The records
Surveying India's architectural heritage before it disappears.
Documentation records
The records
A finished drawing is not yet a record. A record is published once it carries its survey dates and methods, a dated condition assessment, what we were unable to establish and a permanent identifier, none of which can be inferred from the drawing itself. The plates that are drawn but not yet published are listed here too, with what each one is waiting on.
195+ heritage structures documented across India · 1 record published · 7 drawings finished · 6 monuments in digitization · Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh
SELECTED RECORDS
Featured documentation
Narthamalai
Vijayalaya Cholisvaram. A 9th-century granite temple carved from living rock. The exploded axonometric reveals a circular sanctum inside a rectangular plan: a relationship invisible from the exterior.
Vettuvan Koil
Kalugumalai, Tamil Nadu. An 8th-century monolith. Pandya sculptors did not just see a rock; they saw a temple hidden within it, excavating hundreds of tons of stone.
Lakshmana Temple
Sirpur, Chhattisgarh. 7th-century brick architecture. A remarkable example of how early Indian builders understood brick, proportion and structural construction long before large stone temples became dominant.
From the field
Observations, documentation work and public notes
Selected field observations, documentation in progress, and public notes from Vaayil fieldwork.
Survey Log 01 NoteGranite Jointing & Plinth Orthography
Tamil Nadu · Field Record
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Photogrammetry 02 VideoPhotogrammetric Spire Scan & Mesh Extraction
Kalugumalai · Field Record
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Material Record 03 VideoStonecutting Tool Marks on Rock-Cut Monolith
Kalugumalai · Field Record
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Structural Analysis 04 NoteCircular Sanctum Internal Geometry
Narthamalai · Field Record
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Pathology 05 NoteEarly Medieval Brick Bonding & Mortar Loss
Sirpur · Field Record
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Field Survey 06 NoteRock-Cut Mandapa Pillar Entasis & Proportions
Pudukkottai · Field Record
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Evidence Log 07 NoteDormant Plaster Layers & Pigment Traces
Cauvery Basin · Field Record
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Drawing Sequence 08 VideoAxonometric Unfolding of Monolithic Superstructure
Kalugumalai · Field Record
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Field Note 09 NotePlinth Joinery & Basement Moulding Profile
Tamil Nadu · Field Record
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Our publication standard
A record appears here once it can state how it was made, what was measured and what could not be established. That is a slower archive and a citable one.
This is not the full extent of Vaayil's work. It is the portion that has cleared that standard.