Mayamata ascribed to the Muni Maya is an important and comprehensive treatise on architecture. It is copiously quoted as authority by subsequent writers on architecture and appears to be the oldest among the extant treatises on the subject. An old Tamil translation of this work is also in our possession which we hope to publish ere long as a second part of this volum c. This edition contains 34 chapters, but from the list of contents given in the first chapter, it is certain that the work must have at least four more chapters at the end. A manuscript of two chapters among them has however been acquired by us, but as it is found hope- lessly wrong, these chapters are not allowed to go into this edition. The following manuscripts were consulted for pre- paring this edition: 1. 2. 3. PREFACE. 4. Belonging to the Palace Library containing a Tamil translation. It is in Malayalam charac- ters on palm-leaves. There are thirty-four chapters in this manuscript but five chapters from 28th are wanting in it. Obtained from Mr. Kesavan Krishnan of Nja- rakkal. It is in Malayalam characters on palm- leaves and runs up to the end of the 13th chapter. Lent by late Mr. T. A. Gopinatha Roa Mr. A., Superintendent of Archæology, Travancore. It runs up to a portion of 26th chapter and its variants are shown in the Appendix. A transcript of five chapters from 28th, from a ma- nuscript belonging to the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras, obtained with the kind help of the Curator. T. GANAPATI SASTRI. 17th June 1919. 10
