मानववास्तुलक्षणम् मनुष्यालयलक्षणम्: Manavavastulaksanam Manusyalayalaksanam

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Mänavavästulakşaņam is a small text on the architecture of houses. It is written by Cennas Narayanan Nambutiri. It is also known by the name Manuşyālayalakşaņam. But inside the manuscript it is mentioned as Mänavavästulakşaņam. The text contains verses regarding the construction of houses in the style of Kerala. Cennas Narayanan Nambutiri who lived in fifteenth century of common era has written a major work on Tantra and temple architecture namely Tantrasamuccaya. This work is taken as the authentic text on Tantra practices of Kerala temples. He has mentioned about Mänavavāstu- lakşaņam in Tantrasamuccaya. Mänavavāstulakşaņam is available in manuscript form with Malayalam commentary. Here The text is given with an English Translation. English translation is done by Dr. Jayan Erancheri Illam.

There are texts on Västuvidya from Kerala from 13th century onward. Texts on Tantra deal with temple architecture as an essential part. Prayogamanjari, Tantrasamuccaya and such works on tantra have detailed descriptions on architecture. Mänavavāstulakşaņam also known by the name Manuşyālayalakşaņam is a small treatise on house construction from north Kerala. The author of the text is Chennas Narayanan Nambutiri the author of famous text on Tantra- Tantrasamuccaya. Manuşyālayacandrika of later period is a much more detailed work on house construction. It is published with commentaries. It in some portions indebted to Mänavavāstulakşaņam. Mänavavāstulaksanam is still in manuscript form. As the part of an UGC Project I was able to edit the text. There are three manuscripts of the texts available now. In this study I have collected these manuscripts and the copy of two of them are attached as appendices. One among them is a translation of the text with commentary. In that work title is mentioned as Manusyālayalaksanam. In this work I have made an introduction to the topics discussed in the text. Some essential drawings of the house portions are also added as appendix. The text with English translation is also given. With these words I present the text for the study of people who are interested in Sanskrit studies.