History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c25.s16: Temple of Sindhia’s Mother, Gwâliar.
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c25.s16
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- English
Temple of Sindhia’s Mother, Gwâliar.
v2.c25.s16.1
One more example must suffice to explain the ultimate form which the ancient towers of the Orissan temples had reached in the 19th century. It was erected about forty years ago by the mother of Jayâjî Râo Sindhia, Mahârâja of Gwâliar and to it was added a tomb or cenotaph either by herself or her son. As will be seen from the woodcut (No. 349) it is elegant, though feeble as compared with ancient examples. The Muhammadan dome appears in the background, and the curved Bengali roof in the pavilion in front. The most striking
v2.c25.s16.2
349. Temple of Sindhia’s Mother, Gwâliar. (From a Photograph.)
v2.c25.s16.3
peculiarity of the style is that the sikharas have nearly lost the graceful curved form, which is the most marked peculiarity of all the ancient examples. As has already been remarked, the straight-lined pyramid first appears in the Takht-i-Sulaimân temple in Kashmîr, where its introduction was probably hastened by the wooden straight-lined roofs of the original native style. It is equally evident, however, in a temple which Chait Singh, the Râja of Benares, erected at Râmnagar in the end of the 18th or beginning of the 19th century. Since that time the tendency has been more and more in that direction, and if not checked, the probability is that the curve will very soon be entirely lost. To a European eye, accustomed only to our straight-lined spires, that may seem hardly a matter for regret; but to any one educated in Eastern forms it can scarcely appear doubtful that these spires will lose half their charm if deprived of the graceful curved outline they have so long retained.
v2.c25.s16.4
In order not to interrupt the story of the gradual development of the style, the history has been brought down to the present day in as nearly a consecutive manner as possible, thus anticipating the dates of several temples. It seems expedient, however, in any history that this should be done, for few things of its class are more interesting than to trace the progressive changes by which the robust form of the Parasurâmeswar temple at Bhuvaneswar, or of the great temple there, became changed into the feeble elegance of the Visveswar or Gwâliar temples. The few examples that can be adduced in such a work as this may not suffice to make this so clear to others as it is to myself. With twenty or thirty examples it could be made self-evident, and that may one day be done, and this curious chapter in architectural history be thus added to the established sequences which every true style of art affords. Meanwhile, however, it is necessary to go back a little to mention one or two aberrant types which still are not without interest.