Pallava Architecture, Part I (MASI 17) c2.55

c2.55

(3) *Rājasimha style.*—With the reign of this king we start a new epoch in the history of South Indian architecture. From this period onwards structural buildings alone are met with. Temples in the style of Rājasimha are built of stone with sometimes a brick superstructure covered in plaster and decorated in stucco. On plan, the shrine is a small square cella surrounded by a circumambulatory passage and faces the east. All Rājasimha temples are dedicated to Siva, presumably in the form of Sōmaskanda, since they all possess fluted basalt lingas and have the Sōmaskanda panel carved on the back wall of the shrine.