English
The shrines in hundreds cover the summits of two extensive hills and the valley lying ‘between, and the ‘general effect of the entire collection of edifices is superb. Girnar is a celebrated spot ‘in Indian history. Asoka the Great carved a copy of his edicts there, and kings. of the Shah and the Gupta lines recorded their inscrip- tions. Groups of Jaina temple have been erected here- by the Jainas since the tenth century, one of them. R. C. D., A. LIL 23 354 PAURANIK PERIOD. ‘[BOOK Vv. by the, brothers Tejpala and Bastupala, builders of one of the ‘two famous temples of Abu. Not far from the hill of Girnar was the ancient temple of Somanatha destroyed by Mahmud of Guzni. ‘Dr. Ferguson thinks it was a Jaina, not a Hindu temple; and the kings who repaired it .after its destruction by Mahmud were certainly Jainas, ’ But the pride of Jaina architecture are the two un- rivalled temples at Abu.* Alone among the temples of India they are built entirely of white marble, which must have been quarried and taken from a distance of over 300 miles. One of these temples was built by Vimala Shah,about 1032 A. D., and the other as stated above by the brothers Tejapala and Bastupala between ¥io7 and 1247. A.D, The porch is supported on ele- gant pillars exquisitely carved, and the inside of the dome is ornamented with elegant and exquisite designs unequalled in India. : ‘SOUTHERN INDIAN STYLE, We now turn to Southern. Indian or Dravidian styles which is .entirely distinct from the Northern style. Roughly speaking the structures of the Peninsula south of the Krishna river .are -built in this style. No con- nection between the Buddhist style and the style of the * Abuisnot far from the nearest railway station. The present writer visited the spot in 1883, proceeding by a winding path up the hill, (6 miles in Jength, But another road less than half as long was inder construction, tl CHAP. VIIL] HINDU & JAINA ARCHITECTURE, &C. 355 structural edifices in Northern India has been ‘traced, The style of the earliest temples in Orissa shews no traces of the Buddhist ‘style. The oldest of ‘those temples are perfect structural edifices, perfect in their’ design and execution,—and the history of the style can be traced no further backwards. The Dravidian or Southern style, however, ‘is “ shewn | to have grown out of the Buddhist styte of extava- tion. The earliest existing specimens of Dravidian tem- ples were excavated, not built. And in their latest developments, the Dravidian built edifices still bore marks of their origin. Ellora is far to the north of the river Krishna. There can be little doubt, however, judging from the design and construction, that the edifices at Ellora belong tof the Dravidian type. Thetemple of Kailasa was erected in the eighth or ninth century A, D., and the Dravi- dians of the south, the Cheras or the Cholas are sup- posed to have extended their conquests northward about ‘this period, during the eclipse of the power of the Chalukyas. This explains the existence of this remarkable specimen of the Dravidian style so far north of the Krishna river. ‘An extensive pit 270 ft. by 150 ft. is ‘excavated in | the solid rock. In the centre of this rectangle stands the temple, with a Vim4na 80 to 90 ft. high, a large porch supported by 16 ‘columns, a detached porch, ‘connected by a bridge, anda Gopura or gateway. | 386 PAURANIK PERIOD. [BOOK v. There are besides two dipaddns or lamp posts and cells all round. It is a model of a complete structural temple, but carved out of solid rock ; and the mono- lethic character of these vast edifices gives to them an air of solidity, strength and grandeur which strikes all beholders. The cells all round are in imitation of Buddhist edifices, but each of the seven cells is devoted to a separate Hindu deity. The arrange- ment shews the Hindu style emerging out of the older Buddhist style. _ When we turn from the rock cut temples to the structural temples of Southern India, we are struck. with the very recent dates which must be assigned to all the greatest and best among them. Temple archi- tecture in the southern style was carried on with. re- markable vigour and assiduity in the south of the Krishna river, during the long centuries when Northern India and even the Deccan were under Musalman tule. And the temple builders of the. south did not rest from their labours until ‘the English ‘and the French were struggling for mastery in the Carnatic in the last century! One of the oldest of the great structural temples in the south is the. Great | Pagoda of Tanjore-; but no earlier date than:the - 14th’ century A. D. can_be claimed for it, and -it is supposed to have been built by a king of Conjeveram,—the classic Kanchi. The perpendicular base.is two storeys in height, and above this the construction tapers likea 358 _. PAURANIK PERIOD. [BOOK V. cut temples of