Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.47

c2.47

The most striking feature about the Māmalla style is the curious shape of the pillars. The square heavy pillars with corbel capitals of the earlier period are replaced by pillars of a more elegant shape and better proportion. The base of the pillar is carved in the shape of a conventional lion sitting very erect and carrying the shaft of the column on the top of its head. The shaft is still octagonal in section but of better proportion and crowned with a bulbous capital having a flat abacus. Between the capital and the architrave is usually a double bracket supporting the cornice. This latter feature is obviously a stone copy of a wooden model.