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

xxii Vāstumaṇḍana
Aparājitapṛchhā differs to certain extent on this type of palace. The wall is one-
eighth part of the construction and there will be four doors. Bhadra will have twenty-
five small pillars and thirty-six large pillars. There will be three pratibhadras in a bhadra
and six pillars in each pratibhadra. Altogether there will be seventy-two pillars and
sixty-four small pillars. Māḍa type of construction will be above three stories and
may go upto six stories.
The last one known as pṛithvījaya, is mentioned in Vāstumaṇḍana where the
land is divided into ten by ten squares and walls are erected proportionately. The
center of the palace is adorned with hundred pillars and the construction goes up
to seven and half stories. There will be fifty-two pillars in a three and half storey
construction. We find general measurement of the palaces also. The area of a palace
can start from twenty-five hands and can go upto hundred and eight hands. Palaces
are decorated with various ornamental materials.
Sūtradhāra Maṇḍana deals with this topic elaborately. From his description it
is clear that expertise on the architectural design and the construction were very
much available at that period. With the help of a chhanda named as prastara, an
architect could design varieties of houses. Prastara or permutation is regarded as an
important mathematical model by which a graphic representation of different
arrangement of a building could be done.
D. N. Shukla in his Vāstuśāstra writes--, 'Thus this (prastara) is all mathematical
gymnastic. Its practical value is only to avoid wrong orientation and misplacement
of any of the component parts in the building of śālā in order to provide the
maximum comfort and the fullest of space together with conformity to the mystic
ideas of the doctrine of orientation.' (p. 320)
Here Prastara means a combination of guru and laghu in accordance with certain
rules. In Vāstu, guru implies wall and laghu insinuate alinda. With various combinations
of guru and laghu one can design thousand varieties of houses.
Vivid illustration of different types of dwelling houses has been found in
different chapters of Vāstumaṇḍana. Sometimes it is a description of the abode of a
king or landlord, whereas sometimes it is for common man.
Chhanda is the seminal aspect of a building, which is applicable to an ordinary
house as well as to a king's palace. It is a rudimentary characteristic of Nāgarī style
of architecture and discussed elaborately in Aparājitapṛchhā as well as
Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra. Chhanda of Vāstu meant 'disposition of a structure,' says
Mr. Mankad in the introduction of Aparājitapṛchhā.
These rhythmic patterns are of six types, which again have sixteen varieties.
These patterns have been planned mainly for designing common people's residence.
These are tṛṇa, paṭṭa, vāji, khaṇḍa, parṇa or pūrṇa and pāṇḍu. These are the names of
the type of houses which indicate the material by which these houses are to be