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Home > Temples of Kerala > Measurements of Vigrahas General Principles Measurements of Vigrahas General PrinciplesThere were 32 important Sanskrit works82 on sculptre in ancient times which have been mentioned in Maanasaaram. Besides there are 18 other texts like isaaaa, Chithra-kasypam, Prayoga manjari, Peruhitham, Bouddha-matham, Gouthamam,KuIaaIam, Vaasishtam, Mano-kaipam, Bhaargavam, Maarkarndam, Gopaalam, Naradeeyam, Naarayaneeyam, Kaasyapam, Chithra-yamalam, Chithra-baahulyam and Desikam. All these texts are not completely available. In North India the silpis follow different texts. Based on the Sanskrit texts and Silparathna (a condensed version of Mayamatham) the authors of Thanthra samucchaya and Sesha Samucchaya prescribed certain rules, regulations and principles in making idols of Siva, Vishnlu, Bhagavathi, Gaapathi, et al. In these two volumes these cardinal principles are laid down at different patalas, depending on the occasion. It is however, pertinent to point out that in Kerala these principles are scrupulously followed and it is imperative to deal with these aspects in a concise way. Once the Yajamaana decides to have an idol in a temple he consults the Aachaarya or Thanthri, who in turn gives instructions to the Silpi to prepare a plan of the temple either in conformity with the proposed height of the idol or the size of the site. As every ceremony starts at an auspicious time (muhoorttha) it is essential that the sculpturing or casting ofbimba has also to be commenced accordingly. Both for carving and casting different principles are followed. In case of carving, there is stipulation that if the vigraha is meant to face east the sila should be so placed (before the commencement of carving) with the head portion of the proposed idol at the west. This will ensure that when the work is completed and when the bimba is kept in upright position it will face east. The second condition which is often overlooked by the new generation of sculptors, is that the artisan should commence the work after his morning ablutions and prayers and chisel the sila by wearing wet clothes. During the entire period of carving, which may take months, he must lead a pious life and take only vegetarian diet. In short his mind and actions should be in a high realm as he is attending to the execution of a bimba which has to imbibe deva-chaitanya. If the artisan deviates from this vital procedure the omnipotence of the deity is reduced or lost. Thirdly it is ideal to carve the bimba at the temple site itself, so that the sanctity is retained. In casting the bimba the procedure has already been explained. Here also the actual moulding has to be commenced and completed at an auspicious As stated earlier the bimbas in an anthropomorphic form and Siva-lingas are carved based on definite procedure. Initially those relating to. anthropomorpic form may be considered. Stella kramrisch83 opines that 'the schools of Indian sculpture differ as much as the human types reflected in the images of Gods. The metaphysical realisation to which the images give shape requires the figure of man as reference, on becoming an image, made by art, in stone etc. It is transformed and transubstantiated. The frame however, of this body made by art is measured according to the perfect proportion of the body of man. This implies that the proportion has to the in a definte order. The unit of measurement conceived by iconographers is thaala and it equals to the length of the face (face-height) which is equal to the inner length of the palm when the fingers are fully stretched. (vide Diagram 21). The facial length is divided into 12 parts, and each part is known as prathimaangulam. For bimbas of Goddess in addition to 12 prathimaangulams for the face one additional prathimaangulam is added as generally the faces of women - folk are a little elongated with lesser cheek - measurements. Moreover the horizontal measurements of body are also different between Gods and Goddesses as it is always accepted that figurines of Goddesses are slender and beautiful. This necessitates minute prescription for each body part. All these have been stipulated for each thaala type bimba.
A bimba in anthropomorphic form has ten body divisions viz. head (above forehead), face, neck, chest, belly, lower belly, thigh, knee, leg and foot. Before determining the measurements of each part it is essential to determine the total height of the bimba. As the temple is meant for the prosperity of all it must satisfy the following certain well defined conditions like dasa, yoni and futurity value (i) Dasa : As already indicated there are five dasas for every one ie baalyam, kaumaram, yauvanam, vaardhakhyam and maranam. The same dasas are made (ii) Yoni: The second aspect is yoni, which concept has been dealt in detail in paragraph 3.12. The importance of yoni is that it is a basic concept which is related to the direction the deity faces and also the height of the deity. As explained earlier (paragaph 3.12) yoni is obtained by multiplying the inner perimeter of the garbha-grha by 3 and dividing it by 8. The remainder gives the yoni and it represents the direction ie East: 1; south-east:2; south:3; south-west:4; west:5; north-west:6; north:7 and north-east:8. Of these temples are built facing only in four directions east, south, west and north. Therefore if a temple faces a particular direction the opposite yoni facing the idol ie prathi-yoni, is considered as propitious. Thus the suitable yonis for temples facing the directions are West: Eka-yoni (1); North: Thri-yoni (3); East: pancha-yoni (5) and South: Saptha-yoni (7). The above eka, thri, pancha and saptha yonis are also known as dwaja, simha, vrisha and gaja (sathya) respectively.This principle of yoni applies to all structures in the temple like, naalambalam, dwaja, namaskara-mandapa, kootthambalam, aanakottil, gopura, shrines of upa-devathas etc. In this context it is essential to point out that in a temple the height of the idol, inner and outer perimeter of garbha-grha and sreekovil and also the sub-shrines which face the same direction as that of main idol should be in the same prathi-yoni. On the other hand the namaskara-marndapa, valiambalam, dwaja, aanakottil, gopura, kootthambalam and sub-shrines which face the deity should be in the opposite yoni adopted for the idol. For example if the main idol faces east then adopt pancha-yoni for the sreekovil, idol etc and those which face the main idol are in eka-yoni. Apart from valiambalam the other sides of naalambalam must be in eka-yoni, as other-wise construction of structures will be difficult. The valiambalam always has the opposite yoni of the sreekovil. (iii) Futurity value: The futurity value is determined on various characteristics like perimeter yoni, vyaya, aaya etc as given in paragraph 3.12. Based on these aspects a ready-reeckoner table, has been given in Annexure III of Silpa-bhaag of Thanthra Samucchaya84 classified as utthama, madhyama and adhama.
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