History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c19.s9.12

v1.c19.s9.12

As mentioned above, the great Vaishnava temple of Srîrangam owes all its magnificence to buildings erected during the reign of the Nâyyak dynasty, whose second capital was Trichinopoly, and where they often resided. Within a mile to the east, however, of that much-lauded temple is another, dedicated to Siva, under the title of Jumbukêswara, which, though not so large as that dedicated to Srî Ranganâtha, far surpasses it in beauty as an architectural object. The east gateway of the outer enclosure is not large, but it leads direct to the centre of a hall containing some 250 pillars. On the right these open on a tank fed by a perpetual spring, which is one of the wonders of the place.¹ The corresponding space on the left is occupied by about 470 columns: these together form the Thousand-pillared mantapam. Between the gopurams of the second enclosure is a very beautiful portico of cruciform shape, leading to the door of the sanctuary, which, however, makes no show externally, and access to its interior is not vouchsafed to the profane. The age of the courts of this temple is somewhat earlier than that of its great rival, and being all of one design, they probably were begun and completed at once, and from the simplicity of its parts and details must be earlier than the great buildings of Tirumalai Nâyyak. In fact an inscription on the south wall of the second prâkâram is dated in the tenth year of Jatâvarman Sundara Pândya, who began to reign in 1251;² and, though the outer enclosures were subsequently added—probably as late as A.D. 1600—the nucleus of the buildings must be about as old as the 12th century, and possibly even two centuries earlier.³