Digital reconstruction of pavilions described in an ancient Indian architectural treatise

Digital documentation and reconstruction is a comparatively recent phenomenon in the history of architectural heritage documentation and conservation. It has emerged as a result of technological development, especially in computer applications that have extended our capabilities to cope up with the knowledge systems of increasing broad range and complexity. For most people, including architects, heritage and conservation mean historical buildings and their conservation. However, there is another facet to it that is not well recognized; the area of “literary architectural heritage, ” that is, the literature on historical architecture. In the literary architectural heritage of India, many architectural treatises are available for graphical documentation of the built examples described in them. This article aims to present digital graphical documentation of the pavilions described in the Mayamatam, an architectural treatise of ancient India. Research in this area will enrich the knowledge base of architecture. Having this information in a digital format like CAD drawings, virtual 3D models would result in better communication, storage, and retrieval for editing, modifications, and analysis. This digital documentation and representation provides the possibility of being used as a teaching aid for students and architects and also for recovering lost knowledge in the context of partially destroyed structures. For architects and designers, who constantly search for new ways, the digital presentation of ancient Indian pavilions provide a design tool for discovering new patterns to be used in contemporary architecture.