Preface
THE introduction to the European public of an "Essay on Hindi Architecture," and by a Hindu, would seem to mark an epoch not only in the history of the science but also in that of the Hindus themselves. Their palaces, their temples, the stupendous pyramidal gate-ways leading to the latter, the colonnades and porticoes with which they are surrounded; some of "a thousand pillars," others equally remarkable for their elevations, richness, and grandeur of design, have for ages been the objects of admiration to the traveller in the East; and, though it had long been known, pro-verbially, that the Hindús possessed treatises on architecture of a very ancient date, pescribing the rules by which these edifices were constructed, it remained for the author of this essay to overcome the many, and almost insurmountable obstacles to the substantiation of the fact, and to the communication of it to the European world in a well known language of Europe. As of most other sciences among the Hindus, the rules and pre. cepts of architecture and sculpture had been, with some solitary exceptions, locked up in the Sanscrit language; and, as the study of this language was limited, in general, to the higher classes; the only means of improvement left to the artist, who in all cases would be of a subordinate class, were the verbal instructions delivered to him by these superiors, when they might happen to require his assist-ance; together with the impress on his mind resulting from practical experience. To reduce the knowledge thus acquired to a system, and to promulgate it in a language comprehensible by the vulgar, would, in most cases, have been thought an encroachment on the privileges of the higher orders; and being, therefore, handed down unavoidably from father to son by tradition only, it must, in the natural course of events, have been often obscured or totally lost. Moreover, the study of this, as well as of other sciences, has been very generally laid aside by the higher classes for acquire-ments more in unison with the tone and feelings of the times; while the treatises themselves, scattered and neglected, became nearly valueless to all but the humble artisan, who gathered up here and there a fragment, and hoarded the occult lore, sometime to be learnt by stealth, or as best might suit the purpose of his lordly and priestly master.
About The Book
Hindu architecture is the traditional system of Indian architecture for structures such as temples, monasteries, statues, homes, marketplaces, gardens and town planning as described in Hindu texts. The architectural guidelines survive in Sanskrit manuscripts and in some cases also in other regional languages. These texts include the Vastu Shastras, Shilpa Shastras, the Brihat Samhita, architectural portions of the Puranas and the Agamas, and regional texts such as the Manasara among others. By far the most important, characteristic and numerous surviving examples of Hindu architecture are Hindu temples, with an architectural tradition that has left surviving examples in stone, brick, and rock-cut architecture dating back to the Gupta Empire. These architectures were influenced by ancient Persian and Hellenistic architecture. Far fewer secular Hindu architectures, such as palaces, homes, and cities, have survived into the modern era. Ruins and archaeological studies provide a view of early secular architecture in India.
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