Manasara Silpa Sastram

Manasara Silpa Sastram is a definitive Indian treatise on Vastu Sasthram, an ancient building code which

was used for designing houses, planning cities and communities for centuries in India. This document was

used as a prescriptive building code dealing with architecture and spatial organisation of residential

quarters. It is written by a sage named Mansara. It is one of the 5 documents that exists now which deals

with Vastu Sasthram.

MANASARA VASTUSHASTRA

Another elaborate treatise on town planning in ancient India. It is perhaps of a later date – about 6th century

A.D. There are several chapters in this book on town planning and construction of buildings. One

interesting feature however deserves special mention. There are eight different types of towns and villages

according to the shapes:

1. Dandaka

2. Sarvathobhadra

3. Nandyavarta

4. Padmaka

5. Swastika

6. Prastara

7. Karmuka

8. Chaturmukha

1. Dandaka

Dandaka type of town plan provides for two main entrance gates and is generally adopted for the formation

of small towns and villages, the village offices being located in the east. The female deity of the village or

the chamadevata will generally be located outside the village and the male deities in the northern portion.

2. sarvathobhadra

This type of town plan is applicable to larger villages and towns, which have to be constructed on a square

site. According to this plan, the whole town should be fully occupied by houses of various descriptions and

inhabited by all classes of people. The temple dominates the village.

3. Nandyavarta

This plan is commonly used for the construction of towns and not for villages. It is generally adopted for the

sites either circular or square in shape, with not less than three thousand houses, but not more than four

thousand. The streets run parallel to the central adjoining streets with the temple of the presiding deity in

the center of the town. “Nandyavarta” is the name of a flower, the form of which is followed in this layout.

4. Padmaka

This type of plan was practiced for building of the towns with fortress all round. The pattern of the plan

resembles the petals of lotus radiating outwards from the center. The city used to be practically an island

surrounded by water, having no scope for expansion

5. Swastika

Swastika type of plan contemplates some diagonal streets dividing the site into certain triangular plots. The

site need not be marked out into a square or rectangle and it may be of any shape. A rampart wall

surrounds the town, with a moat at its foot filled with water. Two main streets cross each other at the

center, running south to north and west to east.

6. Prastara

The characteristic feature of this plan is that the site may be either square or rectangular but not triangular

or circular. The sites are set apart for the poor, the middle class, the rich and the very rich, the sizes of the

sites increasing according to the capacity of each to purchase or build upon. The main roads are much

wider compared to those of other patterns. The town may or may not be surrounded by a fort.

7. Karmuka

This plan is suitable for the place where the site of the town is in the form of a bow or semi-circular or

parabolic and mostly applied for towns located on the seashore or riverbanks. The main streets of the town

run from north to south or east to west and the cross streets run at right-angles to them, dividing the whole

area into blocks. The presiding deity, commonly a female deity, is installed in the temple build in any

convenient place.

8. chaturmukha

Chaturmukha type of plan is applicable to all towns starting from the largest town to the smallest village.

The site may be either square or rectangular having four faces. The town is laid out east to west

lengthwise, with four main streets. The temple of the presiding deity will be always at the center.