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BUILDING MATERIAL In the context of the building material we find a remarkable statement in the Matsya Purana. In Chapter 269, the Purana describes the possible forms of the Hindu temple and says that these different temples were either of wood, or 25 brick or stone. In the course of the installation of the bricks, we find the following statement in the Agni Purana : "O daughter of the sage Angiras, thou unbroken, unhurt and and full in size, O brick, grant thou the desired object - I "26 - now install thee. The Visnudharmottara Purana gives the 27 prescription for the making of bricks. According to the Visnudharmottara Istaka-nyasa', the installation of the bricks, is performed as part of the main foundation rite of the temple. 28 It takes place after the foundation pit has been dug. Many of the works on Indian architecture like Visvakarma Prakasa, Hayasirsa Pancaratra, Isanasivagurudevapaddhati etc. have given dimensions of bricks and methods of their construction. 29 The primitive structures of the early Vedic and preVedic period were made in carpentry, and brick succeeded wood as the prevalent building material. The archaological survey in the Indus Valley has shown that there is a lavish use of burnt and sundried bricks. At Mohenjodaro and Harappa was found masonry of a high order. The finds of the Great Bath and the pillard hall are sufficient. Megasthenes, a Greek traveller who visited India much earlier than the period of Asoka refers to cities built of brick and mud. He also refers to wooden buildings. It shows that the use of brick in India

- - 138. was known before the period of Asoka. 30 Dr.Stella Kramrisch mentions the earliest preserved brick temples as the temple at Bhitargaon, in the United Provinces of the Gupta age (5 th C.A.D.), the Uttaresvara and Kalesvara temples at Ter in Hyderabad (Deccan). Their doors, beams and ceilings are of wood (about 7 th Cen.A.D.). In the Laxman temple in Sirpur, United Provinces (7 th Cen. A.D.), the door frames were of stone. The brick temples with curvilinear spire, belonging to the period of the Guptas are those of Deo Baranaraka and Mahadeopur in the District of Shahabad in Bihar. 31 The Visnudharmottara Purana, in Adhyaya 91, describes the process of brick manufacturing. The clay is of different colours. The clay which is taken from a good, unmixed ground, should be dried. Then it should be mingled with water and the Saivala plant. The bricks which are of the size of one hand in length, half a hand in breadth and one fourth hand in height, (18"x 9"x 4") should be left in the heat of the sun to dry. These dried bricks should then be mildly baked in fire. The bricks which are not properly baked or which stick together and the bricks which are excessively baked should be discarded. After the bricks become cool, they should be joined together in appropriate forms. bricks. The Agni Purana Ad. 41 gives the dimension of the Dr. T.Bhattacharya says, "the reference to the 32 'Dvadasangulah' is not clear whether length or breadth will be

-139- 12 angulas. It may refer to both. The proportion of the depth (Vaipulya) is 3-1/3 of the breadth. The last verse says that the best dimension is 'one cubit'. This may also refer to both the length and breadth. In that case the dimension given in the Agni Purana will be 18"x 18"x 6" (the best size) or 9"x 9"x 3" 33 Scholars are of the opinion that the buildings in later age were made after their wooden prototypes. The form of the arch is cut in brick and stone. From the use of the bamboo came the curvilinear type of roof which was afterwords reproduced in cut timber and subsequently in stone. Even now, wood has primacy in the buildings. Wood is the material first utilised in the building operation. "The Puranas, "The Puranas, Brahmanda (I. Ch.VII, vv. 46-83) and Vayu (Ch. 45, vv. 11-50) in detail tell the story of the fall of man, through the ages after the krta Yuga, the perfect age from the Treta Yuga when trees appeared for the first time, and housed mankind. In Ch. 89, the Visnudharmottara describes the 'selection of wood'. The Purana has given the list of particular trees that should be avoided. The trees with hollows, those eaten by worms or touched by fire, which are crooked, which have many veins, and which are dried up in infancy should not be selected. A large number of stone temples has been preserved. The Vismudharmottara Purana has devoted Ch. 90 of the Third Khanda to the selection of stone. The stone of one uniform colour, even, 'snigdha' and under the ground is recommended for building. It should break only under a severe blow, it

-140 should be massive and yet pliant. The stone which is submerged in water or which is under the shelter is also recommended. It should please the eye. The stone which is damaged, rough, spoilt by cavities and full of dots and lines should be avoided. Instructions are given about the 'garbhavijnana' i.e. the knowledge of the discovery of the creatures lying in the stones. The stone which is a black colour and which is white like a diamond is regarded as very auspicious. The Visnudharmottara says that wood should have joints of irons, unbaked bricks of mud, baked bricks, and stone of The preparation of 'Vajralepa' is described in 34 Vajralepa. Chapter 92. The Brhat-Samhita (LVI. 1-3, 5-8) and the Visnu dharmottara (III. 92. 1-15) among the early texts give the ingredients of the various kinds of Vajralepa which were used in stone and brick buildings. Vajralepa also formed the ground for wall-painting. "Besides mentioning burnt bricks Pakvestaka LII.23) wood and stone (110-11) as building materials, Varahamihira describes four kinds of plaster-two Vajralepas, Vajratala and Vajrasanghata. 35 The Visnudhermottara has Two given five recipes for the preparation of the Vajralepa. of the preparations are purely of vegetables, one consists of animalic glue and vegetable substance, the fourth contains metallic substances and the fifth is a concoction from cowhides 36 etc. and lime has been mixed. The Vajralepa should be used in stone and brick buildings. Moreover, the Vis mudharmottara

-141 says that the houses made with the Vajralepa last for 37 centuries.