Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c27.2

c27.2

AFTER the fall of the Vijayanagar Empire in 1565 brought about by the confederacy of Muhammadan principalities in the Dekkan, the Hindu element in the Tamil country, owing to the pressure of Islamic aggression, was forced further south eventually to establish itself with the city of Madura as its capital seat. Here, and in certain other towns in the extremity of the peninsula, under a dynasty known as the Nayaks, the Dravidian style assumed its final form, which has lasted almost until modern times. Hindu architecture, as produced during this period, flourished principally under the rule of the greatest member of this line, Tirumalai Nayak, who reigned from 1623 to 1659, and through whose patronage many of the finest works were created. In the field of religious architecture, the Madura style, as it has been found convenient to call it, appears to have been a revival and continuation of the building procedure of the Pandyas (1100-1350), which, it may be recalled, consisted in improving and extending the existing shrines, so that these attained much greater magnificence. This method of temple development had been a common practice from early mediaeval times, as the historical records of many southern Indian temples testify, but under the Nayak regime, beginning in the seventeenth century it received notable encouragement, with the result that a number of ancient foundations became expanded into structural complexes of vast size and impressive appearance. In some instances such conditions were arrived at by gradual stages, additions to the temple-scheme being made at different periods, the final effect being obtained after a long course of years; on the other hand, in certain examples the greater part of their existing formation was produced by a single effort made at one particular time. In either case the result was much the same as both methods present what at first sight appears to be a rather confused grouping of buildings devoid of any pre-conceived plan. From some of the less complicated of these compositions, however, in spite of recent aggregations, it is possible to establish some kind of system underlying their layout.