The document discusses the various uses of stones in ancient India for sculptures and construction, the different sources and classifications of building stones, and techniques used in ancient times for selecting, cutting, placing, and hardening stones as well as identifying defects. Ancient Indian texts provided classifications of stones by color, age, gender, and defects as well as methods for breaking stone blocks, tempering tools, and identifying microscopic defects in stones.

1. A.S. Nene
Professor of Civil Engineering (Retd)
VNIT Nagpur

2. Uses of Stones
 Making sculptures
 Building blocks for construction.

3. Sources of building stones
Ref. Kashyapashilpa
 From hills
 From underground mines
 Riverbanks and forests
The stones obtained from barren land,
graveyard or those embedded
in ground are unsuitable.
Stones obtained from sites unsuitable
for habitation are also unsuitable.

4. Classification of stones
By Color
Milk, Jaya flower, Buffalo’s eye, Conch,
White Moon, Pearl Crystal et
Indragop (insect), Rabbit’s blood or
Red Pomegranate Flower etc.
Yellow Flowers like, Mallika or Korandi
Kajal (eye ointment), Blue lotus, Wasp,
Black Vest part of peacock, black gram etc
Ref. Kashyapashilpa

5. By Age
Child Sound produced as un-burnt
bricks, long or flat in shape as
a leaf
Young Long ringing sound like bell,
soft in touch, with good smell,
without pores
Old Non-ringing sound, highly
porous, highly weathered
Stones of first or third category are unsuitable
Ref. Mayamat

6. By Gender
Male Big, rounded, which produces
sparks when hit with chisel- Suitable
for columns
Female Medium size, soft in touch, broad at
base –Suitable for beams
Neutral Small, broad at top, not sounding-
Suitable as aggregates
Ref. Vishnudharmottar Purana

7. Defects in building stones
Lines • curvilinear (as thread),
• straight (as sun rays)
• parallel (as rains)
Spots size.  lemon fruit (15-20 mm),
 grape size (5-10 mm),
 less than 5 mm.
Ref. Mayamat

8. Detection Of Defects In Rocks
Microscopic defects in stones , which were
invisible to eyes, were detected by applying
some herbal paints so that the defects were
clearly visible.

9. Stone softening
Stone with 14 angles
Stone wall at Cuzco (Peru)
The Incas employed certain methods to make
their stones fit perfectly. They knew a plant whose
juices rendered the surface of a block so soft that
the intricate fittings were accomplished.

10. Adamantine glues
A bonding agent was very essential for fixing idols,
In wall construction, when cement and other modern
materials were unknown.
Even now, these glues were known as Astabandha,
are prepared in temple premises for fixing or re-
fixing images of gods.

11. Breaking of stone blocks
Heating: The stone block is heated by make a
pyre of wooden logs of Palash or Tinduk trees.
The heating is continued till the color of wooden
logs becomes bright red or orange.
Cooling: The fire is moved to adjacent area of
rock surface. The preheated surface is cooled down
quickly by pouring certain types of liquids listed
below.
•Solution of quick lime in cold water
•Solution prepared by mixing buttermilk with rice paste, ripe
berries.
•Solution prepared by boiling Neem leaves and some tree
barks.
Ref. Brihat Samhita

12. Tempering or hardening of tools
Ref. Brihat Samhita
1. heating the tool in fire until it becomes red hot.
2. application of paste of certain materials and / or
dipping the red-hot tool in a specific solution.
4. sharpening the tools.
The Paste / solution used in step 2
Paste made of
• excreta of pigeon and rat,
• powder of horns of a buffalo
• milk extract of a plant (Mandar)
 Solution of buttermilk and ash of banana plant

13. Suranga –A water tunnel
Suranga is a tunnels bored horizontally
on the slopes of hills to get clean drinking
quality water.
Found in many parts of Dakshina Kannada
district of Karnataka and Kasaragod district of
Kerala
‘Quanat’ is a similar structure used in Iran
and Iraq
Suranga
Quanat

14. Building Stones
The Indus valley civilization shows the use of
• Tertiary limestone,
•Sandstones
•Mesozoic steatite.
Marble cutting achieved a remarkable level of
sophistication, with the intricate undercutting in
the 11th and 12th century temples at Mt-Abu

15. Conclusions
 Different types of stones were used in
different time spans
 Selection of the stones by texture and
strength and absence of micro cracks,.
 Ancient knowledge is applicable even in
modern times.
 More information on defects of rock was
provided in ancient texts.

16. References
1. Kashyapashilpa
2. Mayamat
3. Shilpratna
4. Vishnu Purana
5. Shilparatnakar
6. Brihat Samhita