raja and rajendra chola period their rule were from
Srilanka to Malayasia and their influence even further. Just in Tamilnadu there are 4 types
of different types of temple architecture.
Vaastu shastra itself is from pranava veda a Tamil text which is sources of all 4 vedas which is
mentioned in bhavadam and few upanishads and veda vyasa himself has mentioned in his works
. Ofcourse angkor wat can be said built by Jayavarman-II but by the influence of cholas Cause
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the khmers were shaivites and cholas were both shaivites and vaishnavites. Though theTamil
rulers did not build Angkor Wat. it was built under Tamil (Chola) rule.
Suryavarman II built the Angkor Wat. Like many other expeditions, Rajendra Chola decimated
Sri Vijaya empire (modern day Indonesia) at the request of Sailendra . Sri Vijaya was a mightly
empire controlling the Strait of Malacca (present day Chinese nightmare, Lol!). They started
monopolizing the trade route which Cholas and the surrounding kingdoms found difficult to
trade. Though Cholas were friendly with Srivijaya during the Raja Raja chola rule, relationship
deteriorated when they started controlling the trade route impacting Chola trade with China.
The decimation of Sri Vijaya and the successful expedition and conquest of Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand, Burma, some parts of Cambodia and Vietnam earned Rajendra Chola the title
‘Gadaram vendran (one who conquered Gadaram)’ and also made all the kings his vassals. Like
most other far off expeditions, Cholas did not rule the areas directly, rather installed vassals and
collected tributes. This continued for the next 150 or so years though it slowly went down.
It was during the reign of Kulothunga I (Rajendra Chola’s son) that Suryavarman II ascended the
throne in Cambodia. He too maintained friendly relations and had lot of trade relationships. The
South east Asia was abundant with Tamils reining control in trade and polity by and large.
Though all the kingdoms were Saivists (followed God Shiva), the Khmer king Suryavarman II
however, followed Vishnu.
The architecture of Angkor Wat is therefore heavily influenced by and resembles the South
Indian Temple architecture. Like all temples in South India, Angkor Wat also was built to
function as a garrison. The temples are all built like a city in themselves. They provided shelter
and protection for the people during emergencies like war or calamities. That is the reason they
have layered defense structures (wall inside wall inside wall with water and other obstacles in
between) similar to forts. However, Angkor Wat was built as a city in itself to celebrate the
victory of Suryavarman II over the expeditions. This is also characteristic of the chola empire
(Rajendra chola II built Gangai konda cholapuram to celebrate his victory over the Ganges
country). It is a fusion of Chola and Khmer architecture.
Before the Cholas, the Pallavas were quite influential in the South east Asia. Towards the end of
12th century, it was transformed into a Buddhist temple. See our paper on
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CHAPTER VII
INDONESIAN HINDU TEMPLE OF ROCK
The Hindu Masterpiece – Prambanan Temple
by Maria Wulff Hauglann
WHAT IS PRAMBANAN?
Prambanan is the biggest and most complete remains of Java`s period of Hindu culture, built in
the middle of the 9th century AD, around 50 years later than Borobudur. Little is known about its
early history, but it is believed that it was built by king Rakai Pikatan to mark the return of a
Hindu dynasty in Java after decades of Buddhism. Prambanan was completely in ruins for years
until 1937 when the reconstruction started, and it is still far from complete.Many piles of rocks
still surround the reconstructed temples. All of these piles are the remains of 224 (!) temples in
the outer compound.
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The highest central courtyard consists of eight minor and eight main shrines (or candi) each with
beautiful carvings, containing religious statues inside.
1. The three biggest temples, called Trimurti (“three forms”), are dedicated to the three
Hindu Gods:
2. Shiva the Destroyer
3. Vishnu the Keeper
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4. Brahma the Creator
SHIVA MAHADEVA TEMPLE
The Candi Shiva Mahadeva temple, dedicated to Shiva, is not only the larges of the temples of
Prambanan but also the finest. The main spire is incredibly 47 m high and it`s rocks are
beautifully carved. The Shiva temple contains five chambers, four small chambers in every
cardinal direction, and one bigger main chamber in the central part of the temple. Its base is
decorated with small lions flanked by kalpatura (trees of heaven), as well as stylized half-human
and half-bird kinnara (heavenly beings).
Map showing the temples of Prambanan
The 47 m high Shiva Temple
95
96
Vishnu Temple as seen from the top level of Shiva Temple
As we walked further up into the temple, vibrant scenes from the story of Ramayana are carved
onto the inner wall of the gallery encircling the temple. Our guide told us the main parts of the
story, how Lord Rama`s wife Sita is abducted and how the monkey god (Hanuman) and the
white-monkey general (Sugriwa) find her and set her free.While the carvings on the inner wall
are impressive and interesting, the icing on the cake is inside the main chamber at the top of the
eastern stairway which contains a four-armed statue of Shiva the Destroyer.
The notable thing about the Shiva statue is that the Hindu god stands on a gigantic lotus flower,
which is a symbol of Buddhism. So the Shiva temple is a mix of Hindu and Buddhism, which is
very rare and a bit odd. Scientists believe that the reason for this is that Prambanan was built
when the princess of the Buddhist Sailendras dynasty (ruling the south of Java) and the prince of
the Hindu Sanjayas of Old Mataram (ruling the north of Java) were married, uniting the two
dynasties into one. This may be one reason why the Prambanan temple complex has architecture
elements of both Hindu and Buddhism.
This big temple also has three smaller cells, each containing a statue:
An incarnation of Shiva as a divine teacher
A fine image of the elephant-headed Ganesha, Shiva`s son
Durga, Shiva`s consort, killing the demon buffalo
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The other two main temples of Prambanan are the Vishnu temple on the north side of Shiva
temple, and the Brahma temple on the south. Both of them contain only one large chamber with
a statue inside. Brahma temple contains the statue of Brahma, and Vishnu temple houses the
statue of Vishnu. Brahma and Vishnu temple both measures 20 meters wide and 33 meters tall.
VISHNU TEMPLE
The Candi Vishnu temple is smaller than the impressive Shiva Mahadeva temple and sits just
north of it, reaching 33 m in height. Of course, we had to walk the steep stairs up to the top
plateau. And it was totally worth the climb as the temple is magnificent containing reliefs telling
the story of Lord Krishna who is the hero of the Mahabharata story.
The most impressive part of this temple is, in my opinion, the statue of a four-armed Vishnu the
Preserver in the inner chamber. It is so really big and beautifully carved.
BRAHMA TEMPLE
This temple is the twin temple of Candi Vishnu, as they are exactly similar! It is situated just
south of the big Candi Shiva Mahadeva temple, so the two twin temples make a nice symmetric
scene.
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Brahma temple is beautifully carved with the final scenes of the story of Ramayana (starting in
the Candi Shiva Mahadeva temple).When you enter this temple, look up and admire the
spectacular “monster mouth” doorway, which is beautiful.
The monster mouth doorway of Brahma temple
Brahma temple has the most impressive statues of them all, in my opinion, a four-headed statue
of Brahma – the God of Creation. This is my favorite of all the Hindu god statues of Prambanan.
Isn`t she beautiful?
In front of the big Shiva temple are three smaller temples dedicated to vehicle (vahana) of the
respective Gods:
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Nandi temple – Contains a statue of bull Nandi belonging to Shiva, as well as the statue of
Chandra the god of moon and Surya the god of sun. Chandra stands on his carriage pulled by 10
horses, and the statue of Surya is also standing on a carriage pulled by 7 horses.
The Nandi temple
Hamsa/ Angsa temple – Contains no statue, but it probably once housed a statue of the sacred
swan Hamsa for the god Brahma.
Garuda temple – Neither this temple contains a statue. Probably this temple once contained the
statue of kite Garuda belonging to god Vishnu. Garuda holds an important role for Indonesia, as
it serves as the national symbol of Indonesia, and also as the name of the airline Garuda
Indonesia.
There are also small groups of temples in the outer area of Prambanan, like Plaosan Temples (3
km northeast of Prambanan), Kraton Ratu Boko (palace of King Boko) south of Prambanan, and
a group west of Prambanan containing three temples.. https://nerdnomads.com/hindumasterpiece-prambanan-temple
Many Hindu and Buddhist temples were built between 8th to 10th centuries in the south of
Merapi volcano, Yogyakarta, Indonesia [6]. Mundardjito reported that there are 218 temples
distributed at the flank and plain of the Merapi volcano, including the Prambanan and Sambisari
100
temples. Prambanan and Sambisari temples are situated at about 25 km south of the Merapi
volcano peak and approximately 3-7 km north west of the small hill of the Tertiary age
volcaniclastic rocks of Semilir Formation. The temples are composed by mostly basaltic to
andesitic lavas but some of their ornament are made of volcaniclastic rocks of the Semilir
Formation. Prambanan Temple is the biggest Hindu temple within Prambanan Temple
compounds, other temples are Sewu Temple, Bubrah Temple and Lumbung Temple. These
compounds are located on the border between Yogyakarta and Central Java provinces on the
central part of Java Island (Figure
All the temples mentioned above were built in the 8th- 9th century AD. Prambanan Temple
Compounds were built in the 9th century AD, and collapsed due to the earthquake and eruption
of Merapi volcano were rediscovered in the 17th century. Restoration have been conducted since
1918, using both original traditional as well as modern method.
The location map of the Prambanan and Sambisari temples. The Sambisari temple stands 6,5
meters below the surrounding land in Sambisari Village, Purwomartani Sub-District, Kalasan
District, Sleman Regency. The temple is situated at about 2 kilometers west of Prambanan
temple and 10 kilometers away from Yogyakarta city center. Sambisari temple believed to be
constructed between 812 - 838 AD, consists of 1 main temple and 3 supporting temples. There
are 2 fences surrounding the temple complex mostly composed by volcaniclastic rock. .
Geochemically and or petrographycally, the basalt-andesite lavas and pumice breccia rocks of
the Prambanan and Sambisari temples are relatively similar with those of basalt-andesite lavas of
the Merapi volcano and pumice breccia of the Semilir Formation. 2. Most the basalt to andesite
lavas which were used to build the Prambanan and Sambisari temples are mostly showing high
vesiculer, although there are massive or low content vesicular lavas in the flank of Merapi
volcano may stronger in physical properties. These lavas were chosen may be caused : a. It is
relatively not hard, therefore easy to be form b. It is lighter rather than massive lavas, therefor
easy to be lift to the top of the temple.
ased on petrographic and geochemical observations, both temples are built using basaltic to
andesitic lavas and pumice breccias. The rock types are relatively similar to those the basaltic to
andesitic lavas around the Quaternary age Merapi volcano, and the pumice breccia of the
Tertiary age Semilir Formation in the Piyungan area situated at the south of the Prambanan
temple. Selected rocks samples were analized using petrographic and X-ray fluorescence
101
methods to identify minerals, textures and geochemical characteristics. Petrographic
observations show that the rocks used to build Prambanan temple are hornblende-pyroxene
andesite and pyroxene basalts, while the rocks of Sambisari temple consist of hornblendepyroxene andesites and pumice breccias. Hornblende-pyroxene andesite is generally gray,
showing porphyritic texture, 1-3 mm crystal size; phenocrysts are composed by plagioclase,
hornblende, pyroxene, and opaque minerals set in groundmass of plagioclase microcrysts and
volcanic glass. Pumice breccia, showing a light gray colour, moderate sorting, fragments, consist
of andesite and pumice clasts in size range 2-6 cm, embedded in sandy to clay matrix. Most of
the rocks are generally weathered or oxidized, which is reflected by the presence of secondary
iron oxide. This is probably most of the basaltic to andesitic lavas used had a high vesicular
texture, and that Yogyakarta has a tropical climate.
______________________________________________________________________________
Rock types characteristics of Prambanan and Sambisari Temples, Yogyakarta Province,
Indonesia, Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science 212(1):012048,Sutarto et alhttps://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/17551315/212/1/012048/pdf#:~:text=Field%20observation%20show%20that%20rocks,pumice%20br
eccia%20(Figure%205). IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science S Rock types
characteristics of Prambanan and Sambisari Temples, Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia To cite
this article: Sutarto et al 2018 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 212 01204
102
According to ancient Khmer sources, King Jayavarman II (r. 802-835 CE), the founder of
the Khmer Empire (802-1431 CE), spent much of his life in Java, and was appointed by
Samaratungga as the governor of Indrapura, which later became the capital city of Champa
around c. 875 CE. It is said that Jayavarman visited both Borobidur as well as Prambanan, which
inspired him to build the city of Angkor Wat on a grand scale. This is quite possible as the
Sailendra and Sanjaya dynasties exerted much political and cultural influence through their
thalassocracies in what is present-day Java, Sumatra, Malaya, and southern Cambodia in the 8th,
9th, and 10th centuries CE.
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS FROM MOUNT MERAPI IN THE 10TH CENTURY CE & COUNTLESS
EARTHQUAKES MAY HAVE IMPACTED PRAMBANAN’S APPEAL AS A PLACE OF WORSHIP
& PILGRIMAGE.
Prambanan's abandonment mirrors that of nearby Borobudur. As the center of political power
shifted from central to eastern Java under the reign of King Mpu Sindok (fl. 928 CE), Prambanan
became less important politically and culturally to the ancient Javanese. The Sanjaya dynasty had
successfully usurped power from the Sailendra dynasty, leaving the island of Java under their
near complete suzerainty. Volcanic eruptions from Mount Merapi in the 10th century CE and
countless earthquakes may have impacted Prambanan’s appeal as a place of worship and
pilgrimage as well among the Hindu faithful.
Over time, Prambanan deteriorated and became surrounded by a dense jungle. The Dutch
explorer C. A. Lons reported his “rediscovery” of Prambanan in 1733 CE to Dutch colonial
officials, but the temple was never completely forgotten by the Javanese in their histories, myths,
and legends. A very popular Javanese legend is that of Rara Jonggrang, which is set in
Prambanan and its neighboring temples. In the legend, a Javanese princess is turned to stone by
her cruel husband. The princess is said to be beautiful image of the Hindu goddess Durga located
within the north wing of Shiva’s temple at Prambanan. Restoration work began in 1885 CE, but
accelerated in 1918 CE. These efforts were halted when Indonesia was invaded in 1941 CE by
the Japanese during World War II. In 1953 CE, the Temple of Shiva was reconsecrated to Hindu
believers,
and
Prambanan
was
restored
once
again
following
the
2006
CE
Yogyakarta earthquake. Intermittent archaeological excavation and restoration continue in and
around Prambanan today.
103
A statue of the Hindu goddess Durga from the Shiva temple at Prambanan, Java, Indonesia, c.
750 - c. 950 CE. According to legend, the statue is a result of the transformation into stone of a
local princess. by her cruel husband.
Art & Architecture
Set in the fertile Prambanan Plain, Prambanan is but one of 30 temples built between c. 750-950
CE in a 30 square km (11.5 square miles) area. Lying just a few kilometers to Prambanan's north
are three ancient Buddhist Temples built in the 8th century CE -- Lumbung, Bubrah, and Sewu -while 2.5 km to Prambanan's south and southeast lie the ruins of the 9th-century CE Buddhist
temples of Ratu Boko and Sojiwan, respectively. Some 3 km to Prambanan's west are also the
8th-century CE Buddhist Sari Temple, the Kalasan Temple, which dates to c. 778 CE, and the
Sambisari Temple, which dates from the 9th century CE and is dedicated to Shiva.
Prambanan consists of six temples all situated in an elevated courtyard, which is in turn
encompassed by 224 minor temples now ruined. The greater the distance a temple is from the
main complex, the smaller it is in height and space. A small wall surrounds the smaller temples,
just as a large wall encompasses the main complex. Prambanan has a 47 m (154 ft) tall central
temple -- dedicated to Shiva -- which sits inside a complex of other temple structures in a
concentric mandala layout. Prambanan, in ways similar to Borobudur, delineates the celestial
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hierarchy and transposes them to three distinct temple zones. Horizontally and vertically,
Prambanan exudes Hindu conceptions of heaven.
The largest three temples, the holiest sites within the main complex, are dedicated to the triad of
Hindu gods. Shiva's temple is the most prominent with Brahma's temple lying to the south of
Shiva's temple, and Vishnu's temple lying to the north of Shiva's temple. Directly parallel to
these magnificent temples are three smaller temples, each dedicated to mythological animal
figures that provide protection, companionship, and transportation to the aforementioned
gods: Garuda, a mythical winged creature, Hamsa the swan, and Nandi the bull.
The Temple of Shiva is the most ornate of the three massive temples, containing a series of
elegant carvings along the inner wall, which depict the scenes from the ancient Indian epic The
Ramayana. This temple contains four rooms, including an inner sanctuary with a statue of Shiva,
while another chamber near the inner sanctuary contains a large statue of Shiva's son, Ganesha.
The southern room of Shiva’s temple is dedicated to Batara Guru who, according adherents of
Javanese Hinduism, is an avatar of Shiva that gives prophecy, presents, and other human
abilities. There is also a statue of the sacred bull calf, gatekeeper, and vehicle (vahana) of Shiva,
Nandi, which sits in front of the Temple of Shiva. The walls in the Temple of Brahma continue
the narration of The Ramayana, while the Temple of Vishnu is decorated with carvings retelling
the epic battles of Krishna along its terrace.
