Materials of Building Construction in Ancient India: Views and Analysis of Vāstuśāstras

Abstract: Sanskrit literature offers a huge range of technical knowledge. There we find various scriptures on medical science, astronomy, astrology, agriculture, military science, archery, musicology, sport, cookery etc. Among them architecture or vāstuvidyā is one of the most important and prominent one. The views and analysis of vāstuśāstras on the material of buildings construction in the ancient Indian culture is the focal area of the current paper.Materials of buildings construction is one of the most important issues at the preliminary stage of building construction. We can find a number of vāstu-scriptures from different traditions that present a vast discourse on this topic; and their scientific approach should, definitely, be appreciated. These scriptures describe the classification, selection and modification of building materials for different types of buildings. Sometimes ritualistic performances are also found in this technical field. It is also evident that in the ancient India materials for building construction used to be selected according to the socio-cultural arrangements. Mayamata a most significant treatise of Southern tradition of Vāstu, recognizes seven basic building materials. They are – sand, bricks, lime, stone, wood, metals, and precious stones, like Jewels and gems. Colours, foods, medicines etc are admitted there as the secondary material. Likewise, a detailed and elaborated description of different kinds of materials for building construction is found in other traditional Vāstu-scriptures, like – Bṛhat-saṃhitā , Kāśyapa-śilpa, Viśvakarmā-vāstuśāstra etc.Our current paper would discuss different ways of classification, selection, modification and of the materials for building construction in the ancient India. This paper would try to find out the social reason related to this very topic. In this regard, it would also place a comparative analysis of different views of Vāstuśāstras.