Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.35

c2.35

The architectural character of early Pallava monuments is simple and severe but indicative of great strength and durability. Being excavated in the natural rock, the temples of the earlier period have but one external facade which is in the face of the rock, and therefore, the architecture is mainly internal. In most styles of architecture, we can generally distinguish three distinct periods, an early period, an intermediate period and a late period. Since the style of one period naturally merges into that of the next, the line of demarcation is not always well defined in the intermediate period, but the difference between the early and late periods is always apparent. The classification of Pallava monuments is a comparatively simple matter, as the differentiation is unusually well marked in each period. In the first place, all the earlier Pallava monuments are rock-cut cave-temples with only one external facade cut in the face of the rock. Secondly, monuments of the intermediate period, although all are monolithic, comprise free-standing rock-cut temples commonly known as rathas as well as cave-temples. The latter possess certain features which are not found in the cave-temples of the earlier period. Thirdly, monuments belonging to the late period are structural buildings built of stone and brick.