Rules · Doors & windows · Ornament · Site
Open the railing at the four cardinal points and mark each opening with a torana: two posts carrying three curved architraves with scrolled ends, crowned with Buddhist emblems.
The toranas of Sanchi are among the masterpieces of Indian sculpture: every surface of their posts and architraves is carved with scenes of the Buddha’s lives, told without ever showing him in human form: he is present as a tree, a wheel, a footprint, an empty throne. The architraves are joined as a carpenter would join timbers, a reminder that the form began in wood. At Sanchi the openings in the railing behind the gates are bent into an L, so that one cannot walk straight in.
Set a vertical rod at the centre of the levelled site, draw a circle round it, mark where the tip of its shadow crosses the circle before and after noon, and join the two marks: that line runs east–west.
E–W = chord through the morning and afternoon shadow points; N–S ⟂ through its midpoint
The cord stretched along the diagonal of a rectangle produces as much area as the cords along its two sides together; use this to set out right angles and to make squares of any required area.
d² = a² + b²; e.g. cords of 3, 4, 5 or 5, 12, 13 units
Place the monastery where it is neither too far from the town nor too near: easy to come and go for all who wish to visit, not crowded by day, quiet at night, apart from the noise of people, fit for seclusion.
Enshrine the relics of a Buddha, like those of a universal king, in a stupa raised where four great roads meet, so that all who pass may honour them.
Cite this page Chris Paton, “Four gateways at the cardinal points”, The Textbook of Architecture, https://textbookofarchitecture.com/rule/torana-gateways. Text, drawings and models licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.