Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c33.13

c33.13

From the design of this temple it is possible to understand the constructional principles adopted by the builders in other large temples of this class, as for instance the Rudra Mala at Siddhapur, that fragment of a one-time immense structure in Gujarat. It reveals to us how these temples in several stories were produced without arches or other scientific methods, but solely by means of the pillar and the beam, a system which had limitations as the interiors of these buildings plainly demonstrate. For they could have no large halls uninterrupted by pillars, no spacious covered courts in their internal arrangements; their plans were restricted by the length of the stone lintel that could safely carry the required loads, and that this was occasionally miscalculated is shown by the cracked beams in a number of temples, including the Sas-Bahu now described. But there is something more to be learned from this example at Gwalior, not connected with temple construction, but with that of some of the mosques which began to be built a little later. It was on the principle of the Sas-Bahu interior that those pillared naves forming the central feature of the Islamic prayer halls at Ahmedabad and Champaner were evolved, but with more grace, more space, and more refinement than that ever produced in the assembly halls of the temples. Yet it was from these temple mandapas that the mosque builders developed those noble central spaces surrounded by pillars and carried up in stages to the vaulted roof, a conception of rare beauty and one which gives its prevailing character to the *masjids* of Gujarat.