The Hindu Temple v1.c9.s2.t2.1

v1.c9.s2.t2.1

The extant temples having curvilinear Śikharas are distinguished by the following features: The plan appears cruciform (see drawings in Part VII); this is, the result of the central major projection of each side, generally called Bhadra, being flanked by more shallow lateral offsets, called Ratha. If the temple has an ambulatory the Bhadras appear like transepts in the plan; the Talacchanda of the Prāsāda is accentuated in the 4 directions, in which the temple seems to step forth from the straight inner walls of the Garbhagṛha. The square of the Garbhagṛha is transmuted into the cross of the Prāsāda; the static centre of the temple is ensconced by its dynamically laid out perimeter. The steps in the plan correspond to the buttresses or planes of the perpendicular wall of the Prāsāda. They have no structural purpose and are the monumental form of the progression from the centre; they are carried up the Śikhara, and terminate at the shoulder-course (skandha); in certain temples as already pointed out, the main offsets of the Śikhara even exceed the skandha and point towards the Āmalaka (Pls. XLIII, XLV; Fig. i).⁸³ Above the skandha, the Āmalaka, held aloft by the round neck, supports the finial.