Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c8.s1.13

c8.s1.13

Returning to the group on the east of the village we find temple No. 5 a very differently planned one to those we have been considering. There is nothing new to note with reference to the main shrine, and the ceiling of the hall is supported, like others, upon four central pillars. But around the sides of the hall are a series of ten small shrines, as may be seen on the plan. In front of the hall doorway is a verandah-porch with a shrine at each end. As the temple faces the north it could not possibly have been dedicated to Śaiva worship. It was very likely Vaishnava, the main shrine containing an image of Vishnu and the ten smaller ones, round the hall, the ten avatāras of that deity. Within the main shrine is the image of a horseman, which may possibly be one of these, viz., the Kalka avatāra; but at our visit the front of the temple had been walled up, all but a small doorway, and the interior was so dark and filled with the overwhelming stench of bats, that it was not possible then to examine it thoroughly. The pillars and the exterior walls agree in style with those in temple No. 2. Beside the temple, on the same platform, is a little shrine with a partly mutilated standing devī somewhat similar to that in the shrine of No. 2. This building is plain and consists of a small shrine and an open antechamber, and it also faces the north. To the west of these is a small, simply constructed temple, very plain, facing east.