By the end of the thirteenth century, the Khmer Empire began a slow decline which would
come to a head in the fifteenth century. While the precise factors that underpinned this
collapse continue to be debated, recent archaeological and climatic research suggests that
variations in climate played a significant contributing factor in Angkor’s downfall. A
change in the weather systems that regulated monsoon rains resulted in a severe drought
that dried up the barays (reservoirs) around Angkor and put intense pressure on the Khmer
Empire’s primarily agricultural economy. For much of its existence, Angkor depended
heavily on monsoonal rains and the use of water captured during the monsoon season and
stored in barays to irrigate their crops. To alleviate the droughts brought on by this change
in climate, Khmer engineers undertook large-scale modifications of their existing water
management system and embarked on an ambitious water diversion project. This proved,
105
however, a costly mistake as they were eventually caught unprepared by unusually intense
monsoon rains that overwhelmed the water management infrastructure and caused severe
erosion and flooding across Angkor.
Brendan M. Buckley, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Daniel Penny, Roland Fletcher, Edward R.
Cook, Masaki Sano, Le Canh Nam, Aroonrut Wichienkeeo, Ton That Minh and Truong
Mai
Hong,
“Climate
as
a
contributing
factor
in
the
demise
of
Cambodia”. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107(15):6748-6752.
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Angkor,
CHAPTER VII
The oldest Hindu temple in India is also made or Sandstones
Stone Architecture: The temple, built of stone, is on an octagonal plan which is rare. It is the
earliest specimen of the Nagara style of temple architecture in Bihar. There are doors or windows
on four sides and small niches for the reception of statues in the remaining four walls. The
temple shikhara or tower has been destroyed. However, a roof has been built, as part of
renovation work. The interior walls have niches and bold mouldings which are carved with vase
and foliage designs. At the entrance to the temple, the door jambs are seen with carved images
of Dvarapalas, Ganga, Yamuna and many other murtis. The main deities in the sanctum
sanctorum of the temple are of the Devi Mundeshwari and Chaturmukh (four faced) Shiva linga.
There are also two stone vessels of unusual design.[10] Even though the Shiva linga is installed in
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the centre of the sanctum, the main presiding deity is Devi Mundeshwari deified inside a niche,
which
is
seen
with
ten
to Mahishasuramardini. The
hands
temple
holding
also
symbols
riding
has murtis of
other
a
buffalo,
popular
attributed
gods
such
as Ganesha, Surya and Vishnu. A substantial part of this stone structure has been damaged, and
many stone fragments are seen strewn around the temple. However, under the jurisdiction
of ASI, it has been the subject of archaeological study for quite some time. The temple was
declared oldest Hindu temple of the country by the scholars with 2000 years of live worship
having its past in pre historic age
The Mundeshwari Devi temple is located on the Mundeshwari Hill at an elevation of 608 feet
(185 m.Located on Kaimur plateau near Son River,(and Survuwara(suvara) river) there are many
archaeological relics on the Mundeshwari Hill.It can be reached by road via Patna, Gaya,
or Varanasi. The nearest railway station is at Mohania - Bhabua Road railway station from where
the temple is 22 km by road.
More details: The Mundeshwari Devi Temple (also spelled as Mundesvari) is located at
paunra pahad, Ramgarh village in Kaimur district in the state of Bihar, India on the
Mundeshwari
Hills.
It
is
an
ancient
temple
dedicated
to
the
worship
of Lord
Shiva and Shakti and is considered one of the oldest Hindu temples in India. It is also considered
as the oldest functional Hindu temple of India. The information plaque erected by
the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at the site indicates the dating of the temple to 625 CE.
Hindu inscriptions dated 635 CE were found in the temple. The temple is a protected monument
under ASI since 1915. Local folklores say that Chanda and Munda who were full brothers and
chieftains of demon Mahishasura were rulers of the area. Mahishasura fought decisive battle with
Gooddess Durga as mentioned in Durga Shaptshati. Munda made goddess Mundeshwari
Bhawani temple while his younger brother Chanda made Chandeshwari temple at top of
Madurana hill near Chainpur.
But historical facts better explain its origin and its creators. After a study of broken Mundeshwari
inscription of Brahmi script and its two parts found in 1891 and 1903 by Bloch (Now joined and
kept in National Museum, Kolkata), Dr NG Majumdar and Dr KC Panigrahi stated to be the
temple to be earlier than 4th century AD.
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But recovery of a royal seal of great Shri Lankan emperor Maharaju Dutthagamani (101-77BC)
from the place in 2003, changed the history. It established that a royal pilgrims group or monks
from Shri Lanka visited the place during their journey to Sarnath from Bodh Gaya through
famous Dakshinapath highway sometime between 101BC to 77BC and lost the seal here.
The existence of Naga (serpent) on four faced shivalingam, Naga janeu (sacred thread)
on Ganesha idols not found anywhere in India and also on broken pieces scattered around the hill
clearly indicated that it was a construction by rulers of Naga dynasty (110BC to 315AD) who
used serpent as their royal sign.
Mahabharata mentioned that Guru Dronacharya has been made the ruler of Ahikshatra (region of
serpents) spead over Ahinaura, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra and Kaimur region of present times, as a
fee for educating Kaurava and Pandavas.
Udaysena, the ruler mentioned in the inscription had similarity with Naga dynasty rulers Nagsen,
Veersen etc.
The existence of 52 Pur (villages) of Nagvanshi Rajpoots also indicate about their long control
over the area.
Later the area came control of Gupta dynasty and the impact of their specific Nagra style of
architecture and Ramgarh Fort and Ramgarh village near the hill probable on famous Gupta ruler
Ramgupta are evidence of the fact.
After revelation of new facts, Bihar State Religious Trust Board (BSRTB) organized a national
seminar of eminent experts at Patna in 2008 and the date of Mundeshwari inscription was
unanimously fixed 108 AD.
The findings also established that here was a religious and educational center spread over the
hillock and Mandaleshwar (Shiva) temple (present temple residing Shiva in middle of sanctum
sanctorium) was the main shrine. The temple of Mandaleshwari (Parvati, better half of Shiva)
was on southern side. The temple was damaged and the idol of Mandaleshwari (degenerated
Mundeshwari and later connected with the mythical demon Mund) was kept in the eastern
chamber of main temple.
TIME LINE
636-38AD - Chinese visitor Huen Tsang writes about a shrine on a hill top flashing light, at
about a distance of 200 lee south west to Patna- The location is only of Mundeshwari.
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1790 AD - Daniel brothers Thomas and William visited Mundeshwari temple and provided
its first portrait.
1888 AD – Buchanan visited the region in 1813..
1891-92 AD – First part of the broken Mundeshwari Inscription was discovered by Bloch
during a survey by East India Company.
1903 AD – Second part of the inscription was discovered while clearing the debris around
the temple.
2003 AD – Brahmi script royal seal of great Shri Lankan emperor Maharaju Dutthagamani
(101-77BC) was discovered by Varanasi based historian Jahnawi Shakhar Roy which
changed the earlier findings about history of the place.
2008 AD - The date of the inscription was established 30th year of Saka era (108AD) by the
scholars in a national seminar organized for the purpose by Bihar State Religious Trust
Board (BSRTB) at Patna.
The plate at the site of the Temple gives a dates of 625 CE for the Temple. Hindu inscriptions dated 635 CE were
found in the temple
It is believed that rituals and worship have been performed here without a break, hence
Mundeshwari is considered one of the most ancient Hindu temples in India. The temple is visited
by a large number of pilgrims each year, particularly during the Ramnavami, Shivratri festivals.
A big annual fair (mela) is held nearby during the Navaratra visited by thousands. The worship
of shakti in the form of Devi Mundeshwari in the temple is also indicative of tantric cult of
worship, which is practiced in Eastern India.
Restoration: The Archaeological Survey of India has restored the temple under instruction from
the Union Ministry of Culture. Restorative works included the removal of soot from the temple
interior via a chemical treatment, repair of damage to religious murti (idol) and cataloging and
documentation of scattered fragments for later reuse. Other works included installation of solar
powered lighting, displays for antiquities and provision of public amenities. The Government of
Bihar has allocated Rs 2 crore to improve access to the temple. The inscription of an information
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plaque erected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at the site indicates the dating of the
temple to 635 AD. However, there are other versions for the dating stating the Saka era, prior to
Gupta dynasty rule (320 AD) in India, and specifically to 105 AD according to the Administrator
of the Bihar Religious Trust Board
In this article we will discuss about the views of the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang on India
during the rule of emperor Harsha Vardhana.
The Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang visited India during the period of emperor Harsha. When he
went back to China, he wrote a detailed description of India during the reign of Harsha in his
book ‘Si-yu-ki’ or ‘Record of the Western Countries’.
His description has been accepted as the best available source of knowing the administrative,
social and cultural condition of India at that time. However, his account of India is not entirely
dependable. At several places it is confused, while mostly it is biased because Hiuen Tsang used
his description as a means to glorify Buddhism and Harsha as its follower. The primary aim of
the visit of Hiuen Tsang to India was to gain knowledge of Buddhism and collect its religious
texts. As he did not get the permission of the Chinese emperor to visit India, he slipped away
from there in 629 A.D. He crossed the desert of Gobi, visited several places in Central Asia like
Kashagar, Samarkand and Balkha and reached Afghanistan. He met and found worshippers of
the Sun, a large number of Buddhist monks and followers, Stupas and monasteries at different
places.
From Afghanistan he reached Taxila via Peshawar. The journey from China to India was covered
by him in about a year. Then he stayed in India for nearly fourteen years. From Taxila, he went
to Kashmir and then visited several places in India like Mathura, Kannauj, Sravasti, Ayodhya,
Kapilvastu, Kusinagara, Sarnath, Vaisali, Pataliputra, Rajagraha, Bodha-Gaya and Nalanda.
He remained at the University of Nalanda for about five years. He, then, proceeded to Bengal
and visited South India as well, as far as Kanchi. He had been a guest to Bhaskara Varman, ruler
of Kamarupa. From there he was called to the court of Harsha. Harsha called a religious
assembly at Kannauj to honour him. Hiuen Tsang presided over that assembly.
He also participated in one of the religious assemblies called by Harsha at Prayag after that. He
left India in 644 A.D. through the same route by which he had entered. He took back many
images of Buddha and copies of different Buddhist religious texts. When he reached back China
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he was received with honour by the Chinese emperor. Then he wrote the description of India at
the instance of the Emperor.
Hiuen Tsang described the city-life of India. The information we gather from his account is that
the houses were of varied types and were constructed with wood, bricks and dung. The citystreets were circular and dirty. Many old cities were in ruins while new cities had grown up.
Prayag was an important city while the importance of Pataliputra was replaced by Kannauj.
Sravasti and Kapilvastu had lost their religious importance. Instead, Nalanda and Valabhi were
the centres of Buddhist learning. Hiuen Tsang described Kannauj as a beautiful city.
He described that Indians used cotton, silk and wool for their garments and these were of varied
types. He described Indians as lovers of education, literature and fine arts.
According to him, Indians received education between nine and thirty years of age and, in certain
cases, all their lives. Mostly the education was religious and was provided orally. Many texts
were put in writing and their script was Sanskrit. Debates and discussions were the most
important means of providing education and also that of establishing superiority over rivals in
knowledge.
Hiuen Tsang praised emperor Harsha and his administration very much. He described him as a
laborious king who travelled far and wide and contacted his subjects personally to look after
their welfare and supervise his administration. According to him, Harsha used to spend 3/4th of
the state-income for religious purposes.
He described that the kingdom was well-governed; it was- free from revolts; there were a few
cases of law-breaking; offenders were given physical punishments and tortured as well to extract
the truth from them while the traitors were given death sentence or turned out of the kingdom.
The burden of taxation was not heavy on the subjects; they were free from the oppression of the
government servants and were, thus, happy. The state used to record its every activity.
He, however, described that travelling was not very much safe at that time. The main source of
income of the state was land-revenue which formed 1/6th of the produce. Hiuen Tsang described
that Harsha divided his income into four parts.
One part of it was spent on administrative routine of the state; the second part of it was
distributed among government employees; the third of it was given to scholars; and the fourth
part of it was given in charity to Brahamanas and the Buddhist monks.
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Hiuen Tsang wrote that the army of Harsha consisted of 60,000 war-elephants, 50,000 strong
cavalry chariots and a 1,00,000 strong infantry.
He described Harsha as a perfect devotee of Buddha. He agreed that Hinduism was more widely
popular in India at that time as compared to Buddhism.
Hiuen Tsang described the social condition of India in detail. He wrote that caste-system was
rigid. There was no purdah-system and women were provided education. However, the practice
of sati prevailed. In general, the common people were simple and honest.
They used simple garments and avoided meat, onions and liquor in their food and drinks. They
observed high morality in their social and personal lives. The rich people dressed well, lived in
comfortable houses and enjoyed all comforts and amenities of life.
Hiuen Tsang also wrote about the economic condition of India at that time. He gave a long list of
Indian fruits and agricultural products. India produced the best cotton, silk and woolen cloth at
that time and prepared all sorts of garments from them. He praised very much the quality of
Indian pearls and ivory.
The Indians prepared and used all types of jewellery and ornaments. He wrote that India had a
brisk trade with foreign countries and there were prosperous city- ports on its sea-coast both in
the East and the West. India exported cloth, sandalwood, medicinal herbs, ivory, pearls, spices
etc. to foreign countries and imported gold, silver and horses. Hiuen Tsang described India as a
rich and prosperous country.
Hiuen Tsang wrote about the religious condition of India as well. He described that
Brahamanism, Buddhism and Jainism were all popular religions in India. There was complete
tolerance among people of all religious faiths and people changed their religions voluntarily.
Though he did not write that Buddhism was on decline, yet, his description of cities indicates
that Buddhism was, certainly, on decline and Brahamanism was progressing. Hiuen Tsang gave
description of religious assemblies also which were organised by Emperor Harsha at Prayag
(Allahabad) and Kannauj.
Thus, Hiuen Tsang has given such a detailed description of political, social, religious and
economic life of India as has not been given by any other Chinese traveller. The description,
certainly, helps us in making an assessment of the conditions of India during the reign of
emperor Harsha. However, historians do not accept his description as entirely dependable
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because he wrote with a positive favour for Buddhism. Therefore, it needs to be corroborated and
checked with the help of other contemporary sources.
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CHAPTER VIII
Building the Stone Pyramids
The building of a pyramid was a massive undertaking, employing thousands of workers for 20
years or more. We do not know for sure exactly how the pyramids were built. Our best guess is
that, first, the plan of the pyramid was marked out on the ground. Then the ground was levelled
and the pyramid built up layer by layer from giant limestone blocks like a massive staircase. The
blocks were perhaps then hauled up the pyramid on a spiral ramp built of earth and rubble. The
outside of the pyramid was faced with triangular blocks, called casing stones, made of a finer
limestone than the building blocks. They were polished by hand until they were completely
smooth.
If limestone blocks were dragged up a mud brick ramp to be placed at the top of the Great
Pyramid, where is the evidence of this huge ramp? How could materials such as wooden rollers
and mud bricks take the strain put on them by tons of stone? housands of men are supposed to
have dragged the building blocks across the desert in the searing heat – how did the ancient
project managers keep morale up amongst the dusty and tired workforce?
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The weight of water dictates that the water shaft/lift (seen in the theory video) has multiple gated
locks at 50 foot intervals, which keeps the pressure to within 2 bar pressure, within each
segment.When construction project manager Chris Massey set off on a surprise trip to Egypt,
wherever he looked, he saw problems with the perceived wisdom on how the pyramids, temples
and tombs of the pharaohs were built: A vast army of workers were needed to build the pyramid.
A large proportion of the work-force were peasants. Around 25,000 or so at a time would be
drafted in to serve three months’ work on the site, before they were replaced by another
workforce.
The workers were organized into small teams of 20-25 men. With one of their number as
foreman, they hauled the stones and set them in place. A team could be expected to move an
average of 10 stones a day from quarry to pyramid.
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117
Mystery of how the pyramids were built SOLVED? Genius ancient building hack revealed
A clever construction technique designed more than four millennia ago has been unearthed
EGYPT'S mysterious pyramids have always baffled scientists – but an ancient construction
hack may reveal how they were built.
Egyptologists have made a surprise discovery in an ancient quarry that suggests pyramid builders
used a modified ramp that made hauling enormous rocks far easier.
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Scientists believe pyramid builders used a modified ramp that made hauling enormous rocks
easier. The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the ancient wonders of the world, and with good
reason.The enormous structure was built around 4,500 years ago, made from enormous granite
stones supposedly cut by wooden wedges.What confuses archaeologists is how ancient
Egyptians managed to haul these stones up onto the pyramid's structure – with the biggest stones
weighing between 25 and 80 tonnes.Now scientists believe that these millennia-old builders used
specialised ramps with wooden posts in, allowing teams of men to haul rocks upwards using a
pulley-style system.
A ramp with two staircases and several post holes was discovered by complete chance Credit: University of Liverpool /
Yannis Gourdon
With 2.3million blocks making up the Great Pyramid, simply dragging rocks upwards from
above required huge amounts of effort.But scientists investigating inscriptions at the ancient
Hatnab quarry accidentally unearthed a ramp with a 20% incline.It was previously believed to be
impossible for Egyptians to have pulled heavy blocks up ramps at more than a 10% incline – but
this ramp was double the steepness. The Great Pyramids at Giza have confused scientists with
their enormous size – the biggest is 146.7 metres tallCredit: Alamy
The ramp had a surprising feature, however: post holes set alongside the steps on the side.
According to Roland Enmarch, from the University of Liverpool, these holes would've been
filled with thick wooden posts.
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Teams of builders would then have wrapped ropes around the posts to create pulleys that allowed
blocks to be pulled upwards from below.
This, when combined with a team of men pulling upwards, made it possible to have a steeper and
more compact ramp.
