Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c36.36

c36.36

Four entrances interrupt the continuity of this sculptured elevation, two to each temple, and each is approached by a flight of steps with small detached shrines on either side Two of these doorways are complete, one on the south, and the other on the south-east, both much alike in their design, and both remarkable productions on account of their imaginative treatment and precise workmanship. No special attention has been paid to the shape of the doorway itself, which is a plain rectangular opening, but it is the surroundings which are of such an exceptional character. Much of its design is indicative of the ingenuousness of the craftsman in seizing on realities and converting them into ideals. With this as his aim, he has sculptured on either side of the entrance a statue, in heroic proportions, of a *dvarpala* or door-keeper, a permanent effigy in place of the mobile human attendant, and these two enlarged figures he has elaborated into extravagantly fanciful creations. Each is posed in what is known as the *tribhanga* or three-flexured attitude, head, body and legs at slightly different angles, and each is costumed in a sumptuous array of jewels and tassels of gold, holding large and immensely rich symbols of office, the whole contained within an arched and foliated aureole. The lintel above the doorway is a broad panel twelve feet long and three feet high, even more ornately carved, and illustrating selected episodes from the peoples’ mythology and story. Its design resolves itself into an arcaded central space formed by a *lata torana*, or archway, and supported by *yali*, those water-unicorns shaped like huge pachydermatous quadrupeds, spouting convoluted foliage on either side The principal figure in the centre is Tandavesvara, wildly dancing, supported by other divinities, and a band of musicians accompanying their lord with drum and cymbal. Although there is something very vital in certain portions of these entrance compositions, they show little attempt at anything structural, as conceptions they are formless, appealing mainly on account of their superlatively rich and sensuous appearance. (Plate CXXIV, Fig. 1).