History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c19.s4.15

v1.c19.s4.15

ALTHOUGH it may not be possible to point out the origin of the Dravidian style, and trace its early history with the same precision as we can that of Buddhist architecture, there is nothing so mysterious about it as there is regarding the styles of northern India, nor does it burst on us full blown at once as is the case with the architecture of the Chalukyas. Hitherto, the great difficulty in the case has been, that the temples of southern India have almost all been found to be of so modern a date. The great building age there was the 16th and 17th centuries of our era. Some structural buildings, it is true, could be traced back to the 11th or 12th with certainty, but beyond that all was to a great extent conjecture; and if it were not for rock-cut examples, we could hardly go back much further with anything like certainty. Recent investigations, however, combined with improved knowledge and greater familiarity with the subject, have now altered this state of affairs to a great extent. It seems hardly doubtful now that the Kailâs at Elûrâ, and the great temples at Pattadakal, are anterior to the 10th century.¹ In fact, it has been ascertained that they date from the 8th, and the "raths," as they are called, at Mâmallapuram or the "Seven Pagodas" on the Madras coast, are as early as the 7th century, and are in reality the oldest examples of their class known, and the prototypes of the style.