Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c34.6

c34.6

The temples in Kathiawar of this type are at Gop, Kadvar, and Bilesvara, while something of the same character may be seen in a temple at Visavada, and in the temple of Surya at Sutrapada. All are relatively small in size, measuring on an average forty feet across, while the period of their production appears to have been from the sixth to the eighth or ninth centuries. The temple at Gop is certainly the oldest, as it is presumed to be not later than the sixth century, and no doubt introduced the style into these parts. (Plate CXVIII, Fig. 8). It is considerably ruined, but it is not difficult to reconstruct its arrangements from the later but better preserved example at Bilesvara. On plan these structures consisted of a square central shrine, enclosed within a square covered court, the larger size of the latter producing a spacious aisle all round. This aisle was flat-roofed, and out of its centre rose a pyramidal structure covering the shrine and its cella. The chief claim of this type of temple to any architectural merit lies in the treatment of this pyramidal superstructure, which, particularly in the example at Gop, is a well shaped and convincing piece of work. In this instance the central feature rises well above the roof of the aisles, standing up high enough to be called a tower, and its pyramidal portion is in two tiers of square section surmounted by a substantial finial, or *amalasila*, which is circular in plan. On each side of the lower tier are two "chaitya-dormers," while the upper tier has only one, and it is the position, proportions, and general design of these ornamental arched projections that give this building much of its character. In the recess, or niche of each of these chaitya motifs, a figure or miniature altar is enshrined, in one on the western side a statuette of Ganesh is still identifiable, but the conception as a whole has a distinctly Buddhistic derivation. As this type of temple progressed it began to lose its apparently exotic nature, and to conform more to the indigenous Indo-Aryan style, although there is still much of the "vihara" influence in that at Bilesvara, perhaps of the eighth century. Later, the shrines at Visvada, and the Surya temple at Sutrapada, show how it was becoming merged into the conventional form of Brahmanical temple design. Finally, before the end of the first millennium, it has disappeared and seemingly has contributed nothing to the style of building which followed.