History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c19.s11.6

v1.c19.s11.6

Externally the temple is enclosed by a wall 20 ft. in height, and possessing four gopurams, one on each face, which have this peculiarity, that they alone, of all those I know in India, are built wholly of stone from the base to the summit. The western one (W) alone, however, is finished, and owing apparently to the accident of its being in stone, it is devoid of figure-sculpture—the plaster casts that now adorn it having been added in recent times: it is 78 ft. in height. Those on the north and south (N and S) are hardly higher than the wall in which they stand, and are consequently called the ruined gateways. They are, however, of comparatively modern date, and, in fact, have never been raised higher, and their progress was probably stopped in the beginning of the last century, when Muhammadan, Marâthâ, and other foreign invaders checked the prosperity of the land, and destroyed the wealth of the priesthood. The eastern façade of the second prâkâram has two entrances and two gopurams, the smaller, C, to the south of the large one and leading into the Pârvatî temple, is finished. The larger one (B in the plan) is ascribed to Sadayaka Tevar Dalavây, who was the Setupati about 1640, but it never was carried higher than we now see it. Had it been finished,¹ it would have been one of the largest of its class, and being wholly in stone, and consequently without its outline being broken by sculpture, it would have reproduced more nearly the effect of an Egyptian propylon than any other example of its class in India.