The Hindu Temple v1.c9.s2.t2.8

v1.c9.s2.t2.8

The pillared halls which lead to, and surround, the Garbhagṛha occupy the ground floor (samsthāna) only. The vast superstructure is invisible from inside, where halls and Garbhagṛha are closed by trabeate domes of varying height. The main dome is over the centre of the main In this zone across the width of northern India, however, none of the extant temples of this type is earlier than the tenth century. This does not imply the relative lateness of the type; on the contrary, earlier less evolved temples of this type are no longer in existence.⁶³ There ought to be Śikharas with but one set of Uromañjarīs instead of the usual two or four sets; the centre, the Mūlamañjarī, if imagined without the many flanking Śṛṅgas and Tilakas, corresponds to a complete curvilinear Śikhara in the shape in which it has not only the widest distribution but also the longest history (Type II[B]). Although relatively earlier Śikharas of this type (II[B]) are preserved—from c. the sixth century, type IIA of which no earlier representatives than those of the tenth century exist, is the more pure of the two embodying in the main but one prototypal shape which is that of the Tabernacle of bent branches. This shape was amplified by throwing forth multiples from its curvilinear walls, clinging to them like the petals of a bud about