Dr Roland Enmarch pictured filming with a documentary crew at the Hatnab quarry, where the discovery was made Credit: University
of Liverpool
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Gigantic void discovered inside the Great Pyramid of Giza
"The arrangement allows people to be spaced up and down the ramp, and all the force to be
exerted in the same direction," said Enmarch, as quoted by The Times.Yannis Gourdon, of the
French Institute for Oriental Archaeology, said the stones lifted from the quarry would've been a
similar size to those used in the Great Pyramid.Part of the problem for scientists, however, is that
the ramps used to build the Great Pyramid were removed after construction.That means it's
impossible to know whether the exact same system was used at Giza.But Dr Enmarch described
it as a "plausible inference".He added: "This shows that at the time the Great Pyramid was being
built, this technology was also being used."
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The Great Pyramid took 20 years to build, with an estimated 12 blocks moved into place each
hour for 24 hours a day on average .What makes the discovery exciting is that it was a complete
accident. Scientists were only there to record ancient subscriptions.
"When we were working on that, we did some cleaning," said Mr Gourdon.
"We had to remove stones and debris against walls to find the inscriptions."
During that process, they found a three-metre-wide ramp that had steps either side of it.
And the built-in holes were capable of being filled by posts measuring half a metre across.
"That means that when [Pharoah] Cheops made the pyramid in Giza they had the technology to
transport huge stones on the huge steep slopes," said Gourdon.
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There would be deaths from accident and disease (and old age as well, among the overseers) but
in general the rate of death was probably not much higher than normal.The pyramids were built
using corvee labor (drafting people from up and down the Nile) and the bulk of the construction
took place during the rainy season, when farms were flooded and people couldn’t work the
fields. It was common for pharaohs to use this time period for national construction projects
(temples, etc) and to pay the people in food and clothing (there was no money at this time and
the pharaoh used goods brought in (in the form of taxes) to pay the laborers for their services.
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This was not unskilled corvee labor - by the time that Khufu started on the Great Pyramid,
Egyptians had been building pyramids for several decades. Djoser had the first true pyramid, but
his son, Sneferu, developed a kind of “pyramid mania” and built three (and possibly four, though
that’s debatable) pyramids of his own. By the time that Khufu (who was the son of Sneferu)
started, the quarries were well established and the project managers knew how to move big
blocks of stone around and transport them. Before that, kings and nobles had mastaba tombs
which also required a lot of experience in cutting and moving stone around and constructing
large monuments.Egyptian religious thought also mandated good treatment of the workers. To
abuse another violated the principle of “ma’at” (harmony/justice) and a pharaoh who violated
ma’at brought disaster to the country, according to their beliefs. So the workers weren’t starved
or abused.
There are over 700 known tombs of workers at Giza, and while this may seem like a lot,
remember that the entire area was a gigantic building project for around 100 years (G1 through
G3 plus all the temples and walls and other structures like boat pits). We really don’t know how
or exactly who built the pyramids, but they were massive construction projects and the people
who worked them would have been valuable as highly skilled labor. Still, they were using what
was probably cutting-edge tech for their day and moving massive blocks of stone. There were no
doubt accidents, but any long-term labor force would require that basic safety measures be in
place to minimize such accidents (never mind the cost of replacing a huge block of stone that
gets dropped and damaged!) or it wouldn’t function well.
So, just based on that, I doubt there were massive casualties in building the pyramids. As for how
many actually died? No way to know, unfortunately. If such records were kept, they have long
been lost. One thing that many people don’t seem to understand about ancient Egypt is that we
really don’t know that much. We have maybe 1% of the written records from those times, and
some of that is damaged. Imagine how hard it would be to reconstruct the history of the USA
over the last 250 years if all you had to go on were the surviving inscriptions from several
damaged monuments and buildings in DC, New York, Boston and LA, with no written records
or libraries or any paper or other mediums surviving. Oh, except 3% of 8 books chosen at
random from the Library of Congress. :-) Then try to reconstruct from that how the Empire State
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Building was constructed. Very few people died of accidents when building the Great Pyramids
of Egypt. It was quite safe to work on them … except for the earliest ones! I will explain.
Work at Height - nearly all the work was done at grade if you consider the pyramid to be a
slowly growing hill with ramps encircling it.
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There was little scaffolding. Just ramps with slowly moving blocks being dragged along by
thousands of workers. There was virtually no opportunity to fall or for blocks to fall on anyone.
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Training - some scholars believe the pyramids were built by a dedicated work force. Your
father's father could be builders full time. Your son and grandson would be builders too. So you
would be trained in your craft from a very early age.
There would be little opportunity for accident or error in a professional experienced work force
like this.
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Site Traffic Control - the pyramid construction site had to be well organized to cut then move
over 2 million blocks of stone into position. Material traffic and movement of workers had to be
well planned and controlled.
Speed of Construction - most material movement was likely at walking speed. The Egyptians
did not have to be worried about being run over by trucks or bulldozers!
The workers still had to be alert and watchful. You would not want to get your fingers pinched
when two 3 ton blocks of limestone came together!
But the earliest pyramids were a more dangerous environment. The Egyptians had to learn the art
of pyramid building … and sometimes there were mistakes … and disasters!
128
The rubble around this pyramid has never been fully excavated. But it appears the collapse was
sudden. Hundreds of workers may lie crushed below.
But once the Egyptians became experienced builders, there were very few accidents. This should
be contrasted to our more modern projects. For example, the Firth of Forth bridge in Scotland
had a hospital on one shore during construction.
The daily dead and injured were brought there. Now the hospital is a pub where I was able to
hoist a pint to honor the fallen!The ancient Egyptians would likely have been appalled at the
number of deaths and injuries recorded on our modern projects. Just think of the potential safety
recor 20,000 people working at least 2,000 hrs per year for 20 years. That adds up to 800 million
safe manhours without a lost time injury! Egyptians can be justly proud of their past
achievements!The Great Egyptian Pyramids are some of the most mysterious structures on earth and
have been the topic of countless debates throughout history. The question of how they were built, when
they were built, and who they were built by, and for what purpose they have to this day have garnered
endless theories and speculations.
HERE’S WHAT WE THINK WE KNOW:
Archaeologists believe that the Great Pyramids in Egypt were constructed by the old kingdom
society around 2500 BC. They believe that the main purpose of these pyramids was to act as
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tombs for the pharaohs and their queens. That would make sense considering the sheer size of
the pyramids. They are huge with the largest, the great pyramid of Giza incorporating around 2.3
million stone blocks, with an average weight of 2.5 to 15 tons each.
But besides what we can measure, the rest of what we think we know about the pyramids are
mostly just theories. The fact is, we really don’t know for sure why the pyramids were created,
we don’t know who created them, we really don’t know exactly how old they are and we for sure
have NO clue how a Bronze Age society that we perceive to be primitive was able to create
them.
Not only that, there are a few unbelievable facts about the dimensions of the Great Pyramid in
relationship to the earth: Did you know that if you take the height of the pyramid and multiply it
by 43,200 you get the polar radius of earth? Not only that, If you take the base perimeter of the
pyramid and multiply it by 43,200 you get the equatorial circumference of the earth. Why
43,200? The number isn't random. It comes from a key motion of the earth called the precession
of the earth’s axis. Pyramids were built and encoded with the exact dimensions of the earth at a
scale of 1 :43,200.
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON HOW THE PYRAMIDS WERE BUILT:
It seems that archaeologists generally agree that the granite from the pyramid’s internal
chambers was somehow quarried 533 miles south of Giza in Aswan, and the limestones used as
casings were from Tura a few miles away, but because these stones were so massive, everyone
had varied opinions about how they were transported. Every once in a while, a new theory will
come out and claim to solve the mind-boggling mystery of how the pyramids were constructed.
The last big theory was proposed in 2014 by a Dutch engineer who claimed that the stones were
transported using sand, water, and a wooden sled.
NEW FINDING:
Now, according to a new British documentary called Egypt’s Great Pyramid: The New
Evidence, there is apparently new evidence that two tonne blocks of limestone and granite were
transported by thousands of laborers along the Nile river in wooden boats held together by ropes.
Special canals were also used to bring them to an inland port which was in close proximity to the
base of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
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The scroll that provided evidence of such a procedure was written by an Egyptian overseer
named Merer and is apparently the only first-hand account of how the great pyramid was
constructed. In the papyrus scroll found in the seaport Wadi Al-Jar, it is written that Merer and
his team of 40 workmen were in charge of using wooden boats along the Nile River to carry
150,000 tonnes of limestone in order to build Pharaoah Khufu's tomb in 2600BC. He explained
that the boats were tied together by ropes, which helped to keep them secure.
Besides the scroll, researchers also uncovered a system of canals and a ceremonial boat, which
lends truth to what Merer wrote, detailing that his team of 40 skilled workers dug canals to
channel the water from the river to the pyramid.
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CHAPTER XI
From Rocks to Masterpieces- Art of Stone Carving:
Pertaining to the abundant availability of stones, civilizations dating back to as far as Mesolithic
age saw the usage of these rocks for creating some exquisite works for various purposes.
Some of the earliest stone works include The Stonehenge, Moai and some sculptures recovered
from excavating caves and historic civilizations such as the Indus Valley Civilization- each
having their own unique style, purpose, and characteristics.
Formation of rocks:
Millions of years ago, the Earth was simply a huge ball of mineral gases. As these gases began to
cool down, they got compressed and took on a solid form to become what we call natural rocks.
There are a variety of rocks on Earth such as metamorphic, igneous, sedimentary, etc. Their
variety depends on the minerals that went into their formation and their origins.
What is stone carving?
Stone carving is essentially a process by which objects are sculpted out of a piece of rock or
stone. It has been a very common yet difficult form of art for quite a few centuries now. Over
time, sculptors began taking keen notice of details, beautifying their stone sculptures and
creating truly realistic masterpieces out of them.
Limestone, granite, sandstone, marble, soapstone, black stone, etc. are some of the commonly
chosen rocks/stones for sculpting- each having their own unique characteristic and quality.
The process of carving stones:
Carving sculptures out of stone begins with the sculptor choosing a stone for his/her work. They
then usually create a replica of their design or sculpture using another medium such as Plaster of
Paris. This makes it easier for them to copy exact details. Some artisans, however, prefer directly
carving the stone.
Carving of the stone involves chiseling out the excess or unwanted parts of the stone using a
pointed chisel to create a basic structure.
Once that structure is ready, the sculptor then begins to refine his sculpture, carving out details
and bringing out a more defined structure.
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After all the carving is done, he then finishes off by smoothening the surface and giving it a
polish. Usually, a sandpaper is used for this purpose but it depends on the rock or stone used.
Black stone sculptures:
Black stone is a very commonly used rock for creating sculptures because of its beautiful color
that gives an elegant finish to the sculpture. Different types of black stones can be used
depending on the sculptor and his needs. Black Onyx is a variety that is often used for sculpting
purposes.
Our exquisite Black Stone collections:
Dharma: The Symbolic SermonSimple but professionally crafted, this sculpture shows Lord Buddha seated on a throne and
demonstrating the Dharma Chakra Mudra.
Kama: Uncontrollable DesireHindu scriptures define Kama as a physical desire for intimacy between two people. It is this
desire that is said to drive all the creatures into reproducing and hence keeping evolution going.
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This sculpture is a fine example of one that depicts this enigma by being carved to look like
a question mark with different creatures engraved on it, conveying that everything that
walks the Earth is an eternal part of this question.This polished, black stone sculpture
depicts the same passion between a man and a woman.
Praheli: The Enigma That Is LifeScholars, yogis, and philosophers were forever faced with failure trying to understand the
mysteries of life. This secrecy of life hence became an interesting subject for artists and artisans
to explore.
A Stone sculpture is an object made of stone which has been shaped, usually by carving, or
assembled to form a visually interesting three-dimensional shape. Stone is more durable than
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most alternative materials, making it especially important in architectural sculpture on the
outside of buildings.
Stone carving includes a number of techniques where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by
the controlled removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, evidence can be found
that even the earliest societies indulged in some form of stonework, though not all areas of the
world have such abundance of good stone for carving as Egypt, Persia(Iran), Greece, Central
America, India and most of Europe. Often, as in Indian sculpture, stone is the only material in
which ancient monumental sculpture has survived (along with smaller terracottas), although
there was almost certainly more wooden sculpture created at the time.
Petroglyphs (also called rock engravings) are perhaps the earliest form: images created by
removing part of a rock surface which remains in situ, by incising, pecking, carving, and
abrading. Rock reliefs, carved into "living" rock, are a more advanced stage of this. Monumental
sculpture covers large works, and architectural sculpture, which is attached to buildings.
Historically, much of these types was painted, usually after a thin coat of plaster was
applied. Hardstone carving is the carving for artistic purposes of semi-precious stones such
as jade, agate, onyx, rock crystal, sard or carnelian, and a general term for an object made in this
way. Alabaster or mineral gypsum is a soft mineral that is easy to carve for smaller works and
still relatively durable. Engraved gems are small carved gems, including cameos, originally used
as seal rings.
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Boundary wall featuring a dry stone sculpture, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire,
UK/Egyptian/Unakoti group of rock reliefs of Shiva, Tripura, India. 11th century
Ancient Egyptian triple portrait in greywacke, a very hard sandstone that takes a fine polish
Carving stone into sculpture is an activity older than civilization itself, beginning perhaps with
incised images on cave walls.[1] Prehistoric sculptures were usually human forms, such as
the Venus of Willendorf and the faceless statues of the Cycladic cultures of ancient Greece. Later
cultures devised animal, human-animal and abstract forms in stone. The earliest cultures used
abrasive techniques, and modern technology employs pneumatic hammers and other devices. But
for most of human history, sculptors used a hammer and chisel as the basic tools for carving
stone.
Stone Types: Soapstone, with a Mohs hardness of about 2, is an easily worked stone, commonly
used by beginning students of stone carving.
Alabaster and softer kinds of serpentine, all about 3 on the Mohs scale, are more durable than
soapstone. Alabaster, in particular, has long been cherished for its translucence.
Limestone and sandstone, at about 4 on the Mohs scale, are the only sedimentary stones
commonly carved. Limestone comes in a popular oolitic variety, about twice as hard as alabaster,
that is excellent for carving. The harder serpentines can also reach 4 on the Mohs scale.
Marble, travertine, and onyx are at about 6 on the Mohs scale. Marble has been the preferred
stone for sculptors in the European tradition ever since the time of classical Greece. It is
available in a wide variety of colors, from white through pink and red to grey and black.[3]
The hardest stone frequently carved is granite, at about 8 on the Mohs scale. It is the most
durable of sculptural stones and, correspondingly, an extremely difficult stone to work.[2]
Basalt columns, being even harder than the granite, are less frequently carved. This stone takes
on a beautiful black appearance when polished.
Rough and Finished Statutes: Rough block forms of unfinished statuary are known and are in
museums. Notable are the Akhenaten, Amarna Period statuary found at Akhetaten. One known
sculptor, Thutmose (sculptor), has his entire shop excavated at Akhetaten, with many unfinished
block forms.
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different mallets and pitching tool/Roughed out carvings
This shows the process of "pointing", the traditional method of making exact copies in stone
carving. A point machine is used to measure points on the original sculpture (seen on the right)
and transfer those points onto the stone copy (left). Here we see the very early stages, where
points have been measured and marked on the stone copy. These markings point out the high
points of the surface so that the stone carver knows which surfaces to sink and which to leave
alone.
In the direct method of stone carving, the work usually begins with the selection of stone for
carving, the qualities of which will influence the artist's choices in the design process. The artist
using the direct method may use sketches but eschews the use of a physical model. The fully
dimensional form or figure is created for the first time in the stone itself, as the artist removes
material, sketches on the block of stone, and develops the work along the way.[4]
On the other hand, is the indirect method, when the sculptor begins with a clearly defined model
to be copied in stone. The models, usually made of plaster or modeling clay, may be fully the
size of the intended sculpture and fully detailed. Once the model is complete, a suitable stone
must be found to fit the intended design.[4] The model is then copied in stone by measuring
with calipers or a pointing machine. This method is frequently used when the carving is done by
other sculptors, such as artisans or employees of the sculptor.
Some artists use the stone itself as inspiration; the Renaissance artist Michelangelo claimed that
his job was to free the human form hidden inside the block.[1]
Copying by "pointing”
The copying of an original statue in stone, which was very important for Ancient Greek statues,
which are nearly all known from copies, was traditionally achieved by "pointing", along with
more freehand methods. Pointing involved setting up a grid of string squares on a wooden frame
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surrounding the original, and then measuring the position on the grid and the distance between
grid and statue of a series of individual points, and then using this information to carve into the
block from which the copy is made. Robert Manuel Cook notes that Ancient Greek copyists
seem to have used many fewer points than some later ones, and copies often vary considerably in
the composition as well as the finish.[5]
Roughing out
When he or she is ready to carve, the carver usually begins by knocking off, or "pitching", large
portions of unwanted stone. For this task, he may select a point chisel, which is a long, hefty
piece of steel with a point at one end and a broad striking surface at the other. A pitching tool
may also be used at this early stage; which is a wedge-shaped chisel with a broad, flat edge. The
pitching tool is useful for splitting the stone and removing large, unwanted chunks. The sculptor
also selects a mallet, which is often a hammer with a broad, barrel-shaped head. The carver
places the point of the chisel or the edge of the pitching tool against a selected part of the stone,
then swings the mallet at it with a controlled stroke. He must be careful to strike the end of the
tool accurately; the smallest miscalculation can damage the stone, not to mention the sculptor’s
hand. When the mallet connects to the tool, energy is transferred along the tool, shattering the
stone. Most sculptors work rhythmically, turning the tool with each blow so that the stone is
removed quickly and evenly. This is the “roughing out” stage of the sculpting process.
