Knowledge of astronomy in Sanskrit texts of architecture (orientation methods in theīśāna śiv a gurudev apaddhati)
✍ Scribed by Michio Yano
- Publisher
- Brill
- Year
- 1986
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 606 KB
- Volume
- 29
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0019-7246
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Determination of the cardinal directions was one of the prerequisites for constructing sacrificial altars and for building houses and temples in ancient India. In Sanskrit texts of the gulbasatras, gilpaor vdstu-gdstras, and dgamas, mentions are made to various methods of orientation which show different levels of knowledge of astronomy (]'yoti.hgdstra). The orientation methods are roughly divided into two categories: the observation of fixed stars and the observation of gnomon shadows. The former is subdivided into nak.satravedha 2 (observation of the lunar mansions on the eastern horizon) and dhruvavedha 3 (observation of the polestar).
The latter, the method of using gnomon shadows, was first described in the Kdtydyanagulbasatra, and later it found a significant development after the