Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c32.13

c32.13

This temple is entered by three doorways, one on each of the free angles of the assembly hall, and the interior consists of a single compartment, with attached pillars at each of its eight angles and a group of four forming the square nave in the centre There is a considerable amount of excellent carving in the ceiling panels and shallow domes of this interior, but it was on the pillars of the main hall that the sculptor was most prodigal with his art, as, from base to capital, these are intricately carved with both conventional designs and figure subjects. The most highly finished are the four detached columns in the nave, each of which on account of its wealth of imagery, of gods in niches and figures in friezes, ceases to be a structural element and becomes a complete tabernacle or altar in itself. (Plate CXIV). Corresponding to these central pillars are those attached to the angles of the hall, each being treated in much the same decorative manner, but in a slightly simpler scheme, the whole effect, although superlatively ornate, being very carefully thought out. Throughout the design and execution of those pillars there is much that recalls the style of those in Gujarat, such as the marble columns in the Vimala temple at Abu, yet there is a certain individuality of treatment that indicates that Deccani productions were a separate effort, but obviously influenced by the power of the widely spread Solanki movement