Refining
Once the general shape of the statue has been determined, the sculptor uses other tools to refine
the figure. A toothed chisel or claw chisel has multiple gouging surfaces which create parallel
lines in the stone. These tools are generally used to add texture to the figure. An artist might
mark out specific lines by using calipers to measure an area of stone to be addressed and marking
the removal area with pencil, charcoal or chalk. The stone carver generally uses a shallower
stroke at this point in the process.
Final stages. Eventually, the sculptor has changed the stone from a rough block into the general
shape of the finished statue. Tools called rasps and rifflers are then used to enhance the shape
into its final form. A rasp is a flat, steel tool with a coarse surface. The sculptor uses broad,
sweeping strokes to remove excess stone as small chips or dust. A riffler is a smaller variation of
the rasp, which can be used to create details such as folds of clothing or locks of hair.
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The final stage of the carving process is polishing. Sandpaper can be used as a first step in the
polishing process or sand cloth. Emery, a stone that is harder and rougher than the sculpture
media, is also used in the finishing process. This abrading, or wearing away, brings out the
colour of the stone, reveals patterns in the surface and adds a sheen. Tin and iron oxides are often
used to give the stone a highly reflective exterior. Today, modern stone sculptors use diamond
abrasives to sand in the final finishing processes. This can be achieved by hand pads in rough to
fine abrasives ranging from 36 grit to 3000 grit. Also, diamond pads mounted on water-cooled
rotary air or electric sanders speed the finishing process.
Stone carving is an activity where pieces of rough natural stone are shaped by the controlled
removal of stone. Owing to the permanence of the material, stone work has survived which was
created during our prehistory.
Work carried out by paleolithic societies to create stone tools is more often referred to
as knapping. Stone carving that is done to produce lettering is more often referred to as lettering.
The process of removing stone from the earth is called mining or quarrying.
Stone carving is one of the processes which may be used by an artist when creating a sculpture.
The term also refers to the activity of masons in dressing stone blocks for use
in architecture, building or civil
engineering.
It
is
also
a
phrase
used
by archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists to describe the activity involved in making
some types of petroglyphs.
History: The earliest known works of representational art are stone carvings. Often marks carved
into rock or petroglyphs will survive where painted work will not. Prehistoric Venus
figurines such as the Venus of Berekhat Ram may be as old as 800,000 years and are carved in
stones such as tuff and limestone.
These earliest examples of the stone carving are the result of hitting or scratching a softer stone
with a harder one, although sometimes more resilient materials such as antlers are known to have
been used for relatively soft stone. Another early technique was to use an abrasive that was
rubbed on the stone to remove the unwanted area. Prior to the discovery of steel by any culture,
all stone carving was carried out by using an abrasion technique, following rough hewing of the
stone block using hammers. The reason for this is that bronze, the hardest available metal until
steel, is not hard enough to work any but the softest stone. The Ancient Greeks used
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the ductility of bronze to trap small granules of carborundum, that are naturally occurring on the
island of Milos, thus making a very efficient file for abrading the stone.
The development of iron made possible stone carving tools, such as chisels, drills and saws made
from steel, that were capable of being hardened and tempered to a state hard enough to cut stone
without deforming, while not being so brittle as to shatter. Carving tools have changed little
since then.
Modern, industrial, large quantity techniques still rely heavily on abrasion to cut and remove
stone, although at a significantly faster rate with processes such as water erosion and diamond
saw cutting.
One modern stone carving technique uses a new process: The technique of applying sudden high
temperature to the surface. The expansion of the top surface due to the sudden increase in
temperature causes it to break away. On a small scale, Oxy-acetylene torches are used. On an
industrial scale, lasers are used. On a massive scale, carvings such as the Crazy Horse
Memorial carved from the Harney Peak granite of Mount Rushmore and the Confederate
Memorial Park in Albany, Georgia are produced using jet heat torches.
Stone sculpture and Architectural sculpture
The Tang Dynasty Leshan Giant Buddha, near Leshan in Sichuan province, China. Construction
began in 713, and was completed in 803. It is the largest stone-carved Buddha in the world.
Bas-Relief, late 19th century CE. Limestone. Brooklyn Museum
Carving stone into sculpture is an activity older than civilization itself. Prehistoric sculptures
were usually human forms, such as the Venus of Willendorf and the faceless statues of
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the Cycladic cultures. Later cultures devised animal, human-animal and abstract forms in stone.
The earliest cultures used abrasive techniques, and modern technology employs pneumatic
hammers and other devices. But for most of human history, sculptors used hammer and chisel as
the basic tools for carving stone.
The process begins with the selection of a stone for carving. Some artists use the stone itself as
inspiration; the Renaissance artist Michelangelo claimed that his job was to free the human form
trapped inside the block. Other artists begin with a form already in mind and find a stone to
complement their vision. The sculptor may begin by forming a model in clay or wax, sketching
the form of the statue on paper or drawing a general outline of the statue on the stone itself.
When ready to carve, the artist usually begins by knocking off large portions of unwanted stone.
This is the "roughing out" stage of the sculpting process. For this task they may select a
point chisel, which is a long, hefty piece of steel with a point at one end and a broad striking
surface at the other. A pitching tool may also be used at this early stage; which is a wedgeshaped chisel with a broad, flat edge. The pitching tool is useful for splitting the stone and
removing large, unwanted chunks. Those two chisels are used in combination with a masons
driving hammer.
Once the general shape of the statue has been determined, the sculptor uses other tools to refine
the figure. A toothed chisel or claw chisel has multiple gouging surfaces which create parallel
lines in the stone. These tools are generally used to add texture to the figure. An artist might
mark out specific lines by using calipers to measure an area of stone to be addressed, and
marking the removal area with pencil, charcoal or chalk. The stone carver generally uses a
shallower stroke at this point in the process, usually in combination with a wooden mallet.
Eventually the sculptor has changed the stone from a rough block into the general shape of the
finished statue. Tools called rasps and rifflers are then used to enhance the shape into its final
form. A rasp is a flat, steel tool with a coarse surface. The sculptor uses broad, sweeping strokes
to remove excess stone as small chips or dust. A riffler is a smaller variation of the rasp, which
can be used to create details such as folds of clothing or locks of hair.
The final stage of the carving process is polishing. Sandpaper can be used as a first step in the
polishing process, or sand cloth. Emery, a stone that is harder and rougher than the sculpture
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media, is also used in the finishing process. This abrading, or wearing away, brings out the color
of the stone, reveals patterns in the surface and adds a sheen. Tin and iron oxides are often used
to give the stone a highly reflective exterior.
Sculptures can be carved via either the direct or the indirect carving method. Indirect carving is a
way of carving by using an accurate clay, wax or plaster model, which is then copied with the
use of a compass or proportional dividers or a pointing machine. The direct carving method is a
way of carving in a more intuitive way, without first making an elaborate model. Sometimes a
sketch on paper or a rough clay draft is made.
'Arabic' style carving on ashlar building blocks, Beith, Scotland
Stone has been used for carving since ancient times for many reasons. Most types of stone are
easier to find than metal ores, which have to be mined and smelted. Stone can be dug from the
surface and carved with hand tools. Stone is more durable than wood, and carvings in stone last
much longer than wooden artifacts. Stone comes in many varieties and artists have abundant
choices in color, quality and relative hardness.
Soft stone such as chalk, soapstone, pumice and Tufa can be easily carved with found items such
as harder stone or in the case of chalk even the fingernail. Limestones and marbles can be
worked using abrasives and simple iron tools. Granite, basalt and some metamorphic stone is
difficult to carve even with iron or steel tools; usually tungsten carbide tipped tools are used,
although abrasives still work well. Modern techniques often use abrasives attached to machine
tools to cut the stone.
Precious and semi-precious gemstones are also carved into delicate shapes for jewellery or larger
items, and polished; this is sometimes referred to as lapidary, although strictly speaking lapidary
refers to cutting and polishing alone.
When worked, some stones release dust that can damage lungs (silica crystals are usually to
blame), so a respirator is sometimes needed.
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Basic stone carving tools fall into five categories:
Percussion tools for hitting - such as mallets, axes, adzes, bouchards and toothed hammers.
Tools for rough shaping of stone, to form a block the size needed for the carving. These
include feathers and wedges and pitching tools.
Chisels for cutting - such as lettering chisels, points, pitching tools, and claw chisels. Chisels,
in turn, may be handheld and hammered or pneumatic powered.
Diamond tools which include burrs, cup wheels, and blades mounted on a host of power
tools. These are used sometimes through the entire carving process from rough work to the
final finish.
Abrasives for material removals - such as carborundum blocks, drills, saws, grinding and
cutting wheels, water-abrasive machinery and dressing tools such as French and English
drags.
More advanced processes, such as laser cutting and jet torches, use sudden high temperature with
a combination of cooling water to spall flakes of stone. Other modern processes may
involve diamond-wire machines or other large scale production equipment to remove large
sections of undesired stone.
The use of chisels for stone carving is possible in several ways. Two are:
The mason's stroke, in which a flat chisel is used at approximately 90 degrees to the surface
in an organized sweep. It shatters the stone beneath it and each successive pass lowers the
surface.
The lettering stroke, in which the chisel is used along the surface at approximately 30
degrees to cut beneath the existing surface.
There are many types and styles of stone carving tools, each carver will decide for themselves
which tools to use. Traditionalists might use hand tools only.
Lettering chisels for incising small strokes create the details of letters in larger applications.
Fishtail carving chisels are used to create pockets, valleys and for intricate carving, whilst
providing good visibility around the stone.
Masonry chisels are used for the general shaping of stones.
Stone point tools are used to rough out the surface of the stone.
Stone claw tools are used to remove the peaks and troughs left from the previously used
tools.
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Stone pitching tools are used to remove large quantities of stone.
Stone nickers are used to split stones by tracing a line along the stone with progressive
strikes until the stone breaks along the line.
Today Powered pneumatic hammers make the hard work easier. Progress on shaping stone is
faster with pneumatic carving tools. Air hammers (such as Cuturi) place many thousands of
impacts per minute upon the end of the tool, which would usually be manufactured or modified
to suit the purpose. This type of tool creates the ability to 'shave' the stone, providing a smooth
and consistent stroke, allowing for larger surfaces to be worked.
Among modern tool types, there are two main stone carving chisels:
Heat treated high carbon steel tools - Generally forged
Tungsten carbide tipped tools - Generally forged, slotted, and carbide inserts brazed in to
provide a harder and longer-wearing cutting edge.
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CHAPTER XII
Erotic Sentiment in Indian Temple Sculptures
Both in India and in Angkor there are erotic sculptures on the walls of the stone frescos depicting
nude nymphs. Though in Angkor no copulative activity id denoted
Most of the Apsara sculptures are based on different aspects of Shringara rasa, adhering to the
rules prescribed in the treatise of Indian theatrics- Natyashastra. Shringara is the rasa used to
portray on stage mutual desire and romantic love as primary emotion between a man and
Abstract
Shringara rasa – the sentiment of erotic love, and first of the nine rasas / navarasas as they are
called are the natural states of mind experienced by humans. Of the nine sentiments -nava rasas,
shringara occupies an important place in the history of ancient Indian literature and fine arts.
Indian temples show the figures of apsaras depicting the sentiment of love, both in the theoretical
aspects relating to theatrics (as described in Natyashastra by Bharata Muni around 2nd century
AD) as well as in the practical side of life with Kamasutra of Vatsyayana (by sage Vatsyayana,
around 2-3 century AD) as its base. Many erotic sculptures depicting union also involve dwarf
figures at the base as secondary figures which are in pranayama variations with hatha yoga
mudras and are tantra based union figures. (Though based on Patanjali Yoga sutra assigned
between 3-4th century AD, Hatha yoga gained prominence beyond 5th century AD). Several
commentaries on these topics were written in the subsequent periods and by medieval period the
kings who sponsored the construction of temples, the sthapatis and sculptors were all well versed
on these topics along with religious and philosophical aspects. The outcome was the inclusion of
these topics in a permanent medium of stone in temples for mass communication. This article
focuses on how to understand the shades of shringara rasa that are depicted on the outer walls of
Indian temples and how tantric themes are different from non-tantric ones as they are based on
different ancient texts.
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Introduction to Shringara Rasa
The depiction of a happy state of mind elevating the state of mind of the performer and the
viewer to shringa- meaning a peak is called Shringara rasa and is called the “King of Rasas”. It is
categorized as chitta vikasa (blooming of the mood) – which blossoms or opens out the mind
leading to a pleasant state. Rasa means the essence, pith – the juicy and the best part of Indian
fine arts like dance, music, painting, sculptural art and literature. In colloquial terms, it means
beautification, pure and clean leading to attractive appearance and is related to the love theme of
youthful enthusiastic hero and heroine. Feminine grace in youth, is the support of Shringara in
sculptures too, and they show joyful facial expression with befitting actions through limbs.
Most of the Apsara sculptures are based on different aspects of Shringara rasa, adhering to the
rules prescribed in the treatise of Indian theatrics- Natyashastra. The chapter on sentiments is
about the rules of theatrical aspects giving a detailed account of how the Shringara rasa has to be
enacted by the heroine of the play, how the state of mind has to be communicated to the audience
with befitting body and facial movements, accessories that can be used or the stage setting to
invoke Shringara. The heroine depicted as an apsara on a lotus pedestal (considered as semi
divine for her insight into fine arts) exhibits all the rules of Natyashastra to be followed for
depiction of Shringara. Shringara is the rasa used to portray on stage mutual desire and romantic
love as primary emotion between a man and woman. The permanent mood – Sthayibhava of
Shringara is Rati, meaning physical attraction and pleasure.
Dasharupaka, (an ancient commentary on some chapters of Natyashastra, compiled by
Dhananjaya, around 10th century) in Part IV, Ch. 58, in relation to the state of mind of the hero
and the heroine, states that Shringara is of three stages –
“Aayogo viprayogascha sambhogascheti sa tridha”
1. Aayoga stands for acceptance of each other in love, are in a pleasant state of mind, though yet to
meet, are ambitious of the meet as a precursor to union. Most of the Apsara sculptures depict the
anxiety of Aayoga Shringara- as she is interested in the hero and is preparing herself for the
meet. But the hero is not physically depicted in this group of Apsara sculptures and hence are
classified as Aayoga phase.
2. Viprayoga – where the hero and heroine had united before, but are currently apart, in nonharmonious state, separated or quarrelling for the hero has missed the promise of coming in time
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to meet the heroine. The sculptural representations are rare but are more in paintings and
literature.
3. Sambhoga – where hero and heroine are in a harmonious state of mind and united. Sambhoga
Shringara is the core theme of the treatise Kamasutra.
While the heartache and pain of separation from the loved one is conveyed through Viprayoga,
the intense desire for uniting with the lover is conveyed through Sambhoga.
1. Aayoga Shringara in Sculptures of Apsaras of Belur Chennakeshava Temple
‘Aa’, is the second letter of alphabet in Sanskrit and is used as a prefix to verbs and nouns to
express a sense of nearness. Yoga means joining or union. Aayoga also means an appointment
(for yoga-joining), action or performance, and offering flowers, perfumes, etc., as a sub division
of Shringara. It is easier to express emotions in literature or dance, but to bring it out in a
sculpture is difficult because the sculptor is the non-performer and yet has to know the intricacies
involved in dance of both pure and emotive aspects, to bring out a state of pleasure in the stone
medium. In other words, the sculptor had to know thoroughly all the aspects related to the
chapters of Natyashastra as well as physical body because Shringara is expressed through body
movements as frozen (aangika abhinaya) postures along with facial expressions and supported by
other hand accessories.
The aesthetic pleasure of Apsara sculptures is determined by how successful the sculptor is in
expressing a particular emotion and evoking the rasa.
“Ramya desha, kalaa, kaala, Veshabhogadi Sevanai…”
Dasarupaka, part 4.56 quotes that Shringara is evoked and depicted when the hero or heroine is
enjoying in the following context.
Ramya desha – A pleasant place like garden and enjoying nature
Ramya kalaa – Involved in fine arts such as music, dance and the instruments.
Ramya kaala – Pleasant time like pleasure of seasons or festivals. It could also be playing with
pet parrot and hearing words about the hero from her pet parrot, etc.
Vesha bhoga – Use of garlands, ornaments, food that elevates the mood to a pleasant state.
The context in sculptures is determined by the behaviour of the character of heroin – the Apsara.
Ramya Desha – Ramya means pleasant and desha means a place. A pleasant state of mind,
Shringara rasa is evoked in a beautiful place like a garden or a palace when the heroine is
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enjoying the beauty of flower or a fruit. Garden is also a meeting place with her beloved. She
holds the branch of a plant, and looks for the arrival of her beloved.
Picture
1
(left):
From
Belur.
Depicts
Apsara
in
a
garden,
trying
to
know
the
texture
of
a
fruit.
Picture 2 (right): From the same temple shows Apsara trying to ask the attendant to examine her foot. She holds the branch
for support and looks if the hero has arrived or not.
Ramya Kalaa – Kalaa means fine arts. Apsara is immersed in playing instrumental music and
enjoying a pleasant state of mind. Shringara is evoked by actions depicting enjoyment in art
forms. The face depicts a joyous state with a smiling face. Head and glances in sama (normal)
position. Apsara is involved in music or dance, and the attendants with instruments belong to the
Kushilava group of accompanying artists.
