Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c23.38

c23.38

And so we see in the composition of the Shore temple, more rhythm and more buoyancy than in the monolithic rathas, a lightness and a soaring quality that was however not entirely due to the more tractable technique. But there is also another important component in the structural example, which although relatively a matter of detail, was destined to give not a little of its character to the later Pallava art This is the appearance in the architectural scheme of a very pronounced type of pilaster, a rampant lion in prominent relief, and which finds a place wherever such a structural form with an ornamental support is required. In the Shore temple this heraldic lion, erect and holding up a Dravidian capital, projects from every angle, and is also introduced at intervals around the lower part of the entire building As the style progressed this leogriff motif became more frequent and more characteristic so that it may be generally regarded as the identifying symbol of the Pallava style. As in the case of numerous motifs in Indian art, the origin of this rampant lion pilaster is a mystery, it suddenly appears in the temple design without any marked prefigurement, save for one small representation of it on the unfinished ratha of Valaiyankuttai of the previous reign in the shape of an insignificant bracket. It is strange that from such a rudimentary detail much of the character of the Narasimha architecture should have developed.