The Hindu Temple v1.c8.s8.4

v1.c8.s8.4

The vertical axis of the Prāsāda leads from the Highest Point, the summit of its finial, above its body, to the centre of the Garbhagṛha. It is not visible from outside, except where it emerges from the body of the superstructure, having the appearance of a horizontal section of a pillar, round, as a rule (Pls. I; LXXI.) but also polygonal (Fig. f; Part VI). This pillar is also not visible from inside the Garbhagṛha which, as a rule, has a flat ceiling. Nonetheless it inheres in the Prāsāda: however solid a monument its superstructure is, it traverses it like a hollow reed. On whatever level the Garbhagṛha is situated this hollow reed passes through its centre. The pillar inheres in the Prāsāda, which is the universe in a likeness. The Pillar of the Universe, the Axis Mundi, inheres in the World Mountain. All its strata are placed along its axis and their totality is the sheath of the Pillar. It has the shape of the Prāsāda.¹¹⁹