When the hero or heroine is involved in enjoying any art form like dance and music – the
Gandharva Kalaa – they are depicting Shringara rasa – as it is categorized under blooming of the
mind – citta vikaasa. Natyashastra defines Gandharva Kalaa as music and dance based on svara,
taala and pada (melody, rhythm and words respectively) executed with various musical
instruments. This was the art loved by Devas and Gandharvas who were proficient in music.
Ramya Kaala – Kaala is time, a pleasant or private time. The Apsara is speaking to her pet
parrot and listening about the hero or enjoying Utsava kaala – a festive time. These are well
depicted in figures of Belur.
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Picture 5 (left): Apsara playing game of colours. Picture 6 (right): Apsara with her pet parrot.
Picture 5 depicts how the lady is enjoying the game of colours in Vasantotsava. She is in an
enthusiastic game of playing with a pot full of perfumed or coloured water and also using a
syringe to spray colours.
In Picture 6, the Apsara is associated with a pet parrot in a dramatic situation in sculpture. Parrot
is the vehicle of Kamadeva- the God of love, hence, it is a symbolic gesture of love and a carrier
of love messages. It may also be a friend and a soul mate with whom she shares her love for the
hero. In this panel, the Apsara is either listening to its words about the hero or she is trying to
receive or send a message through it. It is a frozen posture of a dialogue – vachikaabhinaya, and
the dwarf figures depicted as encouraging the bird with fruits to speak repeatedly.
Vesha Bhogadi Sevanai: Apsara is deriving pleasure from personal decoration like a dress,
ornaments or enjoying food etc., which elevates the mind to a pleasant state. Bhoga – the
experience of enjoyment is possible through the help of manas – the mind in a pleasant state and
not otherwise. Shringara through dress means and elegant decoration suited to an amorous
interview.
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Picture 7 (left) and Picture 8 (right): Apsara is decorating herself to look good.
These two pictures show her desire to look good before meeting her beloved. She carefully looks
at herself in the mirror, arranging her adornment for final touches. The attendants are offering
bangles for extra adornment. In Picture 8, she is trying to know which type of earrings suits her.
The attendants are showing her the mirror and other ornaments.
Feminine grace in youthful period, supports the sentiments of Shringara. The natural physical
graces are called Haava, Bhaava and Hela, (feminine coquettish gesture to excite love, emotion,
and intensifying sexual desire, respectively) – which arise from one another and are aspects of
natural character. The erotic emotion manifests itself in the change in position of eyes, eyebrows
and the neck and graceful body movements, indicative of erotic sentiment. The various natural
graces which a lady exhibits like amorous gesture, graceful hand movements, confusion,
manifestation of affections and pretended anger are the outcome of the three inborn qualities of
youthful period. Adorned with these natural graces a lady exhibits involuntary (without effort)
graces – some of them which are seen in Apsara images. In her expression of love, the Apsara’s
efforts are based on longing (abhilasha – as said in Sanskrit) to meet her beloved. She tries to
decorate herself and exhibits anxiety before the meet. The analysis of sculptures in Shringara
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rasa is also supported by the actions of the dwarf figures who are depicted on either side of the
main figure.
2.
Viprayoga Shringara in Sculptures
‘Vi’– is a prefix in Sanskrit to verbs and nouns or adjectives, with a meaning of separation, a
reverse of action, an opposite of a verb of any action and prayoga means use or performance.
Viprayoga, a subdivision of Shringara is separation after union. Due to emotional disturbances
like forgetfulness of hero, when the hero is abroad due to work or jealousy felt by either of them,
the hero and heroine are separated. The expression comes out as harsh vak-words or disinterest
in dress and action. The lady in Viprayoga is depicted as removing her decorations, and in a bad
mood of crying, breathless exhalations or writing a message about her state. Even when there is
lot of love in their hearts, they are in angry mood and hence in Viprayoga state.
Pictures 7, 8, 9, 10 from left depicting Viprayoga Shringara .
Picture 7 is a panel from Chalukyan temple that depicts a lady to be removing her adornment of
the waist band. She appears to be disinterested in costume. The posture of crossing legs in the
thigh region (Baddha swastika) is used to depict an unpleasant situation.
Picture 8 from Belur Chennakeshava temple of Hoysala art depicts a heroine in a disappointed
mood after opening the message or the letter. The dwarf figure of a young girl helps in opening
the message. The lady depicts her disappointment in downward head and glances without
enthusiasm in her action.
Picture 9 and 10 are from Chalukyan temple. The lady is writing a letter to her beloved about her
agony as he is away from her. The legs are crossed at a lower region which hints that she is in
love but is separated from the hero.
3.
Sambhoga Shringara in Sculptures
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Sambhoga Shringara – a sub division under Shringara, it refers to enjoyment in general, and to
sexual love, erotic love, coitus, romantic mood highlighted by physical intimacy in particular.
Bhoga is consuming, pleasure or enjoyment. Sambhoga is the central theme of Shringara,
literally leading to union. It is reverse of Viprayoga separation or indifference of loved ones.
Sambhoga is synonymous with ratikride, surata and maithuna that are expressed in sculptures
through suitable actions like a hug, loving glance, inter twining of the body, etc. The sculptures
depict male and female figures in a state of enjoyment in a relaxed state. Some depictions are
according to the postures detailed in Kamasutra. Release of the creative sexual energy and
procreation is the result of Sambhoga Shringara.
The pictures 11 (left) and 12 (middle) are from Khajuraho group of temples. Picture 13 (right) is
from Konark temple.
The conclusion is that the variation in rasas offer a unique mode and testimony to the enduring
beauties carved in these temples. It is truly beauty frozen in time. The depiction of Rasa in
Apsara sculptures bear no relation to any Pauranic or mythological episodes, as there is no proof
in support of this. Hence, it is viewed for a demonstration of how a particular Rasa is to be
conveyed through angika, aharya and satvika modes. It is a demonstration of how a lady has to
enact, for a particular situation. The emotions of love are natural human instincts and its various
stages or shades are documented in the sculptures of temples.
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Erotic sculptures: Depiction of Union in Tantra based Images
Many figures despite being adorned with garments and jewels appear nude with a bold display of
genital organ and hence popularly addressed as erotic figures. The term erotic is related to sexual
desire and is a part of Sambhoga Shringara. A study of such figures revealed that even though
there is a bold display of body or intimacy between the male and the female, Shringara- the
sentiment of love or physical attraction did not appear to be the key theme. The figures depicted
hand gestures or yoga mudras, auspicious accessories along with the presence of secondary
figures in hatha yoga postures. Such figures, when approached for the esoteric or the inner
secretive information, lead to the understanding of hidden information. They were related to the
profound matters of the fundamental reality of tantric practices, classified as Tantra yoga and its
branches. The aspects of Raja yoga and Tantra philosophy were an integral part of the temple
sculptures very much like the depiction of Pauranic or religious episodes that adorned the outer
walls of the temple. These figures were carved out in temples so that people could know the
different reality.
The Apsara Figure with a Scorpion on Her Thigh
Figures with this theme are depicted in almost all big temples. Though called erotic, she does not
show the pleasantness of Shringara rasa, but pain or fear on her face and actions. A detailed
study revealed that this bold exposure is due to the presence of scorpion and not intended to
expose herself for sex. The symbolism of scorpion relates to the six negative or impure qualities
like lust, anger, greed, envy, etc. and in particular to lust, which is depicted as a scorpion
(Vruschika in Sanskrit). As per ancient literature, scorpion carries an ever-present aura of
passion, lust, attraction. In sculptures, scorpion is always depicted as approaching the sex organ.
Being a large poisonous insect, its danger is depicted through the large fangs that are like swords.
In almost all figures, the celestial beauty is depicted to be opening her costume out of fear to
throw away the scorpion, thus resulting in the exposure of the genital organ. Sculptures with selfexposure, though called erotic, convey a message of over power of lust and its implications.
Usually, scorpions are associated with only a female figure in order to convey the silent approach
of lust. A woman must be careful as it turns out to be a physical and social problem when
ignored.
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Pictures 14 (left most) and 15: From Khajuraho temples. Picture 16 is from Rani ki Vav and Picture 17 (right most)
from Belur.
The figures of celestial beauties in the temples of medieval period like the Khajuraho temple, the
step well of Rani ki vav and Belur temple of Hoysala art all have an Apsara figure associated
with a scorpion.
The scorpion is usually depicted as climbing up towards the genital region. Every movement of it
is adversary. It makes a stealthy, silent approach without making a bold display of its arrival and
hides in thick layers. It strikes quickly and decisively and injects poison which paralyzes
consciousness. This is depicted as the lady showing pain on her face. Since pain or fear are not in
Shringara rasa, these sculptures though called erotic, are not depictions of erotic love. The
intended message is that sexual energy can be harnessed to progress spiritually or excel in any
other field.
Tantric Coupling
The sculptures depicting tantric coupling are focused more on highlighting the ecstatic state as
the key expression rather than mundane pleasure. Ecstasy is essentially a stepping into an
alternate reality in which the present reality disappears. The sculptures depicting union had
secondary figures not only depicting hatha yoga asanas or mudras in hands but also showed
instruments held in hand. This led to the understanding that Tantra used body as the best medium
to explain its philosophy. The body was adopted as a symbol or an instrument through which
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truth and reality of Tantra could be realized. The aim of tantric coupling is not to discharge the
creative sex energy, but to divert it to a path of spiritual evolution. They look like love sculptures
from an optical view, but a rationalistic approach of the other figures in the panel leads to an
understanding of the hidden philosophical concept. This could also be due to the fusion of the
sambhoga postures of Kamasutra mixing with the thoughts of Tantra yoga to explain what the
stages of union means, and how tantric union can be achieved. Probably the intention for a reallife depiction was to explain the term “union” because Tantra yoga refers to many unions:
Ida – pingala nadis in union in Kundalini yoga
Prana and apana aspects of pranayama in harmony in Hatha yoga or
Mind and intellect in perfect harmony for spiritual progress in Nada yoga.
The two forces in each group were personified into male and female figures to explain or
highlight union at different branches of Tantra yoga. Graphic images were used to carry a
stronger and dramatic impact on the psyche of the humans. Realities of Tantra were conveyed
both in its theoretical and practical aspects.
Though all the pictures from the Khajuraho group of temples provided below show the hero and
heroine in loving embrace or union, the secondary figures that are carved along with the main
figures convey the hidden information about different branches of Tantra yoga. The male and
female figures are to be viewed as personifications of the union of either the ida-pingala nadis,
prana-apana vayu, upaya and prajna of Buddhist Tantra, union of jivatma with paramatma or
union of mind and mantra. Spiritual progress is the intention in Tantric union, and not
procreation or physical pleasure of sambhoga.
Pictures 18 (left), 19 and 20 from left: Depiction of pairing from Khajuraho temples.
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Picture 18 shows Viparita Baddha Konasana and head stand depicted in sculptures of tantric
coupling represent Yoga Nadis in Kundalini Yoga. The head stand, viparita baddha konasana by
male figure is at the base and konasana by female figure is on the top. The two- male and female
figures are the personification of the Ida – Pingala Nadis, (the motor and sensory nerves in
physiological terms) uniting at the central Sushumna canal. The side figures are the peripheral
Nadis, the nerves in personification.
Picture 19 shows four big figures and two small figures in sitting posture depicting hatha yoga
mudras. The central male and female figures are the personification of prana and apana forces.
The first female figure depicts absolution of slapping the nerves of the cheek in left hand before
the commencement of hatha yoga and holds dhyana mudra in right hand, hinting about focus of
mind. The last female figure depicts mula bandha in left hand and naadi shodha pranayama in
right hand. The sitting figure between the legs show bhastrika pranayama with shakti chalana
mudra of hatha yoga.
Picture 20 shows four big figures and three dwarf figures as Gandharvas holding flute and
garland. The central figures gazing affectionately are about the depiction of the state of mind
(mantra as female) under the control of prana (male) in total harmony. It is the state of
uninterrupted bliss of nada yoga, a branch of Tantra yoga. At the culmination of this yogic
practice, the yogi hears the anahata nada – unstruck and internal sound vibrations like that of
flute and lute of immense bliss. The figures holding flute and the lute are as tall as the main
figures indicate the soulful vibrations of the string and wind instrument, the flute and veena. This
stage is depicted in the panel as the prana and mantra, personified as deities in embrace gazing at
each other in harmony and other figures reverberating with the sound of flute are conveying the
beauty of harmonious state union of mind with the intellect in Nada yoga.
The Veena of Goddess Saraswati, the flute of Lord Krishna and the Damaru nada of Lord Shiva
are the symbolic sounds, which are the source of revelation to Naada-yogis. At this level of yoga,
samadhi can only be an experience rather than a discussion.
References
The following books by the author provide detailed analyses of the topics covered
Apsaras in Hoysala Art: A New Dimension.
Erotic Sculptures in Indian temples: A New Perspective.
Rekha Raohttp://indiafacts.org/erotic-sentiment-in-indian-temple-sculptures/
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Part II
COSMOLOGY of the STONE
STRUCTURES
157
CHAPTER XIII
COSMOLOGICAL INFERENCES
Stone temples designed as mandalas had square nested walls forming processional pathways,
corridors and passages carved with stories about the adventures and challenges of deities. At the
centre of the temple was the axis mundi (world axis) – an invisible column of sacred energy
connecting the heavens with earth, down which the gods were thought to pump spiritual energy
into the earthly kingdoms, assuring prosperity.
Thus, when a ruler announced the construction of a capital city they were essentially creating a
new “exemplary centre” – a prosperity generator – assuring a continued emanation of divine
energy from the centre of the temple into the capital city and outwards across the kingdom.
For thousands of years mandalas were expanded horizontally in two dimensions in attempts to
bring the astronomical frame of the universe into a cosmological scheme. Khmer temple
designers and builders introduced a third dimension by vertically expanding squares into stepped
pyramids with central towers.
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The concentric squares of the central 5 towers at Angkor Wat. ©ashleycowie.com
This evolutionary step in sacred architecture refocused the point of divine contact from the
horizontal plane beneath our feet to the highest point in a structure which better expressed the
Hindu-Buddhist belief that mountains, mountain ranges and caves were the sacred homes of the
Gods. The mandala underlying Angkor Wat causes the entire temple complex to rise up forming
a perfect square of four towers, which frame a centre tower, symbolising Mount Meru – the
home of the gods.
We will examine the mythological aspects of Mount Meru and Angkor Wat in greater detail in
the next article.
Angkor Wat
Apsarasas (500K)
Around the Temple (15)
The Bas-Reliefs (31)
Built by Suryavarman II
(1113-1150) as his capital,
Angkor Wat is a moated city
(the city buildings have long
since disappeared) that is
centered on his State Temple.
The temple is oriented to the
west, an unusual direction
that most authors ascribe to
its dedication to Vishnu. This
can't be the whole story,
though, because most temples
in Southeast Asia, with only a
few exceptions, face east,
regardless
of
their
dedications. Most likely the
explanation in this case is
astronomical; Angkor Wat's
western gopura brackets the
rising sun's position between
the summer and winter
solstices (Mannikka, pp. 3742).
The outer dimensions of the
city, excluding the moat, are
1025m by 802m (.6mi x
.5mi); the temple's outer wall
measures 332m x 258m
(1100' x 850') (Freeman and
Jacques, p.47).
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The
temple
itself
is
approached by a long
causeway which terminates
in
a cruciform
platform (naga
bridge).
From thence it ascends in
three levels to a quincunx of
towers. Only the five central
towers remain, the others (at
the corners of each enclosure)
having collapsed. Bridging
the
third
and
second
enclosures on the western
axis is a unique structure, the
so-called cruciform cloister,
which replicates in plan the
temple's third level platform.
The third (outer) enclosure of
the temple is a cloister that
faces outwards. Its sandstone
walls - over a third of a mile
in total length, and about six
feet high - are carved with
bas-reliefs
that
depict
Cambodian mythology and
history. Most date from the
time of Suryavarman, but the
reliefs on the northeast corner
(Krishna defeats Bana, and
Vishnu defeats Asuras) date
from a mid-16th century
reoccupation of Angkor by
king Ang Chan. The reliefs
may originally have been
painted, but any color
remaining today is from a
later time.
The general theme of the bas-reliefs, as can be seen from the temple plan above, is the
triumph of good - represented by Vishnu and his avatars, especially Krishna - over evil.
Because Suryavarman could be regarded symbolically as an avatar, or at least an earthly
representative of Vishnu, such a scheme seems appropriate to celebrate Suryavarman's reign.
Further, as Mannikka (p.177) points out, the Battle of Lanka and the Battle of Devas and Asuras
may have symbolized actual historical battles in which Suryavarman took part.
The specific arrangement of the reliefs has been a matter of some debate. For one thing, their
placement suggests a counterclockwise rather than the more usual clockwise circumambulation;
the order of subjects is also difficult to understand. Recently, Eleanor Mannikka (pp.125 ff.) has
160
found astronomical significance in this arrangement: the spring equinox happens in the east and
corresponds to the Churning (beginning of things), the summer solistice in the north (Mt. Meru,
Battle of Asuras and Devas), the autumn equinox in the west (end of things, Battle of
Kurukshetra), and the winter solistice in the south (realm of Yama, Heavens and Hells). While
not all of Mannikka's proposals have been accepted in detail, it does seem that astronomy was a
significant consideration in planning the temple (Coe, pp.120-121).
CAMBODIA’S EXEMPLARY CENTRE OF TIME AND SPACE
March 28, 2017
by Ashley Cowie
Between 879 – 1191 AD the Khmer empire extended from what is now southern Vietnam to
Yunan, China and westward to the Bay of Bengal. The great Hindu temple complex of Angkor
Wat in Cambodia was built by Emperor Suryavarman II who reigned between AD 1113-50 on a
scale repeated nowhere else on the planet, making Angkor Wat the largest religious monument in
the world, with the site measuring 162.6 hectares (1,626,000 m2; 402 acres).
