Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c17.8

c17.8

As with all the buildings of the group, the dimensions of the Tigawa temple are unassuming, the sanctum being a square structure of 12½ feet side enclosing a cella of eight feet diameter, while the porch projects in front to the extent of seven feet. A feature of the portico pillars in several of these temples is the intercolumnation, the middle interval being wider than those on either side. The facade owes its character almost entirely to the design of its pillars, which, besides forming the main elements of its frontage are also fully representative of what may be termed the early Gupta "order". Each consists of (*a*) a massive abacus surmounted by a device of lions, (*b*) a capital resembling a broad conventional vase, (*c*) a short shaft of many sides, and (*d*) a plain square pedestal A glance will show that in spite of the greatly diminished height this form of pillar is a direct descendent of the Vishnu column at Besnagar of five centuries earlier, and the lion motif itself is a link with the still older monoliths of Asoka The other outstanding decorative feature of the Tigawa temple is the doorway to the cella, which also displays in its treatment certain historical connexions. Its expanded overdoor is a survival of the timber age when a wooden beam was placed over the opening and extended beyond the tops of the side posts, to provide additional strength and stability. But it is the shape and subject of the panel at the upper angle of the doorway, that have the most significance. Here is seen an adaptation of the Yakshini motif which festoons the projecting architrave to the Buddhist torana, but transmuted in the Gupta temple to suit the Brahmanical text. Instead of the subject being a dryad embracing a tree as in the earlier composition it becomes an allegory of the holy waters of the Jumna and the Ganges, with a river goddess standing on a tortoise on one side symbolising the Jumna, and on the other side a similar figure standing on a crocodile, or *makara*, representing the Ganges. This device is a prominent one in the doorway design of many Hindu temples, but only in those of the early Gupta style is it placed in the upper angle. In all buildings of the subsequent period it is carved on the base of the doorpost.