1848.] 



Essay on the Avian Order of Architecture. 



319 



XXXIV. — Diminution. 



1 . — The rule laid down by Vitruvius, for diminishing the thickness 

 of a pillar, is to make the upper diameter one sixth less than the lower 

 one in a column of 1 5 feet in height, and one eighth less in a column of 

 50 feet. According to Ram Raz, the practice of the Hindu architects* 

 was to divide the lower diameter into as many parts as the number of 

 diameters in the whole height of the column, and to diminish the thick- 

 ness by one of those parts. 



2. — In the following table of comparison I have given the actual dimi- 

 nutions of the Kashmirian pillars side by side with the calculated di- 

 minutions according to the Greek and Hindu rules. But as all the 

 Kashmirian pillars are under 1 5 feet in height, I have taken the pro- 

 portional parts of \th D, according to the different heights. Thus the 

 Marttand porch pillar being 13 feet high, I have taken \%ths of^th 

 D ; and the peristyle pillars of Marttand being only | ths of 1 5 feet in 

 height, I have taken that proportion of^AD. for the diminution, and 

 the same for the others, according to their relative heights. 





Lower 

 Dr. 



Upper 

 Dr. 



Calculate 

 Vitruvius. 



d Dimn. 

 Ram Raz. 



Actual 

 Dimn. 



Marttand Porch . . 

 Ditto Peristyle 

 Avantipura Ditto, 

 Pampur Pillar . . 

 Srinagar Ditto, 



24.430 

 21.500 

 17.875 

 11.250 

 14.500 



22.910 

 20.600 

 16.875 

 10.625 

 14.250 



3.528 

 2.583 

 1.986 

 0.750 

 0.483 



3.840 

 4.096 

 2.648 

 1.760 



1.520 

 0.900 

 1.000 

 0.625 

 0.250 





Both the Greek and Hindu rules would appear to be based upon the 

 same principle, that the diminution should lessen as the height increased. 

 But neither of these rules apply to the Kashmirian pillars, in which 

 the diminution increased with the height. The practical rule would 

 appear to have been, to lessen the thickness by one quarter of an inch 

 for every cubit of height of shaft, and not of pillar. This is certainly 

 the most simple as well as the most natural mode of diminution ; for 

 as the shaft is the part that is diminished, the amount of diminution 

 should be made dependent upon its height, and not upon the total 

 height of the pillar. 



* Hindu Architecture, p. 38. 



