The Hindu Temple v2.c11.s8.36

v2.c11.s8.36

The self-same combination however of the closed casket whose sides consist of a square railing, surmounted by an inverted pyramid of slabs, is placed on top of the capital of pillars, either structural or carved in the rock and contemporary with the stūpas and their ‘caskets’.¹⁸³ The contents of such a casket are known for they are also taken out of the casket and carved above the pillar capitals. In one instance¹⁸⁴ an Āmalaka is carved above the railing of the ‘casket’. In this way it is made visible. Generally however the Āmalaka is shown within the casket whose sides are opened up for this purpose; only their posts are left at the four corners.¹⁸⁵ On some of these pillars, the Āmalaka in its receptacle is placed above the lotus (Bedsa, Karli) or pot (Ambivale, Nasik) shaped capital. The lotus as well as the pot are inverted, they are seen from above downwards, their petals and contents are showered from a celestial world to the earth below. Correspondingly, in a wooden temple it is the rule according to the ‘Tantrasamuccaya’ I. II. 48, to measure the rafters of the Śikhara from its top downwards; it is understood spreading from above to the walls of the temple below. In this inverse measuring the Highest Point of the temple is taken as its ‘origin’ and starting point, which it is ontologically; the temple as symbol of manifestation begins from the Bindu, the point between the unmanifest and the manifest. This point is situated above the Āmalaka.