The Hindu Temple v2.c11.s2.32

v2.c11.s2.32

⁴⁸ Cf. The animals carved in the round on the top of Mauryan pillars (3rd century B.C.) and the representations on seals from Mohenjo-Daro (Sir John Marshall, ‘Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilisation’, Pl. CXVI. 3 and 5), of an animal figure placed on a platform on top of a pole, and carried in procession. The Garuḍa-Stambha in front of a Viṣṇu temple appears as a lineal descendant of these most ancient Vāhanas. Nandin, the Vāhana in the Maṇḍapa, directs the approach (abhigamana) to the Garbhagṛha (Pl. LII); placed outside the temple it regulates the circumambulation (note 1, Pt. VIII).