History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c19.s5.7

v1.c19.s5.7

well-understood design. The vimâna with its five surrounding cells and the porch in front of it, with its side balconies, make a complete Hindû temple, such as are found in hundreds in India, and instead of the simulated cells that surround the upper storey in the Madras example, they become realities, but used for widely different purposes. Instead of being simulated residences, the five cells that surround the central temple, on the same platform, are each devoted to a separate divinity, and complete the whole as a Sivâlaya or “abode of Siva,” whilst they group most pleasingly with the central vimâna.¹ Here, too, they are independent, and separated from the temple itself.