History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c19.s16.5

v1.c19.s16.5

Among those in the city the most remarkable is that dedicated to Vithobâ, or Vitthalaswâmin, a local manifestation of Vishnu. It was apparently begun by Krishna Deva, at least as early as A.D. 1513, and continued by Achyuta Râya, 1529-1542, and never was finished; and as inscriptions in it are dated in 1561 and 1564, recording grants of Sadâsiva, we might fairly infer that the works were stopped by the fall of the kingdom in 1565. The temple stands in a rectangular enclosure 538 ft. by 310, with gopurams on the east, north, and south sides. Outside the east entrance stands a lofty Dîpdân pillar, and there are two pavilions of architectural merit in the court, besides other buildings. Round nearly the whole court ran a deep verandah or corridor with three rows of piers; but most of it is now ruined. The principal part of the temple consists of a porch or mantapam, represented in the woodcut, No. 236, page 403. It is wholly in granite, and carved with a boldness and expression of power nowhere surpassed in the buildings of its class. As will be observed, it has all the characteristic peculiarities of the Dravidian style: the bold cornice of double flexure, the detached shafts, the Vyâlîs, the richly-carved stylobate, etc. But what interests us most here is that it forms an exact half-way house in style between such porches as those at Vellor and Chidambaram, and that of Tirumalai Nâyyak at Madurâ. (The bracket shafts are detached here, it is true, but they are mere ornaments, and have lost their meaning.) The cornice is as bold as any, but has lost its characteristic supports, and other changes have been made which would inevitably have led in a short time to the new style of the Nâyyak dynasty.