The Hindu Temple v2.c11.s2.31

v2.c11.s2.31

Facing the entrance, outside the Prāsāda, in the open (Pls. LVIII, XXXVI), or in the Maṇḍapa (Pl. LII), is the image of the Vāhana, the vehicle of the divinity which is enshrined in the temple. Carved in the round, self-contained as form and symbol, the Vāhana ‘conveys’ the deity. The theriomorphic image, the Vāhana, is, it appears, as ancient as any temple;⁴⁸ while its position is outside the entrance, it confronts the temple or the image in the Garbhagṛha with which it is coaxial. No other sculpture or part of the building is so placed. The Vāhana is a counterpart of the image enshrined in the Prāsāda and framed by the door-way. It leads to the entrance.