Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v6.c41.s25.136

v6.c41.s25.136

As regards the temple, the worshippers of fire (as an element), could hardly think of any, because the god of fire was never idolized by them, and only idol-worship needs a temple proper.² Dieulafoy's description of a building in ruins situated in the Susian Plan, which Perrot and Chipiez quote but criticize,¹ would hardly apply to a Hindu, Buddhist, or Jain temple. All we are really sure about is the *atesh-gah*, 'the sole monumental type and representative of the religious architecture in Persia.' This figured on the bas-reliefs of Persepolis and is encountered all over the country. On a coin, posterior to Alexander's, is figured a monument, by the side of which a king stands in the attitude of a prayer. 'A glance suffices to show that we are in face of an *atesh-gah*. Three altars with very salient horns rise upon a block of masonry, whose base and entablature the engraver has indicated, between the pillars at the angle, two parallel flights approach laterally the landing place that let to the platform.'