At that time London, England, housed around 18’000 people while Angkor Wat was a grand
social and administrative metropolis, the largest city in the world, with over a million
inhabitants.
Angkor Wat can be conceptualised as a heavenly portal on earth. At the very centre of the
temple is the most sacred place in the complex, where humans and universal polar opposites
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united as a perceived column of creation energy flowing from the heavens and emanating from
the temple outwards across the kingdom, thus effecting the fate of fields and humans.
Buddha busts lining the south entrance to the Angkor Wat complex. ©ashleycowie.com
CONTRASTING COSMOLOGIES
Followers of mainstream western religions worship an omnipotent creator who, standing outside
of His creation, designed and built the universe within a week. The sacred architecture required
to pay homage to this god demands open congregational spaces where groups of people gather,
pray and to listen to clergymen delivering sermons.
In stark contrast to this the Hindu timeline expressed in myths and temple architecture resonates
closer with the modern scientific idea that the Big Bang was not the beginning of everything, but
the start of a present cycle which was preceded by an infinite number of universes, and will be
followed by an infinite number of universes.
Thus, the Khmer temple was a microcosmic expression of the Hindu cosmological universe. The
daily worship of Hindus and Buddhists required pilgrimage to a temple culminating with praying
and/or meditating at the centre of the temple where the human soul experienced transcendence
from the endless suffering and repetition of birth and rebirth.
Angkor Wat is arranged around a series of mandala’s interlinked to represent ever more
complex cosmological and esoteric themes. ©ashleycowie.com
162
The “heavenly” state experienced at the centre of the temple was known as Nirvana in Buddhism
and as Moksha in Hinduism. To enable and enhance the percieved spiritual experience Southeast
Asian temples were designed first as mandalas – deeply spiritual symbols blending
cosmological, religious and psychological motifs, which together represent the microcosmic and
macrocosmic levels of the universe.
MANDALAS IN THE SKY
Mandala’s were designed so that every proportion, space, area, ratio, length, breadth and height
meant something deeper relating to Hindu cosmology. The fundamental/governing shape in all
mandalas was a square, with concentric circles and T shaped gates on each face, all framing the
mysterious centre point. Khmer Architects enlarged and reduced concentric squares, circles and
triangles to achieve radial balance and to assure their designs were harmonically balanced, in all
parts.
A mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism, representing the universe. In common use,
“mandala” has become a generic term for any diagram, chart or geometric pattern that represents the cosmos metaphysically
or symbolically. ©ashleycowie.com
UPON COMPLETION, MANDALAS PRESENTED OBSERVERS WITH A RANGE OF
POSSIBLE INTERPRETATIONS.
They were infinite libraries of esoteric and religious data, tools to aid meditation and
geometrically sound plans for designing temple. Sometimes Mandalas were created by large
teams of priests brushing multi-coloured sand into place, but they were most often designed on
paper or fabric and pinned on walls to help worshipers induce deep-state meditational traces.
163
At a rudimentary level within mandala design geometers faced a perplexing occurrence. No
matter how large or small they expanded or contracted a concentric design, the centre point
remained the same. The fixed centre point and this entire geometric organising principle was
seen as highly esoteric and perfectly expressed Hindu cosmological ideas of how humans
interact with the greater universe.
From the largest outer square to the smallest inner square, mandalas, therefore cities and temples
symbolically embodied the universe, the world, the kingdom, the capital city, the temple, the
individual and the soul.
THE ORIGINS OF KHMER COSMOLOGY
Over the following articles we will see how the Khmer rulers extended their cosmology across
the greater landscape, but before doing so we must first appreciate the essential hands on skills of
the designers, architects, engineers and builders.
The cosmological and astronomical aspects of Angkor Wat originated in the ancient Indian
Vedic traditions of altar and temple design. To truly understand the astronomical formats, and
resulting rituals, at Angkor Wat we must first unravel ancient rope crafts and measuring skills of
ancient Vedic Indian altar and temple builders.
The first layer of a Vedic sacrificial altar is shaped like a falcon
Determining a location for constructing an altar (vedi) and the orientation and alignment of
sacrificial fires, as well as their shapes and areas, were strictly managed in order that they “made
effective instruments of sacrifice.” Unique fire-altar shapes were associated with gifts from the
Gods. For example; he who desires heaven is to construct a fire-altar in the form of a falcon; a
fire-altar in the form of a tortoise is to be constructed by one desiring to win the world of
Brahman and those who wish to destroy existing and future enemies should construct a fire-altar
in the form of a rhombus.
164
The Sulba Sutras were written mainly for the
benefit of rope craftsmen laying out sacred buildings and altars, but they also contain a general
statement of the Pythagorean Theorem. In addition to this they contain an approximation
procedure for obtaining the square root of two, correct to five decimal places, an approximate
squaring of the circle with rope. And, how to create rectilinear shapes whose area is equal to the
sum or difference of areas of other shapes. The Bodhayana version of the Pythagorean Theorem
is illustrated in the opposite diagram. ( The rope which is stretched across the diagonal of a
square produces an area double the size of the original square.)
There were three principal types of cosmic fire-altars which were surrounded by 360 enclosing
stones. The earth was represented by a circular altar surrounded by 21 enclosing stones, the sky
was a square altar surrounded by 261 stones and the space altar was surrounded by 78 stones.
The ancient mathematical problem of squaring the circle was regarded as a deeply esoteric
exercise where the sacred geometer spent sometime a lifetime attempting to unite the earth and
the sky in geometric formats. The above listed sacred numbers all appear at a fundamental
level at Angkor Wat and in most Hindu temples.
SACRED LENGTHS AND BUILDING MODULES
Angkor Wat’s foundational geometry expresses Vedic ideas relating to not only the microcosm
and macrocosm but also to calendric time and cosmological concepts. Adhering to ancient
principles of sacred architecture temple designers took numbers from natural cycles and
cosmological ideas and converted them into lengths and building units, which were regarded as
sacred measurements and divine building modules, respectively. Angkor Wat’s sacred
measurements were based on multiplications and divisions of the Cambodian cubit
or hat (0.43545 m).
Traditional Khmer calendars, Chhankiteks, were lunisolar – based on the movement of the moon
but synchronising with the solar year to avoid seasonal drift – which was accomplished by
adding an additional month or day to a particular year. The days in a solar year were represented
165
by lengths of 360, 365, or 366 units. Days in lunar months (naksatras) were lengths of 27, 28,
29 units and a lunar year was 354 days.
Two good examples of lunar and solar day counts being converted into lengths and integrated
into the architecture of Angkor Wat are;
LUNAR GEOMETRY
The number of days in a lunar year was 354 and the distance between the Naga balustrade and
the first step at the end of the walkway, to the upper elevation, is 354 meters.
SOLAR GEOMETRY
Solar numbers are present in the external axial dimensions of the topmost elevation of the central
tower, which is 189.00 cubits east to west and 176.37 cubits north to south. Together they
have a the sum of 365.37 almost exactly the length of the solar year.
CONCLUSION
Only a handful of academic and amateur historians have studied the complex relationship that
existed between the Khamer conception of the world and how the rulers, priests and architects
organised the greater landscapes surrounding their ‘exemplary centres’. This is the focus of
article 3, but next, in article 2, we will unfold the influence of Hindu creation mythologies on the
iconography and architecture of Angkor Wat.
References:
1. Stencel, R., Gifford, F., Moroan, E., “Astronomy and cosmology at Angkor Wat”, Science,
193, (1976), 281-287.
2. Millar, F.G. and Kak, S., “A Brahmanic fire altar explains a solar equation in Angkor Wat,”
Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, vol. 93, 1999, pp. 216-220
3. Mannikka, Eleanor, Angkor Wat: Time, Space, and Kingship. Univ of Hawaii Press,
Honolulu, 1996. Mannikka is the Moro ?n of the paper listed above.
4. Kramrisch, S., The Hindu Temple. The University of Calcutta, Calcutta, 1946; Motilal
Banarsidass, Delhi, 1991, page 35-36.
https://blog.world-mysteries.com/mystic-places/cambodias-exemplary-centre-time-space/
Part 3/5
The first article in this series demonstrated how the Khmer builders of Angkor Wat created a vast
religious complex to serve a greater purpose than the worship of deities. The religious
symbolism associated with mythological and cosmic order is reflected in the orientations of
ancient buildings worldwide (e.g. Magli 2015) and Angkor Wat is no exception. Its
measurements, orientations and alignments are near perfect expressions of greater cosmic order,
the passage of time, the ever moving rays of the sun and their influence on agricultural. Now we
will learn how Angkor wat 'worked' in the greater sacred landscape.
166
PART III
STONE FRACTALS
ARAMETRY IN INDIAN TEMPLES
167
CHAPTER XIV
PARAMETRIC DESIGN AND FRACTAL GEOMETRY OF ANCIENT
by Yashasri Yalagandula
INDIAN TEMPLES
Fractals are found in all Hindu temples regardless of the geography>
The majority of earlier research on Indian temple was focussed on descriptive approach in terms
of its evolution, distinct typological variations with respect to region to region and to note the
various other factors that governed the evolution.Hindu temples and their interrelationship has
renewed to their understanding of Hindu temple architecture. Study of fractals and link it to the
formation of temple make the process easier of understanding the temples. It reveals the mystery
of this gigantic structures fold by fold. In every element of these temples, there is a touch of
fractal.
A study undertaken by Yashasri Yalagandula titled PARAMETRIC DESIGN AND
FRACTAL GEOMETRY OF ANCIENT INDIAN TEMPLES examines a group of temple
complexes belonging to Kalyani chalukya period for understanding the general principles of
composition and a precise possible method of conceptualisation to a precise constructional
instruction methods with a specific focus on the temple geometry.
The definitions of the nomenclature of various elements and the configuration of them in terms
of vertical and horizontal layers also done. The broad classification of the temple based on its
mode and architectural vocabulary was understood by the scholarly works of Hardy and others as
it has given a conceptual clarity for general composition with the elements of sala kuta and
panjara.
A major amount of works has tried to explore the canonical texts and their interrelation to actual
temples. Most of these approaches also clearly accept that the there are differences between the
theory and actual practice. There is a considerable gap in terms of identifying the precise
constructional method that can eliminate any ambiguity of conceptualisation to actual
unambiguous simplified instructional level tools, which has to be consistent and free from
interpretational bias. Especially when a number of people from stone cutters to fine finishing
artisans are involved in the various stages of construction process over a long period of time.
The marked difference of this research approach is a deviation from the study of temples through
static 2 dimensional drawings as deciphered later to a 3D approach and consider architecture as a
product of dynamic movement of two basic parameters called path and profiles.
This research has not investigated the generation of plan geometry and this aspects are discussed
by earlier researchers such as Hardy and this has been referred earlier and Hardy's proposition of
square, expanding squares, and the other ideas of rotated squares to generate stellate and the
ideas of breaking lengths into largely even divisions has been adapted as base idea. It is also
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taken that the squares and arcs of circles were the larger geometry from which the temples
derived various forms by experimentations and modifications.
It is also to be noted that when paths are generated using square or stellar or circular geometry
experimentation (even more and more sides of stellar paths). The vertical profile is decided by
tala basis in fragments of a large profile. This large overall profile as we have seen could be
either straight line or even be curvilinear. It is clear that overall profile was determined by the
idea inward staggering or that of pyramidical side to follow the forces of gravity.
The fragmented profile could be used as templates at each tala and it is also possible for later
sthapathis to vary the profile somewhat. Only thing that was to be followed is the 'kampa' that
was left behind which will be used by later talas and its artisans and sthapathis.
From all the case examples, which represent a variety of temple forms when analyzed from the
point of path and profile parametric design approach show a high degree of consistency of
identical results when compared with actual temples forms. The degree of precision has been
remarkable right from the smallest component of a single course of temple, columns of varying
designs, plinths, super structures of distinctly different genre.
The variants and possible hybrids that can be achieved by making subtle changes that are done in
these parameters can be seen in different examples. From the consistency of these results it can
be concluded that the principle of path and profile is one of the dominant principle that is present
in Indian temples. However whether the artisans used exactly the same computational method as
developed in this study cannot be claimed from this study alone (because we are very far
removed in time by almost 1000 and the methods of construction moved from material and
hardly we find the continuity in several centuries).
We have seen in previous chapters chapter possibility of how simplified tools of p n-p could
have been very useful in conceiving and executing the varied geometry. It is mainly possible
because temples had been conceived in perfect symmetry on all sides. However it may be argued
that the investigation with computational graphics that showed the ease of conceiving forms as
shown in the thesis may not be possible in 9- 11th century CE when these were constructed. It is
to be noted that it was the re discovery of the idea which was possible through these graphics.
The idea would have generated over a long and by many generations, and can be conceived as a
template moving around the details filled in as offsets.
REASON BEHIND THE USE OF FRACTAL GEOMETRY
The following are some probable reasons behind the use of Fractal Geometry in Hindu temple
architecture.It can be argued that, practicing fractals is none other than the implication of the
sense of completeness since the concept of fractals is that of the part to whole and whole to
part.The fractal theory fully supports the Hindu philosophical concept of „one among all, all is
one‟. It brings the feeling of oneness (the concept of Atman).It can bring a sense of strength,
both structurally as well as visually.Self-similar elements in the design, seek the attention of the
visitors and pilgrims repeatedly and gradually entice them to think about it and create a clear
state of mind with a holistic perception.
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Self-similar repetition in structure generates an identity of elements as well as
form.Experimentation can also be a reason behind the evolution and realisation of fractal theory
in Hindu temple architecture through the ages.The term, „Self-similar‟ brings a sense of
modularity. Therefore, it generates the same style of work using the same modules, which saves
resources. Local materials, workmanship and time offer ease of execution across huge structures,
such as temples within the same region.Making of similar kind of elements repeatedly generates
a habit and practice and practice perfects the execution.From an aesthetical viewpoint, a fractal
geometry brings about „order in chaos‟ and thereby „a beauty in complexity‟.The above study
gives a brief idea about the relationship between fractal theory and Hindu cosmology, role of
fractal geometry in Hindu temple architecture, behavioural attributes of action of fractals and
possible reason behind them. It endeavours to prove the essential role of fractals in Hindu temple
architecture.
Ancient Indian mathematicians were very skillful in geometry. They used the knowledge in other
disciplines also. They derived many of the comprehensive conclusions with the help of
geometry. The Indian old scripts are the evidences of those practices. They observed that the
nature also follows the principles of geometry. This discussion is a trial to reveal those process in
which the ancient builders incorporate the basic principles of parametric design.
The parametric designs are now a part of modern architecture. Parametric principles are used in
public arts, furniture, modern buildings, etc.. and can be rarely seen in India. But this parametric
design was followed hundreds of years ago by Indians in temple architecture.
The predominantly stone constructions during the period of Kalyani Chalukya period exhibit a
highly sophisticated form generative logic in its visibly complex geometry. This so not only of
the form at the micro level elements but also at the macro level elements and even in the overall
form generation of its sikharas. This research investigates the possibilities of these parametric
form generative principles embedded in the temple designs.
The term fractal comes from Latin word ‘Fractus’ which means ‘broken’. Fractal means the
recursive geometric forms, bearing self-similarity on different scales. According to fractal
foundation – ‘A fractal is a never ending pattern. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are
self-similar across different scales.They are created by repeating a simple process repeatedly in
an ongoing feedback loop. Fractals are images of dynamic systems – the pictures of chaos.
Geometrically they exist in between our familiar dimensions. Fractal patterns are extremely
familiar as the nature is full of fractals. For instance – rivers, mountains, shells etc.Fractal
geometry has different roles in different sectors. In architecture, it acts as a mode of expression
to reveal the beauty of complexity. It gives wings to the ideas of an architect and reflects the
process of energy flow of the universe through buildings and monuments. Hindu temples are one
of the best examples of buildings with fractal phenomenon, which were constructed in the past,
long before the evolution of fractal theory.
Geometry’s major role and contribution according to various literary works, such as the
Samaranganasutradhara, was in establishing a relationship between width of the innermost shire
and elevation of the temple. A mathematical relation was inferred from the existing designs
between the width of the garbhagriha, the total height of the vimana and the individual heights of
various independent components composed together to form the vimana. Though, not concretely
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justifying its role in the evolution, the inferred relation would act as a boon in the restoration and
reconstruction of Karnata-Dravida temples. Hence, application of geometry and its computation
can open a plethora of opportunities in not only studying the existing but also in creating a new
paradigm. The interesting factor that can be derived from the above statement is that the study of
the elevation shouldn’t be confined to its elevation characteristics, but should be studied in
conjunction with the plan, of which it is a translation. Therefore, the question or the possibility
that needs to be explored is the effectiveness of the parametric model in the restoration of
FRACTAL PATTERNS IN NATURE
“Clouds are not spheres, mountains are not cones, coastlines are not circles and barks are not
smooth, nor does lightening travel in a straight line”- Benoit Mandelbrot.Morphology of the
‘amorphous’- The many patterns of nature are so irregular and fragmented, that compared to
Euclid – nature exhibits not simply a higher degree, but an altogether different level of
complexity.
Types of fractals in nature:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Invariance under scaling
Self-similarity
Recursive procedures
Space-filling
FRACTAL THEORY AND HINDU COSMOLOGY
‘Self-similarity is the phenomenon of each part being geometrically similar to the whole. It is the
core concept of the fractal theory. Interestingly, self-similarity is one of the basic principles of
organization in the Hindu temple architecture. The Hindu temple is designed and constructed as
miniature forms of the cosmos as envisioned in Hindu philosophy and beliefs.
