Vastu-Sastra (2 Vols.)

by D.N. Shukla

Contents:

Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture : Engineering, Town Planning, Civil Architecture, Palace Architecture, Temple Architecture and an Anthology of Vastu-laksanas:

Part I: The fundamental canons:

1. Introductory
2. The scope and subject matter of architecture
3. The architect and architecture
4. An outline history of Hindu architecture-both as science and art
5. Study of Hindu science of architecture (A study of representative or principal texts)
6. Fundamental canons of Hindu architecture.

Part II. Canons of town planning:

1. Antiquity of town planning in India and origin and growth of Indian towns
2. Villages, towns and forts in general villages
3. Preliminaries of town-planning
4. Road planning
5. Jati-varnadhivasa (Folk planning)
6. Deification and beautification of towns
7. Fortification
8. Inauspicious towns
9. Conclusion-modern town-planning and what it can learn from the S.S.

Part III. Civil or secular architecture:

1. Preliminaries
2. Buildings in general
3. Origin and development of human houses (The story of the first house on the earth)
4. Sala houses
5. Planning of Salas-the house plans and building byelaws
6. The construction of the Salas
7. The principal components-the door
8. The pillar and other members
9. House decoration and other equipments
10. The defect of houses and varieties of defective houses
11. Concluding remarks.

Part IV. Palace architecture & palace pleasures: 

1.  Palace architecture
2. Accessory structures
3. Palace pleasures-the mechanical contrivances, the yantras
4. State or public buildings.

Part V. Temple-architecture:

1. The denotation and the connotation of the term prasada-the Hindu temple
2. The origin of the Prasada vastu
3. The development of the Prasada vastu
4. Prasada styles
5. Pre S.S. classification of temple
6. Classification of temples as given in the S.S
7. Planning of Prasada-the Hindu temple
8. Prasada Mandapa
9. Prasada Jagatis
10. Vimana vastu
11. The correspondence of the Prasadas of the S.S. with monuments
12. An outline history of Hindu temple.

Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting:

1.  
   1. The principal texts on the canons of painting-citrasastra
   2. Painting-its aim, origin and scope
   3. Elements, constituents and types
   4. The Vartika and the background (the canvas)
   5. The Andaka measurements and the proportionate measurements
   6. Plasters and ointments
   7. Colours and brushes; shades and other delineations
   8. How to paint-convention in painting
   9. Painting and aesthetics
   10. Styles of painting in relation to colours, patras and kantakas
   11. Painting and painter
   12. An outline history of Indian painting:
            i. Archaeological evidence
            ii. Literary evidence