The Hindu Temple v2.c12.32

v2.c12.32

Above the Mekhalā is an Ardhaprastara or half-entablature made of the consoles on which the images have their stand. These entablatures form the horizontal clasps of the Bhadras, Rathas and Pratirathas, which are the several buttresses and their offsets in front and either side. The vertical panels and facets in every plane, the innermost being that of the broad recess (antara) are beset with images, each on its ancone, and shaded by a cornice or rooflet and thus within the wall space. With every movement of the eye of the beholder a new perspective shows the images from a different angle; to avoid being bewildered, he has to concentrate on each of them, facing it, and then give his attention to the next, in the same way; their sum making up the iconostasis of the temple walls in all the directions. The single images, each on its panel, do not coalesce in groups; each panel, be it even without lateral pillars, is an abbreviated shrine of a particular divinity. The images approximate sculptures in the round (Pls. XV, XX, etc.), and remain attached to the wall where they lean against it. Sometimes a strut like extension of their contour or shape (Pl. XXXIII) helps towards an increased height of their relief.