Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.128

c2.128

Temple No. 8 is situated next to No. 7 and faces the east. [Plate XIX (d)]. It is the last one in the group and similar in style and on plan to No. 7. The shrine cell measures about 5 feet square and contains a linga of the usual kind. In front is a pillared porch measuring 12 feet in length and 3½ feet in width. The shrine entrance is guarded by life-size figures of doorkeepers of the usual kind, the one on the north side being portrayed wearing the horned headdress mentioned above. Bas-relief figures of Brahma and Vishnu of the type already referred to appear on each side of the entrance. The style of the cornice is similar to that of No. 7, but it is unfinished and slightly damaged. The little human heads portrayed peering through the gable openings have no nāgā hood as in Nos. 7 and 5. Below the cornice is the usual frieze of fat little dwarfs. The two pillars are similar to those belonging to No. 7 already described. In front is the usual little terrace with the remains of a bull in the centre facing the entrance, Ganēsa on the south and Siva on the north side similar to those already mentioned. The temple has no inscriptions, but evidently belongs to the same period as No. 7.