Hindu philosophy describes the cosmos and holonomic. The holonomic character implies the
virtue of self-similarity, homogeneity, isotropy and symmetries of various kinds. Like a
hologram, each fragment of cosmos is considered to be whole in it and to contain information
similar to the whole.
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2. ANALYSIS OF INDIAN TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE AND GEOMETRY-Simple to
complex
172
173
2.1. FRACTALS IN THE FORMATION OF TEMPLES
The history of evolution of the Indian Hindu temples is a very vast field of study. Starting from
the cave temples to the palatial temple complexes, all styles have followed an exhaustive path of
evolution through experimentation.
4
During Gupta period the temple architecture in India flourished in a much disciplined manner.
The architects, artisans gradually developed the aesthetic scene of complexity. As a result, the
formation of Hindu temples became more complex and embodied an inherent sense of fractal
geometry.
PLAN FORM Application of Vastumandala: A suitable grid is selected from the thirty-two
mandalas available of 4, 9, 16, 25…1024 squares or padas.
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Ad-quadratum: The method to determine the walls and its thickness around the garbhagriha
where the length of wall is M and length of exterior wall is √2M.
Determining thickness of walls
Projections on Aditala: Different possible arrangement of aediculer arrangements with three
types of aedicules Sala, Kuta and Pajara.
Aedicular projections
ORGANISATIONAL COMPOSITION
Proportioning the mandapa
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The size of antarala, mandapa, Nandi mandapa etc, are all proportional to the cella length (M).
VIMANA COMPOSITION The typology was fundamentally complete by the construction of
Sangameshwara temple therefore it forms the proto model definition to be parametrized.
Parametrically developed parts of the adisthana of Sangameshwara temple, Pattadakal.
METHOD OF PATH AND PROFILE (p-n-p):
Using these two parameters the entire geometry of elements like columns, sikharas, plinths and
the entire temple geometry is generated by making the profile to move in horizontal direction
following a path (The terms path and profile are not traditional terms used in texts, but are used
in popular CAD softwares to generate/or simulate 3dimensional forms by extrusions) as
explained in the following graphics.The parametric design development is restricted to the
overall geometry only and not applicable to the various sculptural, figurative, surface
treatments.Many of such surface details or the sculptural embellishments are finished in-situ and
during the assembly of the stone blocks that are left as blobs and fine finishing done at a later
stage. For instance, it is noticed that the details of vyalis in vyala mala, termination of capping
details of kuta roof/ saala roof/ panjara are left as rough rectangular blocks in many semi finished
temples.
P-N-P METHOD OF GENERATING IN COLUMNS
To understand the p-n-p method explained in the previous chapter and its application from the
elemental level to overall form generation, a series of components of temples were taken up for
test. Professor Adam Hardy’s explanation of the means of expressing movement which describes
the form generative approaches holds good to understand various methods of thinking processes
in form generation. The principles of projection, staggering, splitting and bursting of boundaries
(Hardy, Indian temple Architecture) can be applied for form generative logic at an element level.
Principles of progressive multiplication, expanding repetition, pictorial representation and
gyration can be understood as overall compositional principles of a total form of a temple.
Karnataka Dravida temples demonstrate innumerable variants including the popularly known
“lathe turned” columns of which were very popular from Kalyani Chalukya period to Hoyasala
period. Many of the micro parts of these columns resemble the mouldings of temple
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superstructure. A wide range of foot prints of them resemble the plans of full-fledged temple's
mulaprasada including staggered orthogonal, and stellate variants. The traditional Shilpa sastras
prescribe 30 different types of column designs that are found in Karnataka (Anuradha). Many of
the names mentioned are of the orders like Rudrakantha, Eeshakantha, Chandrakantha,
Suryakantha, SimhaKantha, Gajapada, Vyalapada etc., whereas many of these refer to certain
deity or mythical animal and one may vary from dynasty to dynasty and guild to guild in
interpretation of the components/dimensions. Wherein some of the typologies like vruttha
pothika, taranga pothika, pushpa pothika can be related with possible geometrical connotation of
the column. The term "Taranga" means waves and in graphical equivalent terms to match are
offsets. The terms like pushpa can be attributed to stellate configuration where as vruttha to
circular configurations. The other terms which refers to the vertical segments of the columns are
described as adhistana/ peetha, danda, kumbha, mandi, phalaka, pothika.
The subcomponents of these and the geometrical or figurative components vary from style to
style or even from temple to temple. However these verbal descriptions may not be sufficient for
a definite form connected to the said typology. The interpretation of these terms may give a
generic description but not unambiguous instructions to derive a form. To examine these process
of form creation with reference to definite parameters that give a very unambiguous instructions
that can create a variety of columns exclusively different shapes are selected. These columns
were 3D scanned and very accurate three dimensional data is obtained. After obtaining the
precise 3D data the path are derived by slicing them at various horizontal levels and vertically
through the centre to arrive at profiles. A careful observation and comparison of these profiles
reveal that the generic pattern of all these columns are same irrespective of their total shape.
These different shapes are achieved by employing the different paths for profile movement. The
analysis restricted only to primary geometry of the columns, and figurative sculptures and
surface details like floral pattern, were not taken into consideration. This study does not claim
that all the components of a temple are achieved by this process alone but majority of the forms
can be derived using this method in combination with other form generative approaches. This
method gives only the basic geometrical configuration. The additional details like figurative
sculptures, surface level treatments etc. have to be omitted. In a given element, the paths may
vary from one level to other level generating different configurations.
Columns of Galageswara temple of Galaganatha village
9 A three dimensional scan of the internal columns of the mantapa are acquired using state of art
three dimensional scan technology. By slicing it vertically, the profiles were extracted and by
slicing horizontally at various levels, different paths are extracted.
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(a) Profile extraction (b) path and profile (c) generated form by p-n-p method
3.2. Nanneshwar temple of Lakkundi
To check the consistency of the results obtained using the same process, another example of the
temple of Naneswara at Laukkundi has been taken. The internal columns of the temple are
scanned to form a dense mesh. The distinctly different looking shapes of the columns are
deduced to paths and profiles. All the profiles of the column are exactly the same where as the
paths vary from stepped square, circular and staggered square in diagonal pattern to stellar
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pattern combined with circular edges. Mesh data of cluster of columns in the outer mantapa of
Nanneswara temple of lakkundi is acquired. The dense mesh is then converted to planar level
data, from which vertical profiles and horizontal paths are extracted. Using the extracted path
profile, the column forms are generated. These are then compared with the existing columns. It
has been found that the results are almost identical. Include stellar configurations.
Extraction of paths and profiles for individual column and identification of points of intersection.
Columns in Gadag Trikuteswara temple & Mahadeva temple of Ittagi
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The Mahadeva temple of Ittagi has some of the most exquisite columns of a finest finish. The
central four columns demonstrate supreme artistic exploration of a multi cusped stellar geometry.
This extreme example with a very high degree of variations in vertical profile with 16 sided
primary star shaped plan, each one further offseted into two more segments of staggering
resulting into 64 corners.
The central columns of Ittagi, Mahadeva stands as a supreme example of Karnataka Dravida
column examples as a highly complex three dimensional forms which encompasses logical
derivation, advanced mathematical and geometrical precision and fineness of finish. Such
geometry may not be possible without parametric based form generative understanding. The
entire configuration can be explained with two basic parameters – path and profile.Cave 3,
Badami Though this parametric form generations were not only late Chalukyan period
phenomenon, but the seed ideas can be seen in many earliest examples of early Chalukya
architecture. In the example of cave number three dated by archeologists as 578 AD shows the
early column development using parametric design.Acquired 3-D data and generated form of the
columns through parametric method and comparison shows the consistent similarities in shapes,
dimensions and proportions of the two columns generated with the same profile with variations
in paths indicated at various stages.
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INFERENCES
From all above case examples it is very clear that the core idea of form generation is by a process
close to the idea of parametric design in the making of columns of Kalyani Chalukya period. The
process is generative when it comes to the core geometry concerned. The consistency with which
the same/ similar profile is used to generate visually distinct forms that inherently have one
running idea in common. The exact process of construction or even conception might not have
been the same as used with advanced computational system that are employed here. But the
striking similarity between the actual forms and the generated forms indicate a possible link of
similarity of thinking process. A further investigation of all other components can throw more
light on these aspects. The simplicity of the instructional details of moving of two simple
parameters makes the method as a possible medium of communication of a viable instruction
system. In all the above cases of analyses of column creation show a very high degree of
probability of using a parametric method of design, communication and execution of a highly
prominent structural and decorative component of temple.
P-N-P METHOD IN SUPER STRUCTURE OF TEMPLES WITH STELLAR BASE.
Stellar form is based on star shaped base. All the adjoining sides of the plan (periphery that may
be the path) are not orthogonal to each other i.e. do not meet at right angles. Many of the stellate
geometries of base seems to be derived from rotating squares from the centre and have a high
symmetricity and segments of corners of squares radiating from a centre. Therefore they fall into
a typology of circular base with radial expanding boundary projections. To test the applicability
of path profile approach of form generation some unique examples of stellate configuration from
Kalyani Chalukya period are selected.
Doddabasappa temple of Dambala
View of Doddabasappa temple Dambala, Gadag district.
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Dambal is a village 25kms to the south-east of Gadag. The Doddabasappa-temple is situated
immediately to the north of the village. The plan of the Doaddabasappatemple is simple: the
monument consists of a vimana-cum sukanasa and a closed hall with two entrances. The outside
of the vimana is a star with 24 star-points or corners and the outside of the hall a star with 32
star-points or corners. Its first tala has a 45 degree rotated kuta-pillar-aedicule between two
recesses. The topping sala roof is incomplete and has no circular barrel but a number of stylised
kapotas, as is quite common. Its front has no window but a slab with only a large kirttimukha.
The character of the architectural components and most decorations suggest a date of AD 11001150.This example of Dambala Doddabasappa temple is taken to test the applicability pnp to a
rather unusual 24 sided stellar geometry and a distinctly different profile of elongated plinth and
superstructure. Dambala Doddabasappa temple perhaps is the real star attraction of Kalyani
Chalukyas. The design is most faithful in approach from its concept to complete form generation.
The design of this temple is strikingly singular and made it one of the most well-known
Chalukya monuments. Both vimana and the hall are stellate with the number of star points so
large that the wall panels become very narrow and elongated. As a consequence of these narrow
wall-panels the roofs are small and the number of talas is large.
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Extraction of coursewise geometry from and plan 3D mesh data.
The variations in dimensions shapes and the configurations were carefully examined to establish
relevant levels that significantly change the form generation. Features like figurative sculptures
ornamental treatment features were not considered for evaluation of geometrical configuration.
Data has been divided into plinth superstructure parapet of ground level and different talas
separately. Features like kuta stambha, corner pilasters, miniature wall shrines were analysed
separately. The primary focus is restricted to the shikara. Series of orthographic drawings and
sections were extracted. From the data analysis two distinct parameters of path and profile have
been identified. Path has been identified as the uppermost line at the shikara of the first tala that
defines the overall form and a section which passes through perpendicular to one of the kuta that
forms the 24 sided stellate configuration.Deduction of template parameters from dense mesh data
from one of the 24 kutas of lower tala (perpendicular to path line). An exploded view of 3d
model showing lower tala templates (represented in blue colour) Perpendicular to one of the kuta
aedicule. The upper talas profiles and paths are in scaled down Versions of lower tala. Using
these path and profile the plinth and the superstructure and parapet of the lower base level is
generated. Using the offset distance after the first parapet as a path and the sectional profile of
the first tala as the profile the first tala is generated.
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The exercise is repeated by using subsequent path and profile of the other talas generating their
forms. From the field data and 3D scans it is observed that the percentage of reduction from tala
to tala is between 0.83 to 0.93 i.e., between the range of 8/10 to 9/10. It is also observed that the
subtle variations are from kuta to kuta are done to nullify any manual errors or minor execution
errors. Using top most line of the third tala as a path and the assumed section of shikara from
similar examples (as the shikhara is missing) as profile the form is a shikara is generated. The
geometries of pilasters and kutas were generated separately and added to the overall form. While
creating the haras and vyalamalas generic rectangular outer block profile is used rather than sub
detailing of vyalas.Isometric view of the Doddabasappa Temple of Dambala generated through
Path and profile form generative approach and roof plan of generated model.
The Gauramma temple of Hiresingangutti This example of Gauramma temple of Hiresingangutti
is taken verification of applicability of p-n-p method to a rather unusual 16 sided stellate temple
with highly peculiar configuration of kutas. The vimana of this temple has a stunning stellate
design based on a 16-pointed star.
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Hiresingangutti is a village 10km East of Hungund and Ilkal, South of the road branching off
from the NH13 to Raichur. On the eastern slope of the hill these small temples are found side by
side all facing east. There is an architecturally exciting ruin standing between them. The villagers
call this temple gorama or gauramma or also gauri. The Gauramma temple is an ekakuta facing
east. Only the first tala of the vimana is complete. Traces of the second tala show that it repeated
the first tala in the usual way. In front of the vimana the sukanasa still remains, but of the hall
only the northern back corner is left. The vimana measures 5.50/6.00m and has a complicate
design. In its plan is a 16 pointed star with each star-point consisting of a sala-aedicule with a 45degree rotated kutaaedicule added to and partly embedded in the centre. There are no recesses.
The result is wonderful: the corners of the vimana consist of 45-degreerotated salas with 45degreerotated kutas, thus the kutas at the corner are simply octagonal.
Generated plan
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18 Features like figurative sculptures ornamental treatment features were not considered for
evaluation of geometrical configuration. Data has been divided into plinth superstructure parapet
of ground level and different talas separately. Features like kuta stambha, corner pilasters,
miniature wall shrines were analysed separately. The primary focus of the analysis is restricted to
the shikara alone as the details of columns and other features are discussed in other chapters.
Series of orthographic drawings and sections were extracted for proportion analysis. From the
data analysis two distinct parameters of path and profile have been identified. Path has been
identified as the uppermost line at the shikara of the first tala that defines the overall form of the
and a section which passes through the centre of the stellar projections excluding the ornamental
details and the additional features is taken as the profile. Using these p-n-p method the plinth and
the superstructure and parapet of the lower base level is generated. Using the offset distance after
the first parapet as a path and the sectional profile of the first tala as the profile the tala #1 is
generated. As the subsequent talas are missing, a conjectural extrapolation of line joining the top
of the first tala to the top of the second tala is extended to the central vertical axis of the temple.
The subsequent talas are created in a generic fashion based on the earlier understandings. The
geometries of pilasters and kutas were generated separately and added to the overall form. While
creating the haras and vyalamalas generic rectangular outer block profile is used rather than sub
detailing of vyalas.
A wire mesh drawing showing the complex geometry of lines hidden in the Gauramma temple,
Hiresinganagutti.
P-N-P IN SUPERSTRUCTURE OF TEMPLES WITH ORTHOGONAL BASE.
In this chapter we will look into the applicability of p-n-p method in generating of the form of
super structure of temples with orthogonal base such as near rectangle or square with adecular
and offsets projections developed as extended boundaries by. Many of these temples are of
similar configuration based on rectangle. But when extended boundaries increase the base form
extends to a multi sided polygon but the orthogonal geometry is maintained as two adjoining
sides of plan meet at right angles always. When they do not at right angles always and has a
radial configuration from the centre it is termed 'Stellate' and the combination of both orthogonal
and stellate as hybrid or part stellate. Dr. Hardy has elaborated on various configuration.
Here we take two cases 1. Siddeswara temple at Haveri 2. Galaganatha temple at Galagageswar
of Haveri district.
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5.1 Siddeshwara temple of Haveri This example of Siddeshwara temple at Haveri, is chosen
primarily for a typical representative of Kalyani Chalukya period as an orthogonal plan typology.
This small and exquisite temple is one of the better known Kalyani Chalukya monuments and is
often dated as mid-11th century. Its inscriptions go back to 1067
AD (Foekema). Haveri is a small town on NH 4 main road, about 70km south-east of Hubli. This
is a small and very ornate ekakuta with open hall mandapa. Its decorations are sophisticated. The
main temple faces the west, the opposite direction to the norm. The vimana measures
4.65/5.15m. There are four talas. In the first tala a chadya is added and this addition divided the
vimana into a wall and a superstructure. The centre of each tala is emphasized very much by an
additional second panjara-roof and by the heavy framing of each panjara-roof. The frames are
decorated with scrolls, as are the sides of the tala ends. The adecular composition of this vimana
is a common one, only the numbers of 5 projections and 4 talas are large for its modest size. The
shapes and decorations of many architectural components are elegant and elaborate in a way that
suggests a date well after 1100 AD. All the kapotas are flat. Apart from their shapes, the
architectural components of the Siddesvara temple have a special character because of their
sharp chiselling. The upper parts of the framing pilasters, and their elegant bells, high lasunas,
square ghatas and high phalakas, all these parts indented, are cut so sharply that they acquire a
metallic look. Also the wall-pillars of the pillar-aedicules are very sharp and smooth. 20
Course wise geometry is retrieved from this scanned data by slicing the virtual model into
number of horizontal layers. The variation in dimensions, shapes and configurations were
carefully examined to establish relevant levels that significantly affect form generation. Features
like figurative sculptures and
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ornamental treatment were not considered for evaluation of geometric configuration. Data has
been divided into plinth, superstructure, parapet of ground level and different talas. Features like
kuta stambha, corner pilasters and miniature wall shrines were analysed separately. The primary
focus of the analysis is restricted to the vimana alone as the details of columns and other features
are discussed in other earlier chapters. Series of orthographic drawings and sections were
extracted for proportion analysis. From the data analysis two distinct parameters of path and
profile were identified. Path that defines the overall form of the building is identified from the
outer line of the vedi platform. A section which passes through the centre of the shikara along the
cardinal directions, excluding the ornamental details and the additional features, is taken as the
profile. Using this path and profile, the plinth, the superstructure and parapet of the lower base
level is generated. Above the superstructure, the first parapet’s offset is used as Path and the
sectional profile of the tala at the same level is taken as Profile. Using this path and profile, the
three dimensional form of the first tala is generated.
