The Hindu Temple v1.c9.s9.3

v1.c9.s9.3

Size, in a South Indian temple is more than a quantity. The different classes of the South Indian temples are distinguished partly by their size which in turn is connected with the simplicity or the complexity of their types. The simplest or one storeyed small temple (alpa-prāsāda) has for its superstructure but another yet smaller shrine, complete with its perpendicular walls and cupola (Fig. e, on p. 185). The larger temples with many storeys show this superstructural temple raised to the top floor (Figs. f-h), 16 floors being the maximum number, whereas each one of the lower storeys has its parapet of chapels. In brief, the distinctions are not only between the Small Shrines (alpa-prāsāda) and the large, Main Temples (mukhya-prāsāda) but also and even more important, between the Alpa-prāsādas and the Jāti Vimānas. Jāti means not only a special class (Jāti) of temples; a Jāti temple is a ‘collective temple’ which carries on its perpendicular walls the various classes of the shrines of the parapet. It is their ‘common denominator’.⁵⁵ The 20 Main Temples (mukhya-prāsāda) dedicated to Śiva, Brahmā and Viṣṇu—are foremost amongst the Jāti Vimānas. Second in the hierarchy of the Jāti Vimānas come the 32 Jātitara Prāsādas, dedicated to all the gods, and these are followed by the Jāti Vimānas of which twelve are for (worship by) Brāhmaṇas, 24 for Kṣatryas (kings) and 8 for Vaiśyas and Śūdras.