Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c10.s1.3

c10.s1.3

The lower part of the building, that is, the walls between the ground line and the cornice, is built of stone, but the tower above this, and the roof of the *maṇḍapa*, are built of brick, the whole of which, both stone and brick, having been plastered. The ornament and figures, which had been first carved in stone, have been overlaid with plaster, in which their outlines and forms have been reproduced. On the brickwork the whole of the decorative detail has been formed solely in the plaster, and, in this respect, differs from the older brick temples, such as that at Sirpur in the Central Provinces, where the ornament was first executed in the brick before being overlaid. It was a common thing in the Dakhan, in temples of this age and later, to build them partly in stone and partly in brick, and the plaster upon the stonework was probably intended to bring the whole to one uniform appearance. In the photograph the one is indistinguishable from the other.