The Circle is Squared

The master builder, or sthapati, begins the site layout by using a gnomon (a stake in the centre) to mark the path of the sun. With a rope pulled from the centre, a circle is drawn in the fine sand. The circle is then squared, with two sides parallel to the solar path, creating a basic mandala. The earth is the circle, the sun is the square. It is an ancient expression of the binary system of complimentary opposites that inform our worldview. Whether known as yoni/linga in Hindu, or yin/yang in Chinese, it is the juxtaposition of circle/square, male/female, dark/light, good/evil, all of which are equally balanced in the universe.

The basic units of measurement were the digit (3/4 inch) and the hasta, or cubit (18 inches). The Mayamatam says that:

The digit is known to be a multiple of the atom… eight atoms are equal to a speck of dust and, in multiplying each time by eight, we go from a speck of dust to the tip of a hair, then to a nit, to a louse and finally to a barley grain. Eight barley grains make a digit…

Twelve digits make a span, twice that is the hasta, also known as the kishu, or ‘forearm’ (like the cubit, about 18 inches). Four hasta make a pole, or danda, about six feet. The measuring rope used to scribe the circle was traditionally eight poles long (about forty-eight feet). This makes for a squared site of 2304 square feet, which would probably contain three to five buildings of 1-300 square feet.