The Chalukyan Architecture of the Kanarese Districts c42.s1.3

c42.s1.3

The most notable features of these temples are their plain sloping roofs and the peculiar arrangement of stone screens which close in the sides (Plates CXLIII—CLI). With the excessive rainfall in Kanara it was, no doubt, found that temples with the type of roof as used above the *ghāts* was far from being waterproof—in fact, they would be veritable sieves—and so it was necessary to devise a more suitable arrangement. The depth to which the eaves project over the sides, and the screens support this assumption. The monsoon rains, along the coast, beat in with such force that it was necessary to protect the interiors from driving rain, and at the same time allow plenty of fresh air which was so necessary to counteract the hot steamy atmosphere of closed interiors. There is a great likeness between these buildings and similar ones, built in wood for the most part, found in Nepal.¹ It is not likely, however, that there is any other connection between them than that the same conditions brought about the same type of structure. But these roofs may be seen repeated in every thatched cottage in Bhatkal, even to the double storey. It is seen in the wooden building, the Jāmi' Masjid, a modern construction, which is, perhaps, more like the Nepalese buildings than the stone temples. This method of roof construction is, therefore, no more than a copy in stone of the thatched roofs of the country, rendered necessary by the exigency of the climate and made possible by the ease with which the great laterite slabs could be quarried on the spot. The joints between the slabs lie over the sloping supporting beams whose upper surfaces are channelled all the way down to catch whatever rain should percolate between the joints. This is very apparent in the case of temples like those of Khetapai-Nārāyaṇa and Śāntappā Nāyaka Tirumal. The barred screens which enclose and protect the sides have their prototype in the large coarse screens hung up in the front of the verandahs of most of the houses here, after the fashion of Venetian blinds, where they are made of broad battens of the split *supāri* palm strung together with rope. At the same time they are very reminiscent of the Buddhist rail.