Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c7.s1.14

c7.s1.14

A noticeable feature, in the basement mouldings on the exterior, is the torus or half round moulding, immediately under the *garāsaṭṭi* or line of *kīrtimukha* faces. This follows more the section of the moulding as found in very old temples. It will hardly be found again in later work as it changes to a knife-edged moulding, somewhat wedge-shaped in section, as in the temples at Balsāṇe for example. No temple, unless it be of the largest class, has a complete series of mouldings in the basement, certain of them being omitted, in a regular order, as the dimensions of the building decrease. Here we find three missing, viz., the *chajali* which should come in between the round moulding, described above, and the *garāsaṭṭi* or band of faces; the *aśvathara* or horse moulding which should have come immediately above the band of elephants, and the *narathara*, or band of men, which is usually the topmost moulding of the basement. The top of the basement series of mouldings should always be on the same level as the floor of the hall, and it is so in this case. The band of scrollwork does not belong to the *pīṭha* or basement but to the *maṇḍora* or walls. In the basement of the great temple of Somanātha, at Paṭṭaṇ, these three missing bands are found, the full complement of mouldings being inserted.