Mayamata: An Indian Treatise on Housing Architecture and Iconography

The Mayamata is a Vastusastra, that is to say, a 'treatise on dwelling, and as such, it deals with all the facets of gods and men's dwellings, from the choice of a site to the iconography of temple walls. It contains numerous and precise descriptions of villages and towns as well as of temples, houses, mansions, and palaces. It gives indications for the selection of proper orientation, of right dimensions, and of appropriate building materials.

About the Author:

Dr. Bruno Dagens (b.1935) is an eminent Sanskritist and archaeologist. He is a member of the Ecole Francais d'Extreme-Orient. Dr. Dagens taught Sanskrit at the University of Louvain (Belgium) and did archaeological research in Afghanistan and Cambodia. He also worked, since 1977, at the Institut Francais d'Indologie, Pondicherry for quite a few years. Besides articles and research papers on the Archaeology and Iconography of monuments in Afghanistan and Cambodia, two earlier editions of the Mayamata, and one edition of the Saivagamaparibhasamaryari (a compendium of Saiva doctrines and rituals), Dr. Dagens has authored Architecture in the Ajitagama and the Rauravagama (Sitaram Bharatia Institute of Scientific Research, New Delhi 1984).