वास्तु मण्डन (मण्डन सूत्रधार - गृह, राजप्रासाद, दुर्ग एवं नगर-वास्तु सटीक)

xii Vāstumaṇḍana Date is 1890 saṁvat, 1755 śaka, i.e., 1833 A.D. In the post-colophon it is written: ग्रंथसंख्या ८८०/ सम्वत् १८९० शके १७५५ फाल्गुनशुक्ल ३ वृहस्पतौ / श्रीरामो He also writes श्रीराम on each folio. For nasal consonants – ङ्, ञ्, ण्, न, म all the scribes write. This is in short the description of five manuscripts used in editing the Vāstumaṇḍana. MAṆḌANA SŪTRADHĀRA AND HIS DATE In the 15ᵗʰ century, a brief but glorious period existed for the late medieval style of western Indian Architecture. The prevailing environment provided Maṇḍana Sūtradhāra with the opportunity of evincing his flair, potency, conceptual acuity and functional brilliance on architecture as well as on sculpture. Maṇḍana, who was endowed with scholastic erudition, enjoyed the royal patronage of Rāṇā Kumbhā of Chitor in whose court flourished several men of literary prowess. This royal architect wrote and compiled a number of treatises on architecture and iconography. Being an author of that period, he had an exposure to the previous authoritative Vāstuśāstras and the Purāṇas from which he elicited his inspiration. Maṇḍana's father Kṣetra was also an architect. In the concluding śloka of Vāstumaṇḍana, he writes – सुतेन दैवसिंहेन प्रार्थितः क्षेत्रमण्डनः स्थपतिः सृजति स्मेदं मण्डनो वास्तुमण्डनम् There has been lot of confusion regarding his origin. According to one tradition Maṇḍana hails from Gujarat and was invited by Mahārāṇā Kumbha in his court to compose treatise on Vāstuśāstras. According to other tradition and a few colophons of Maṇḍana's works – Kṣetra and his son Maṇḍana belonged to proper Mewar but their forefather hailed from Gujarat. Whatever the origin may be, Maṇḍana's work evidently show close acquaintance with the vāstu works from Gujarat. In this book, i.e., the Vāstumaṇḍana he followed the technology of Aparājitapṛchhā and Samarāṅgaṇasūtradhāra to a great extent. In his works Rūpamaṇḍana and Rājavallabhamaṇḍana Maṇḍana specifically mentions that, he is the eldest son of the eminent architect Kṣetra.