Shilpa Shastra

General name for rules and standards
governing the mechanical arts and
handicrafts—traditionally numbered at
sixty-four—through which anything was
630
Shilappadigaram
Image of the god Vishnu. Crafted according to the
rules of shilpa shastra, the image’s proportions are
strictly defined and he holds identifying objects.
formed, made, or fashioned. In the context of art and architecture, the term
shilpa shastra is most often associated
with two specific areas, which by the
medieval era had had their conventions
strictly fixed. One of these governed the
creation of sculptural images, according
to which the images of the deities had to
be carved to exactly defined proportions, along with their identifying attributes. The other area was in regard
to buildings, whether individual structures such as temples, or collections
of buildings in city planning. The layout
of temples was modeled after the
human body (and thus mirrored the
sculptor’s precision regarding the
images of the divine); entire towns
were similarly modeled to create a
harmonious urban environment.