Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c33.4

c33.4

If any one of this small series is earlier than the others it is that designated the Teli-ka-Mandir, or Oilman's temple, a name for which there is no convincing explanation, a tall commanding structure eighty feet in height, and of a distinctly unusual appearance. (Plate CXVI, Fig. 2). In its conception this building is rather more of a shrine than a temple, as it consists of a sanctuary only, comprising a tower together with a substantial porch and doorway leading to an interior cella; there is attached to it no assembly hall or mandapa, and none of those pillared pavilions which ordinarily formed part of the fully developed temple structure. Moreover it is also exceptional in that no parts of its plan are square, its shape externally being an oblong, 60 feet by 46 feet, and so is the inner chamber, which is 30 feet by 15 feet, as well as the passage connecting this with the doorway. Naturally the formation of the ground plan conditions the elevation, which apart from its configuration, is also from base to summit treated in a decidedly different manner from any other sanctuaries in the Indo-Aryan style. The most marked departure from the orthodox design of the temple tower is in the composition of the summit or roof. Owing to the oblong formation being continued throughout its height, the upper part of the building is also oblong in shape, and it is clear therefore that it could not be finished off by means of the usual pyramidal construction. But it was evidently never the intention of the designers to complete in it this fashion, for they proceeded to give it a superstructure similar to the vaulted roof of a Buddhist chaitya hall. To emphasize this Buddhist character there is a form of sun-window at either end, a keeled ridge with finials, and pillared arcades derived from the rock-cut colonnade system along each of its longitudinal sides. The porch continues the idea, as it is carried up almost to the height of the roof and appears also to have terminated in a chaitya arch gable.