वास्तु मण्डन (मण्डन सूत्रधार - गृह, राजप्रासाद, दुर्ग एवं नगर-वास्तु सटीक)

xii Vāstumaṇḍana
Date is 1890 saṁvat, 1755 śaka, i.e., 1833 A.D.
In the post-colophon it is written:
ग्रंथसंख्या ८८०/ सम्वत् १८९० शके १७५५ फाल्गुनशुक्ल ३ वृहस्पतौ / श्रीरामो
He also writes श्रीराम on each folio.
For nasal consonants – ङ्, ञ्, ण्, न, म all the scribes write.
This is in short the description of five manuscripts used in editing the
Vāstumaṇḍana.
MAṆḌANA SŪTRADHĀRA AND HIS DATE
In the 15ᵗʰ century, a brief but glorious period existed for the late medieval
style of western Indian Architecture. The prevailing environment provided Maṇḍana
Sūtradhāra with the opportunity of evincing his flair, potency, conceptual acuity
and functional brilliance on architecture as well as on sculpture. Maṇḍana, who
was endowed with scholastic erudition, enjoyed the royal patronage of Rāṇā
Kumbhā of Chitor in whose court flourished several men of literary prowess. This
royal architect wrote and compiled a number of treatises on architecture and
iconography.
Being an author of that period, he had an exposure to the previous authoritative
Vāstuśāstras and the Purāṇas from which he elicited his inspiration.
Maṇḍana's father Kṣetra was also an architect. In the concluding śloka of
Vāstumaṇḍana, he writes –
सुतेन दैवसिंहेन प्रार्थितः क्षेत्रमण्डनः
स्थपतिः सृजति स्मेदं मण्डनो वास्तुमण्डनम्
There has been lot of confusion regarding his origin. According to one tradition
Maṇḍana hails from Gujarat and was invited by Mahārāṇā Kumbha in his court to
compose treatise on Vāstuśāstras. According to other tradition and a few colophons
of Maṇḍana's works – Kṣetra and his son Maṇḍana belonged to proper Mewar but
their forefather hailed from Gujarat.
Whatever the origin may be, Maṇḍana's work evidently show close acquaintance
with the vāstu works from Gujarat. In this book, i.e., the Vāstumaṇḍana he followed
the technology of Aparājitapṛchhā and Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra to a great extent.
In his works Rūpamaṇḍana and Rājavallabhamaṇḍana Maṇḍana specifically
mentions that, he is the eldest son of the eminent architect Kṣetra.