Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v1.c57.45

v1.c57.45

Further again the closed body of the temple is full of openings not factually but symbolically e g. ghanadvāras and gavākṣas. In its largest form as exemplified on the Hindu temple, the Gavākṣa is an antifix known as Śukanāsā. It shields the structural opening of the Śikhara or superstructure. Such Nāsās (Nasikā ; Kudu) are also repeated horizontally on the kapotālis or cornices ; there they had their place, originally, as attic windows, in which form they have figured since the days of Barhut. The so-called "caitya-hall window" of Buddhist Caitya-hall, the "sun window" which is the correct name of the caitya hall window, is of similar purpose with identical implication. It admits the light of the sun which reaches the Caitya or Stūpa at the far end of the hall.