The Age of the Imperial Guptas c8.32

c8.32

The earlier temple at Nachna Kuthara is practically of the same size as that at Bhumra. The sanctum in this case measures 15'—6" on the outside and 8' inside. The larger chamber, or path of circumambulation, which encloses the sanctum is 33' on the outside and 26' in the interior. The *Mandapa* in this case measures 26' by 12'. The steps at Nachna Kuthara are 18' by 10' while those at Bhumra are 11'—3" by 8'—5". The masonry in the case of both temples is finely coursed ashlar. The difference between these two temples lies in the detailed and exceedingly fine decorations of the Bhumra temple compared with which that at Nachna Kuthara is much plainer. While the path of circumambulation and the porch of the Bhumra temple are completely ruined, the entire structure at Nachna Kuthara was in a much better state of preservation in 1919. There is another point of difference between these two temples, which is the absence of any structure over the sanctum in the case of the temple at Bhumra. The only example of a flat roofed shrine surrounded by a covered path of circumambulation in which there is no structure over the sanctum, the temple at Bhumra, is unique in this respect. Coomaraswamy places the temple of Lad Khan at Aihole, without sufficient reason in *circa* 450 A.D. Beyond the resemblance with the earlier temple at Nachna Kuthara in having a small square cell above the sanctum and a covered path of circumambulation around the latter, lighted by large windows of pierced screens, there is no other reason to place the date of the erection of this temple earlier than the time of Kīrttivarman I of Badami, *i.e.*, the first half of the 6th century A.D.