History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c19.s6.14

v1.c19.s6.14

known as the Vaikuntha Perumâl temple.¹ It stands in a court 79 ft. 2 in. wide and 108 ft. from east to west, but at 29 ft. from the east end it is contracted to 63 ft. 3 in. wide. To this is attached an entrance hall or portico 44 ft. 4 in. by 50 ft.—more modern than the rest, and roofed on twenty-four pillars. A pillared verandah runs quite round the inside of the court, the walls of which are covered with sculpture. The outsides of the court walls are divided by pilasters on rampant Vyâlîs into bays in which are niches with sculptured pediments. The vimâna in the centre of the west portion of the court measures 47 ft. square over the walls, with a mandapam in front, having two rows of four pillars each across the floor. The shrine is of unusual arrangement, being of three storeys (Woodcut No. 210); round the lower are two passages, in the inner of which is a stair leading to the upper floor, and the outer has a door and two windows on each of the three exterior sides. On the first floor is a somewhat larger shrine with one covered passage or *pradakshina*, round it, and an open balcony on the roof over the outer passage of the ground floor. In the third storey is also a shrine with an open balcony round it over the roof of the first passage below. In the fourth storey there is again a chamber under the large octagonal dome that crowns the sikhara. The walls of the lower storey of the temple are divided by pilasters into panels filled with Vaishnava sculptures.