The Hindu Temple v1.c8.s3.28

v1.c8.s3.28

Hence brick, Iṣṭakā, has remained the principal building substance of the temples, for the wooden log or the stone beam is considered and treated as Iṣṭakā. It is put to the same use, for the same purpose, as the brick (iṣṭakā), which is derived from the radical ‘yaj’, to sacrifice or to offer and is the original sacrificial substance (Part IV). In this connection it becomes clear why the true arch has not been employed in the Prāsāda, nor even in the halls, Maṇḍapa, accessory to it.⁵¹ The method of corbelling (kadalikā-karaṇa) and the trabeate arch are adjustments of the process of piling, necessitated first of all by the internal chamber, the Garbhagṛha in the body of the Prāsāda and also by the larger halls, added to the Prāsāda.