Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c23.41

c23.41

Every aspect of this temple is replete with informative features, as it illustrates in all its parts the trends of the style. The cells comprising the interior of the enclosing wall, the design of the wall with its parapet of cupolas, the sturdy, primitive shape of the mandapa pillars, the constant repetition of the rampant lion pilaster, these, and the composition of the building as a whole, make the grey pile of the Kailasanatha a most fascinating study. Yet undoubtedly its most interesting portion is the pyramidal tower or sikhara for it is in the distinctive treatment of this feature that the development of the Dravidian style may be best observed. From the somewhat compressed forms of the monolithic rathas to the more loosely-knit elements of the Shore temple, we now arrive at a further effort to present the sikhara in a suitable architectural form, well-proportioned, substantial, yet at the same time rhythmic in its mass and elegant in its outlines Such was evidently the aim of its designers, and within certain limits some of these desired conditions have been fulfilled. There is still however occasion for more refinement in the shape of this tower, for although it marks another stage of evolution, it obviously falls short of that perfected maturity which was subsequently achieved.