Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v1.c35.3

v1.c35.3

Meru heads the list of twenty temples. Let us have a glimpse of the paintings and mouldings of Meru in the ornamental style, the Lāṭa Style. Many names though repeated several times really belong to dissimilar types and groups forming the subject matter of the respective chapters and therefore they should not be taken as pure repetition. It is the Karma, the architecture, the style and the superstructure, dedication and size etc. which varies in various groups and types of temples. These twenty temples are really master-piece of Hindu Temple architecture at its zenith. A glowing dedication and glorious representation of the very developed temple institution both in its architectural as well as devotional aspects would not be found elsewhere. The reader is particularly referred to the quotations in the Vāstulakṣaṇa regarding the ornamental motifs of the class of types.