21 The exercise is repeated by using subsequent path and profile of the other talas to generate
their forms. Using the top most line of the third tala as path and section of shikara as profile, the
three dimensional form of the shikara is generated. The geometries of pilasters, kuta stambha,
panjara and salas were generated separately and added to the overall form. While creating the
haras and vyalamalas, a generic rectangular outer block profile is used for generic representation
of vyalas.
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Path and profile of tala to tala of Siddeswar temple of Haveri. A point to note is that entire
profile (top of sikhara to vedi is not used to make a pnp model as it generates in accurate object.
profiles are cut into different tala levels and then the p-n-p models of each tala are generated up
to sikhara. The overall form is made by placing the individual tala models over each other. The
process is similar to stacking or layering process of construction of these temples. It is found that
the horizontal parameter (the path) is at topmost course of each 'tala'. and vertical parameter is
profile through cardinal direction. As the progression of tala's from lower level to upper level in
ascending order each of these upper talas are identified as scaled down version of lower tala
excluding the plinth and part of superstructure.
22 These upper talas can be expressed in terms of percentage reduction or number of bhaga's parts for mathematical expression. For example second tala is 8:10 to first tala and so on (though
it could also be expressed as 4:5 but it is easier to divide in multiples of 2 in the process of stone
marking from the practical point of view). As the objective of this research is not to establish the
proportion system practiced but to understand the derivative logic, and thesis is not focussing on
the changing
proportion system of various temples of the era. However it is to be noted that by making subtle
changes to these proportions each temple explore and create variety of form configurations.
Geometrical form generated from path and profile parameters of Siddeswara temple of Haveri.
23
Orthographic images of the basic geometry of temple of Siddeswara temple of Haveri.
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INFERENCES Form generation using path and profile method shows a conclusive evidence of
validity of this p-n-p approach for orthogonal configurations in the similar temple of orthogonal
base like Bhankapur, Chowdadanapura, Tarakeshwara of Hanagal, Ittagi Mahadeva, Kubbattur
Kaitabeswara, Koteshwar, Lakkundi Brahmajinalata.
The Galageswara temple of Galaganatha This example of Galageswara temple of Galaganatha is
taken primarily for the reason of investigation of a very unusual plinth which is not found
elsewhere. This buttress looking plinth and its geometry responds in a manner which reinforces
the idea p-n-p method. Galaganath is a tiny village on the left bank of the Tungabhadra, about
10kms north of Guttal. The river here flows from south to north, thus the temple faces the east as
well as the river. It does so in a very commanding way, because the bank is fairly high and the
dimensions of the temple are large. From its open hall the view over the river is majestic. The
vimana is complete and consists of four talas and of a closing vedika-cumkutaroof. The
superstructure consists entirely of undecorated architectural components, with a giant crowning
kuta roof received foliage and decorated nasis. All kapotas are of the same type, flat with shallow
flexures.
The pedestal here is formed by the pyramid, which is topped by a vedika and which has a
pedestal of its own. This pedestal is without kumuda, between plinth and topping kapota it has a
wide recess with diamond shaped flowers. At the back corners of the hall only the corners
themselves have a framed aedicule, all other projections are pillar-aedicules. The hara continues
seamless above the open part of the hall. The parapet wall of the open part is striking due to its
simple execution. All in all this hall is fairly common except for its size. In particular it is higher
than any other open hall.
The Dravida towers on two pilasters are detailed and sharp and consist of two talas and a
crowning. The interiors of the temple is exciting. The open hall is very spacious and offers a
view over the river. Besides that, exceptionally fine images are found in four niches.
The variations in dimensions, shapes and the configurations were carefully examined to establish
relevant levels that significantly change the form generation. Features like figurative sculptures
ornamental treatment features were not considered for evaluation of geometrical configuration.
Data has been divided into plinth superstructure parapet of ground level and different talas
separately. Features like kuta stambha, corner pilasters, miniature wall shrines were analysed
separately. The primary focus of the analysis is restricted to the shikara alone as the details of
columns and other features are discussed in other chapters. Series of orthographic drawings and
sections were extracted for proportion analysis.
From the data analysis two distinct parameters of path and profile have been identified. Path that
defines the overall form of the building is identified as the profile of the top of the first tala and a
section which passes through the centre of the cardinal direction of the shikara excluding the
ornamental details and the additional features is taken as the profile.
Using these path and profile, the plinth and the superstructure and parapet of the lower base level
is generated. Using the offset distance after the first parapet as a path and the sectional profile of
the first tala as the profile, the tala #1 is generated. The exercise is repeated by using subsequent
path and profile of the other talas generating their forms.
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Using top most line of the third tala as a path and section of shikara as profile the form of a
shikara is generated. The geometries of pilasters and kuta stambha and panjara and saalas were
generated separately and added to the overall form. While creating the haras and vyalamalas
generic rectangular outer block profile Is used rather than sub detailing of vyalas. It is a
conclusive evidence of the validity of the p-n-p form generation method even for a completely
uncommon feature like the buttressed base of the temple. Though it looks like a later addition,
the principle of form generation has led to a conclusive termination of this additional feature in a
predictable manner that has been generated using p-n-p. The method is adequate the universal
applicability for the form generation of exterior.
From both the examples deciphered above, we can see the similarity between the actual built
temple's basic geometry and the models generated by p-n-p method. In the case of temples built
over a long periods possibly without complete drawings and with no examples for reference, the
possibility of geometry of scheme of p-n-p into different talas make sense and each tala is a
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simple enough to be integrated at the same time to be continued in a similar way later time by
later builders without affecting the grammar of the composition.
6. EVOLUTION OF PLANS AND ELEVATIONS. EVOLUTION OF PLAN FORMS
THROUGH ITERATION In keeping with the site plan, the plan of the main temple structure
also follows the rule of fractals. At the very beginning, the steps are the simplest form of fractals
from which the halls or mandapas grow expansively. First, the Mukhamandapa or the hall of
entrance and then the Ardhamandapa, the half-heighted hall and finally the Maha Mandapa, the
grand hall are positioned. After the mandapas, comes the Mulaprasada, which encloses the
Garbhagriha, the inner sanctum. The enclosures of these halls and the spaces gradually take the
shape following the fractal theory.
a.Shrine alone, b.Shrine with porch, c.Shrine with Antarala and porch, d.Sarvatobhadra shrine
with four entrances.
The basic plan form also followed the iteration and gradually became more complex from a
simple quadrangle or square plan. It follows the repetition in recesses or in projections. However,
these repetitions followed a discipline. It is maintaining an axis. In the figure below one can see
how one formation is evolved from a simple square „a‟ to „e‟. It only creates basic projections in
between cardinal points. Figure „f‟ to „i‟ follow the repetition of recesses. Figures „j‟ to „m‟ are
the amalgamated formations. Accordingly, the others also follow certain geometric rules for
iteration.
a. Simple square plan, (b-e).Square plan with simple projections, (f-i).Staggered square plan
without recesses, (j-m).Staggered square plan with recesses, (no).Stepped diamond plan, (pq).Stellate plan with orthogonal central projection, (r-s).Special stellate plans, (t-v).Uniform
stellate plans based on rotated-square star. Of the figure below.
27
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Silhouette of Kandariya Mahadev Temple
ELEVATION OF THE TEMPLES Fractal also has a great impact on temple elevations. As is the
case of two dimensional plans, fractal also controls the formation of the elevations in three
dimensions. Elevation treatment of temple differs according to regions in India. Therefore,
tracing out typical examples, can be exhaustive. The following divisions are almost common to
all temples throughout India. Overall, the whole temple structure in three dimensions form
expresses the selfsimilarity in the structure. On consideration of silhouettes of temple structures,
a visual language of gradual progression starting from the base to the spires is prominent.
One can divide the temple into several parts like Pitha, Vedibandha, Jangha,
Varandika, Sikhara and Ghanta. Ghanta is actually a part of Shikhara but its features are so
distinct, one can consider it as a separate entity. The abovementioned parts are similar in all
Nagara temples, but they have different denominations in different places.
PITHA Pitha is the base or the altar on which the structure grows along the central axis. Pitha is
also divided into several parts founded on the – Khura, Kumbha, Antarpatrika, Kalasha and
kapotali. All the fragments are basic moulds and repetitive in form. In the figure below, the
fractals of the central mould repeat in numbers around the plan in different scales.
Pitha of a typical North Indian Temple VEDIBANDHA Vedibandha is the next upper part of the
pitha. It is mainly a connection between pitha and jangha. It has almost the same character of that
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of pitha. The mouldings and the typical parts are mostly similar in both the cases. The only
difference in this case is that the sculpting of moulds is more decorative. One can find similar
type of small repetitive ornamental mouldings at the central space of every wall section.
Vedibandha of a typical North Indian Temple JANGHA Jangha is the walled section of the
shrine acting, as the enclosure of the mandapas and Garbhagriha. Fractals are worked in two
different ways in its formation. Initially it is generated from the folds at the very base layer,
which follow the iteration. 29 The types of decorative works on the Jangha at the outer level are
also self-similar and repetitive.
VARANDIKA Varandika is the cornice part of the temple. Huge long chunk of stones are placed
along the inner side to form the cornice. However, on the outside, it is quite decorative and it
also forms the connection between the Jangha and the Sikhara, the two most important parts of a
temple.
SIKHARA Sikhara is the identity of a temple. All the variations in temple architecture are
mainly because of the variation in its formation.
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GHANTA Ghanta is the topmost part of the temple. It is a part of the Sikhara. It also has
separate parts with Kantha or Griva as the base and gradually Amlaka, Padmashirshaka, Kalasha,
etc. The connector of Sikhara and Ghanta is known as the Kantha or the Griva. In this section of
the temple, fractal mainly works in the Amlaka part by creating self-similar ribs.
The formation of Jangha also depends upon the formation and style of the Sikhara as shown in the figure
below. It is similar to the head and the structure. One fold is added to the Jangha for every additional fold in
the Sikhara. Image to RIGHT showing the interdependent formation process of Jangha and Sikhara.
THE BEHAVIOURAL ATTRIBUTES OF ACTION OF FRACTALS IN TEMPLES:
From the above discussion about the role of fractal geometry in the formation of the Hindu
temple, one major observation, which can be drawn, is that all the progression and iteration have
some specific behavioural attributes of action. According to Professor Adam Hardy, the
movements and the behaviour of action are
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Projection
Staggering
Splitting
Progressive Multiplication
and Expanding Repetition .
Staggering, multiple projection, or progressive stepping- out, suggests expansion in stages on a
serial emanation. Closely bunched offsets can also create the impression of vibration from an
inner energy. A staggered sequence of forms, embedded one within the other, can be entirely at
one level (in which case the elements slide out like an unfolding telescope), or step down as they
step out.
https://issuu.com/yashasri/docs/parametric_design.docx/s/157983
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About the Author-Dr Uday Dokras
The author has worked for 30 years in the human resources arena in India and abroad. He
was Group Vice -President of MZI Group in New Delhi and has anchored Human
Relations in Go Air and Hotel Holiday Inn;was General Manager-Health Human
Resources at the Lata Mangeshkar Hospital amd Medical college. Is currently Consultant
to Gorewada International Zoo,Nagpur and visiting Faculty at the Central Institute of
Business Management and Research, Nagpur.
In Sweden he anchored HR in Stadbolaget RENIA, SSSB and advisor to a multi
millionaire. He has studied in Nagpur, India where he obtained degrees of Bachelor of
Science, Bachelor of Arts(Managerial Economics) and Bachelor of Laws. He has done
his Graduate Studies in labour laws from Canada at the Queen's University, Kingston; a
MBA from USA, and Doctorate from Stockholm University, Sweden. Apart from that he
has done a Management Training Program in Singapore.
A scholar of the Swedish Institute, he has been an Edvard Cassel Fund and Wineroth
Fund Awardee.A scholar for the Swedish Institute for 5 years.
In 1984 he was involved with the Comparative Labour Law Project of the University of
California, Los Angeles, U.S.A. He was also visiting lecturer there. In 1985 he was
invited by the President of Seychelles to do a study of the efficacy of the labour laws of
Seychelles.
Author of a book on a Swedish human resource law, his brief life sketch is part of the
English study text book of 7 th Class Students in Sweden -“Studying English.
SPOTLIGHT 7”- and 8th Class students in Iceland - “SPOTLIGHT 8- Lausnir.”
BOOKS written by Dr Uday
1. Act on Co-determination at work-an efficacy study - 1990
Doctoral thesis published by Almqvist & Wiksell International, Stockholm,Sweden
This is a first of a kind empirical study of both employees and business owners reactions
of how efficiently a labour law was functioning in a country(Sweden).Adorns Stanford
and Harvard University Libraries and granted Copyright by the Library of Congress,USA
in 1990.
2. Health Human Resource Management- 2006
A to Z of the Management of health workers starting from recruitment to training,
development and enhancing their efficacy. Good book for all health care institutions as
well as medical and nursing staff and students.
3. Theme Park Human Resource Engineering- 2007
How the workers in theme parks deal with a complex environment and need to be
managed in order to being out superior delivery of customer focused services helping in
more footfalls at the same time not compromising on safety.
4. Project Human Resource Management- 2008
Projects are cumbersome and their success rests not on the material but on the men who
move it. Book deals with management ideas to spur project workers and staff to greater
delivery parameters.
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5. Creativity and Architecture -2009
Co-authored with Srishti Dokras, examines the parameters of creativity and how it will
raise design quotients.
6. Diffusion – Management and Design- 2009
Co-authored with Karan Dokras deals with a new and little known subject of Diffusion
or how predator ideas enhance own value in a market where dominant players call the
shots.
7. Hindu Temples of Bharat,Cambodia and Bali- 2020
Enigmatic designs, huge structures, massive projects all done before the invention of
cranes or bulldozers- the how and why of temples in Bharat,Nagpur,and the Far East.
Biggest and most comprehensive book on the subject -452 pages.
8. Win Diet 2020
Diets and fads come and go but not this one-A diet and exercise plan that will help you to
win over obesity,unhealthy lifestyles and make a dynamic YOU .Written by a 68 year old
who has been diagnosed with a 26 year old’s heart.
9. Celestial Mysteries of the Borobudur Temple of Java- 2020
This amazing biggest in the world Buddhist temple was built with technology and ideas
from India 1500 years ago using fractal geometry, Algorithms, Hindu temple technology
and archeoastronomy. Read HOW it was done.
10. LOTUS the Celestial Flower
11.Light house at Alexandria
12. Lighthouses in words and Pictures
13.Vayu- Man’s taming of the Winds
14. My Best Foot Forward- story of the Footware Industry in India
15.16,-- DEVARAJA- TRILOGY. The Celestial King and the Mysteries of South
Asian Hindu Temples -3 Volumes 1200 pages
18. VARDHAMAN- Jainism- for not the layman
19. ATIVIR- The saga of Vardhaman the Prince and Mahavir the Saint.
20.Hindu Temple Architecture- A panorama
21.Randezvous with Sri Ram- quintessentials of Hinduism-ESSAYS.
22. My Bouquet of Essays- Essays on various topics
And 12 other books including HINDU CAMBODIA and HYDROLOGY OF
ANGKOR
RESEARCH PAPERS- 280+ in Researchgate and academia.edu
Followers(readers) 30,000 consolidated as on 28 th July,2020.
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Authors-DR Uday DOKRAS
Dr. Uday Dokras
B.Sc., B.A. (Managerial Economics), LL.B., Nagpur University, India
Certificat'e en Droit, Queen’s University. Ontario, Canada,
MBA, CALSTATE,Los-Angeles, USA,
Ph.D. Stockholm University, Sweden,
Management and Efficacy Consultant, India
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Reviews of the Book PROJECT HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
The authors highlight the benefits of paying attention to human resources and offer success and
failure factors guideline for a variety of potential practitioners and students in global project
marketplace.
Ms.Ylva Arnold, Head HR- Norstedts Publishers, Stockholm SWEDEN
From the Newspaper Times of India March 24, 2018
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Iceland Sweden both countries use the English Text SPOTLIGHT-one of the lessons in
which is about Dr Uday Dokras
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Prof. S.Deshpande,President of the Indian Instituye of Architects, New Delhi INDIA
releasing the book of Dr Dokras HINDU TEMPLES on the web in CARONA
gimes( May 2010)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Srishti Dokras, Architect IDEAS,India
Visiting Architect, Dubai,Australia and USA
Renowned writer on Temples and highly followed author on academia.edu
B.Arch. (Institute for Design Education and Architectural Studies) Nagpur India
Visiting Architect, Dubai Australia & USA
Consultant - Design and Architecture, EsselworldGorewada International ZooLargest in ASIA
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Indo Nordic Author’s Collective, Stockholm(Sweden),Nagpur &
Gurugram(India) and Tampere (Finland
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Building Materials of the Hindu Temples in Cambodia,
Indonesia & India
Dr Uday & Ms. Srishti DOKRAS
Indo Nordic Author’s Collective
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