The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

42

BRAHMA and

VISHNU SHRINES

Whenthe

Manasara Silpa-sistra

gives directions

for the

placing of Brahma,

Vishnu, and Siva shrines

in the Indian

village, and defines their relations

to those of

Buddhist and

Jaina

sttlpas,there isnoreason why

itshould notbe

accepted

asatradition asold as anyin the history

of Indian building,

provided that

thereisnopositiveevidenceto

thecontrarytobe

foundinancient

monuments. But itisnecessary

toremember

that the Silpa-sastras are

technical, and not

sectarianworks,

andthat thetermsusedmust

thereforebe considered

in their

technical sense only. It

is justat this point that

archaeolo-

gistsof Fergusson'sschoolhave

goneastray.

A

"

Brahmi

"

shrine

which the Manasara directs to be

placedat themeetingofthe

fourcrosswaysin thecentreofthe

village(seefig.

4)

isacell, square

inplan,with itswalls front-

ingthefourcardinal

points,andanentranceon each side. The

sectarianworshipto

whichitisdevotedmaybeBuddhist,Jain,

Vaishnavaite, or Saivaite
;

in itselfitisonlyacosmicsymbol

which is commonto

all sects.

A

"

Vishnu

"

shrine,

according

to

the Manasira, hasone

entrance,always facingthe east, exceptwhen

dedicated tothe

Narasinha

(Man-lion)incarnation of Vishnu, inwhichcase it

was tobe

built

outside the

village, with its entrance turned

awayfromit. Inthisexceptiontheremaybesomeoldtradition

ofaBrahmanorKshatriyahero'ssuccessinwardingoffagreat

danger to the whole Indo-Aryan community. The special

characteristic ofa"Vishnu" shrineisthecurvilinearspire,
or

sikhara—asymbolofVishnu'spillar, standard, orof
his holy

Mountain—which Fergusson took as the typical feature

of

his

"

Indo-Aryan

"

style," though he left the origin

of it

unexplained.

The keytothisquestionlies in thesymbolism,

whichcan

bemost convenientlyreservedforaseparatechapter.

Here it

is only necessaryto mention onefactwhich goes far

toshow