About the NIAS Emblem

Narasimha, Roddam (1999) About the NIAS Emblem. Documentation. NIAS, Bangalore.

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Abstract: The NIAS emblem can be traced back to a remarkable Sanskrit work called the Sulva-sutras, which, while being one of the four Kalpa-sutra texts concerned chiefly with vedic ritual, displays a deep knowledge of geometry from pre-Euclidean times. Sulva (or sulba) stands for rope, string or cord, .and is derived trom the root sulv, meaning "to measure"; the Sulva-sUtras are therefore literally "The Rules of the Cord". (To this day a cord is part of the basic equipment carried by an Indian mason, to be used in surveying or in laying out a structure in any construction activity.) The text is in fact a handbook of ritual geometry, and describes a series of geometric 'constructions' or procedures (using only strings and pegs) for the lay-out of sacrificial altars and fires of various shapes and dimensions, usually specified with extraordinary precision. There are four extant versions of the Sulva-sUtras,but the one attributed to Baudhiiyana is considered to be the oldest as well as the most systematic and detailed. Scholars are not agreed on the precise date of the Sutras, but the text clearly pre-dates Piil).iniand must have been composed before the 6th century B.C. The procedures described in the text, however, must have been known very much before its composition, as the text itself acknowledges.
Item Type: Monograph (Documentation)
Keywords: NIAS Logo, Sulva Sutra
Subjects: NIAS Resources > NIAS Documents
General > Directors > Roddam Narasimha > Publications
Date Deposited: 18 Aug 2017 06:26
Last Modified: 23 Dec 2021 08:42
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    DOI:
    URI: http://eprints.nias.res.in/id/eprint/1326

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