Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c6.23

c6.23

The Dakhan temples occur singly, in groups of individual temples and in *pañchāyatana* groups, that is groups of five shrines—a central main building surrounded by four subsidiary ones arranged symmetrically around it. A complete temple consists of a shrine containing the object of worship, an antechamber before it, a large hall in advance of this again, with either closed in or open sides, and one or more entrance doorways, each with its porch before it. Śaiva temples generally have a small detached pavilion standing out before the main doorway in which was placed a Nandi or Śiva's bull, Vaiṣṇava temples sometimes have a similar shelter for a *varāha* or boar.