Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c20.4

c20.4

It will be seen that, although differing in other respects, there is much the same conventional system and disposition of parts in the Indian temple as in the Christian church, with the nave corresponding to the mandapa, the chancel to the sanctuary, the tower or spire to the sikhara, the cloisters to the rectangular range of cells, and the churchyard, or close, to the temple enclosure. In its plan there is also some resemblance to the temple of the Greeks, with its columned naos before the interior cella, and its pronaos or porch acting the same as the ardha-mandapa of the Indian type. It is not without significance that, as already described, a temple showing Hellenic influence was actually erected, with local modifications, at Jandial in Taxila in the second century B.C. (Plate XXVII). It may be noted, also, that the basic intentions of the Greek and Indian temples were not dissimilar as neither was designed for congregational worship, each being a sacred monument, and an object of devotion in itself. The Indian temple was, in the language of the people, a "dwelling place of the gods", for, in addition to the symbol of the deity within the cella, numerous niches, recesses, alcoves, and altars, were provided as part of the architectural scheme, within which were enshrined sacred images of the immortals, so that the whole structure resolved itself into a place of assembly of the *Devas*, or "Shining Ones".