The Hindu Temple v2.c13.s1.17

v2.c13.s1.17

THE SECOND GROUP. The temples of the second group (verses 14-20) have each a Śṛṅga for their superstructure; they are like the temple Śṛṅgavān but are distinguished by having one or two Mekhalās, each. Mekhalā is a ‘zone’; its particular connotation here is not given. The distance of the Mekhalā, its ‘gati’, from the walls of the shrine is however one-eighth of the Prāsāda (verse 24). This is considerably less than the Jagaṭī. The width of the Mekhalā—in ch. LXXXVII—is one-third of the stair, i.e., a twenty-fourth part of the total width of the building. Mekhalā is thus a zone of varying width surrounding the Kaṭi. Two Mekhalās may mean that the Jagaṭī is built in two steps so that one zone surrounds the body of the temple at a lower level than the other. A Prākāra or enclosure wall may be placed as a Mekhalā (LXXXVII. 3).³ Niṣadha and Vindhya are amongst the names of these temples and also Gṛha. The latter has one Śṛṅga and one Mekhalā.