The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c21.19

c21.19

Pl. LXXIV, a view of the sikhara of the Kandarya Mahâdeva temple, will show with what magnificent imaginative power and technical skill pinnacle upon pinnacle, crowned with Vishnu's lotus emblem, are piled round the central tower of the shrine to give the impression of the holy mountain upholding the highest heavens. The sculpture in itself is not of the finest art, but nothing could surpass the skill with which details of bewildering complexity are co-ordinated together in masses so as to form a perfectly balanced architectonic unity.