Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c39.41

c39.41

Much better preserved is the other temple, that of Avantesvami, which appears to have been a very complete conception, and embellished with many additional features. (Plate CXXXVII, Fig. 2) In its general scheme it reproduces to a reduced scale the arrangements of its predecessor or Martand, with a rectangular courtyard of 174 feet by 148 feet, and a central building 33 feet square, the latter approached by a double flight of steps on its front or western side. It is a temple also of the *panchayatana* class, but in this instance the four subsidiary shrines are not attached to the large central erection of which they were small-scale copies, as each is an independent structure standing by itself and occuping a space in one of the angles of the courtyard. In front of the flight of steps leading to the main shrine there was a square shallow tank for ablutions, and again, in front of this, a *kirti-stambha* or free-standing pillar so that with all these additions, this courtyard contained its full complement of structures connected with the ceremonial. Forming the enclosure wall were sixty-nine cells and these were fronted by a colonnade of seventy pillars, each shaft having sixteen sides, surmounted by a quasi-Doric capital and standing on a plain cubical base. On the western side of the enclosure was the entrance gateway, a large building having a square plan equal in size to that of the main structure within. Pillars, both detached and engaged, add to the architectural effect of this gateway, while a colonnade of these was continued along the entire external length of the front enclosure wall, thus providing the main approach with a handsome facade. Decorating the wall surfaces was a considerable amount of sculpture, not however applied with that profusion which characterises the architecture of other parts of India, but judiciously distributed, and contained within panels or other prepared spaces.¹