Etlora, it nevertheless bears traces of the same.design. One of the.most venerated and most ancient of the temples of Southern India is that of Chillambaram on the sea coast, a little to the north of the mouth of the Kaveri river. It was certainly commenced in the roth or rth century A. D., but the most imposing edifices of the temple have been built in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. To these centuries must be as- signed the great Gopuras or gateways, the temple of Parvati, and the magnificent hall of 1,000 columns. The porch of the temple of Parvati is remarkably ele- gant. The pillars of the hall of 1,000 columns are arranged 24 in front and 41 in depth, and this “ forest of granite pillars, each of'a single stone, and all more - or less carved and ornamented” produces a grandeur of effect. . The magnificent temple at Seringham, close to Tanjore, was built in the last century ; and indeed the progress of the building was stopped by its being occupied and fortified by the. French in their ten years’ struggle with the English for the possession of Trichi- nopoly. The fourteen or fifteen elaborately carved and - ornamented gateways produce an imposing effect when viewed from a distance. But there is no central and superior structure rising above the rest, and this is a want common to nearly all the great temples of Southern India. They are all more or less collections GHAP. ViII.] HINDU & JAINA ARCHITECTURE, &C. - 359° of structures, bewildering in their richness and beauty, but the eye.does not: rest on any.central imposing structure as in the temples of Northern India. Madura boasts of-a great temple. commenced it is’ said in the 16th century, but the temple itself was built by Trimulla Nayak in 1622 to 1657 A.D. Itis a great rectangle, about 720 ft. by 840 ft., possessing nine Gopuras and a hall of 1,000 columns, whose sculp- tures and elaborate designs excel those of most other edifices of the class, Besides the temple, Madura also has a far famed Choultrie, also built by the same Nayak for the reception of the presiding deity on the occasion of his visit of ten days to the king. It isa great hall 333 ft. by 105 ft. consisting of four ranges of columns, all of which are different, and most ela- borately carved. In one of that chain of islands which seem to con- nect India with Ceylon, stands the celebrated temple of Ramesseram, exhibiting all the beauties ofthe Dra- vidian style in their greatest perfection. Like the struc- tures of Madura, this temple (with the exception of a humble and. ancient Vim4na) was built in the i7th century. Externally the temple is enclosed’ by a wall, 868 ft. by 672 ft. and 20 ft. high, with four great Go- puras on the four sides,—one of which alone has been finished: The glory ofthe temple, however, is in its corridors, extending to a total length of:nearly 4,000 ft.! The breadth varies from 20 to. 30 ft: and: the height 360 PAURANIK PERIOD. [BOOK ve is 30 ft. “No engraving * * can convey the impres-) _ sion produced by such a display of labour when ex- tended to an uninterrupted length of 700 ft. None of- our cathedrals are: more than. 500 ft, and even the nave of St. Peter’s is only. 600 ft. from the. door to the: apse. Here the side corridors are 700. ft. long and! open into transverse galleries as rich in detail as them-. selves. These with the varied devices and modes of: lighting produce an effect that is not equalled certainly! anywhere in India. * * Here we have corridors extending to 4,000 ft., carved on both sides, and in the’ hardest granite.. It is the immensity of the labour. here displayed that impresses us much more than its: quality, and that combined with a certain picturesque-- ness and mystery produce an effect which is not sur- passed by any other temple in India, and by very. few. elsewhere.” ergusson, p. 358. _ The classic town of Conjeveram or Kanchi possesses temples as picturesque and nearly as vast as any that. is found elsewhere. In Great Conjeveram there is the- Great Temple with some large Gopuras and a hall of 1,000 columns, fine Mantapas: and large tanks with. flights of stairs. _ Our readers will remember that the Hindu kingdom’ of Vijayanagara was the last great Hindu kingdom: in Southern India and maintained its independence for: over two centuries, from 1344 to. 1565 A. D. Archi tecture flourished together with learning and the study: CHAP. VIL] HINDU & JAINA ARCHITECTURE, &C. 361 of the Vedas ; and there is hardly a town in all India in which ruins exist in such profusion as in this last ‘seat of Hindu learning and glory. The temple of. Vitoba has an elegant and tasteful porch, wholly in granite, and carved’ with a boldness "and power nowhere surpassed in buildings of this class. Numerous other edifices and temples of great beauty and extent ‘attest to the power and activity of the Vijayanagara kings.