Mayamata: An Indian Treatise on Housing Architecture and Iconography

by Bruno Dagens

The Mayamata is a Vastusastra, that is to says a treatise on dwelling and as such it deals with all the facets of gods temple dwellings, from the choice of a site to the iconography of temple walls. It contains many precise descriptions of villages and towns as of temples, houses, mansions and palaces. It gives indications for the selection of a proper orientation, of right dimension and of appropriate building materials. It intends to be a manual for the architect and a guide-book for the layman. Well thought of by the traditional architects (sthapati-s) of South India, this treatise is of interest at a time when technical traditions, in all fields are being scrutinized for their possible modern application. The Mayamata has so for been translated into Tamil and into French. The present English version is based upon the edition, with French trans-lation, previously published by Dr. Bruno Dagens in the Publication Series of the French Institute of Indology (Pon-dicherry).

Genres: Architecture

389 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Pramod Pant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thousand year old book on architecture, from the Chola empire of South India. Mixed with some humbug about the breath of calves interacting with the soil , it’s still a very detailed - and good - stuff about constructing buildings and prescriptions about their design and proportions.

I had bought this one to compare it with the Ten Books of Architecture by Vetruvious , the ancient Roman . Maya mata comes out very well in comparison, but you have to ignore it’s mumbo jumbo. That was the unnecessary spice .

The thousand year old buildings in the south of India that still survive gloriously tell us that their beauty and longevity owe to prescriptions of books like this.

Wonderful !