History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c1.16

v1.c1.16

Fergusson lays it down that all that is intellectually great in India pertains to the Aryas, and all that is artistically great belongs to other races, either aboriginal, or earlier or later immigrants than those from the north. The great Hindu temples are to be found in the Dravidian country of the south in amazing numbers and variety. They are remarkable less for their beauty than for their cathedral-like size, and for a profusion of ornament which to many Western observers is unpleasing. Often they are enclosed within high walls with towering doorways in each face. The general impression is one of colossal labour and effort which somehow fails. A journey from Madras through Tiruvallur, Conjeevarum, Vellore, Polur, and Chilambaram to Tanjore and Srirangam, and thence on to Madura and Rameswaram on its island, enables all the finest examples to be seen, even at the risk of satiety.