Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c20.23

c20.23

The magic and mystery which many historical buildings inspire, are, in India, attributed to the supernatural powers of certain mythical beings, or others of legendary fame Some of the finest temples in Central India, are reputed to have been raised by an imaginary prince named Jakanacharya, to expiate the sin of killing a Brahmin, and accordingly he was forced to spend twenty years of his life in this work. On the other hand, a common explanation in most parts of India for any unusual group of structures is, that they were produced in a single night by the Pandavas, those famous sons of Pandu, the heroes of the Mahabharata. In north Gujarat the great temples are ascribed to the piety of the celebrated ruler Siddharaja, King of Gujarat (cir. A D. 1125), and in Khandesh to the dynasty of the Gavali rajas. Many temples in the Dekkan are said to have been raised through the religious zeal of Hemadpant, a minister of king Ramachandra with the result that some of them of the thirteenth century are rather vaguely styled Hemadpanti. Towering above all these relatively lesser personalities, however, the great force which is universally recognized as divinely responsible for all mechanical and structural enterprises, is the god Visvakarma, "Lord of the Arts," the embodiment of creative power. He is the patron saint of the Indian artificer and all those who work by their hands, one day in their calendar being set apart for his worship, when the tools and instruments of the craft are treated as objects of veneration. Throughout the Epics Visvakarma figures not only as the great architect of the universe, the master of the science of mechanics, but also as the welder of Agneyastra, or fiery weapon, "the executor of a thousand handicrafts, the carpenter of the gods, the fashioner of all ornaments, who formed the celestial chariots of the deities, on whose craft men subsist, and whom, as a great and immortal god, they continually worship." Visvakarma's antiquity is referred to in the Rig Veda (X. 72). "In the earliest ages of the gods, even as a smith, the Lord of Prayer, together forged this universe. With such a personification of omnipotence as their presiding deity, it is not surprising that skilled master craftsmen are sometimes credited with magical powers.