Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c27.3

c27.3

It is fairly clear that the expansion of the southern Indian temples was occasioned by a corresponding expansion of the temple ritual, the forms and ceremonies of the creed having become considerably elaborated, a condition which naturally reacted on the arrangements of the building in which they were celebrated. Some of this increase in the structural formation was due to the wider powers accredited to the deity of the temple, who it is possible to envisage in two capacities, a spiritual and a temporal. In his spiritual capacity the deity remained enshrined within the darkened mystery of his cella, where passively he received the homage of the devout. To provide for such a condition there is therefore an inner portion of the temple, strictly reserved and secluded as the sacred habitation of the god. On the other hand on certain prescribed occasions this divinity personifies a less abstract embodiment and emerges from his retreat in his temporal capacity, assuming a physical form not unlike that of an earthly sovereign of the olden time. When in this state therefore he is led forth in procession to take part in festivals and ceremonials of a semi-mundane but imperial character, and accordingly for this specific purpose the outlying precincts of the temple are largely utilized. It will be seen that, in such circumstances, and to conform to these two contrasting appearances, the temple resolves itself into two main formations, an inner, covered, and most sacred part, and an outer, open, more public and less sanctified part. The former, comprising the central portion, may consist of two flat-roofed courts, one enclosed within the other, which in most of the temples cover a fairly large rectangular space. Within the inner of these two courts is the sanctum, the cupolas of which, often richly gilt, may be seen thrusting itself through the flat roofs, thus denoting the focal centre of the entire scheme. In contrast to the guarded seclusion of this inner portion, the outer part of the temple area is formed of a concentric series of open court-yards called *prakarams*, enclosed within high walls, but open to the sky as they are too large to be roofed; these *prakarams* provide ample space for buildings connected with the more secular aspect of the ceremonial.