The Colas c35.20

c35.20

Before taking up the temples of the next period, Parāntaka I to Rājarāja I, when Cōḷa temples proper came into existence, we may stop to consider the definite characteristics of the transition and the typical features of the developed Cōḷa style. The most notable general features are the emphasis on the central shrine which dominates the whole group of sub-shrines by its position and its architecture; then the exterior of the main shrine displays a remarkable simplification in all its parts; much unnecessary and fretful detail is eliminated and the value of plain spaces receives greater appreciation than in the Pallava structures, and much more than in the later Cāḷukya and Hoysala temples. The *antarāla* or porch in front of the *garbhagṛha* forms an integral part of the central shrine, so that the lowermost tier of the *vimāna* covers both in Pallava temples; this feature which persists in the early Cōḷa temples, e.g. Vijayālaya-cōḷēśvaram, soon disappears; the *antarāla* true to its name becomes a communicating passage between the *garbhagṛha* and the *mahāmaṇḍapa* in front, and the *vimāna* rises in the newer temples only over the sanctum; the *antarāla* is also known as *ardhamaṇḍapa* (vestibule). In the basement (*upapīṭha*), the *kumudam* starts by having an octagonal section but later becomes a rounded moulding; likewise the *kapōtam* starts by being straight, a projecting tier of rectangular blocks, but later develops into a curved cornice. The dominating lion-motif in pillars and elsewhere of the Pallava style gradually disappears altogether, and the pillars and pilasters evolve into ‘purely abstract conventions of mouldings and other similar forms’ (Brown). The Cōḷa order of the capital differs from the Pallava in two respects: a neck-moulding (*padmabandha*) is introduced between the shaft and the capital adding another member to the latter at the lower end in the form of a pot (*kalaśa*); the abacus or *palagai* becomes much expanded, a thick square slab of stone which together with the petal moulding (*idaḷ*) on its lower side becomes the most striking element in the order. The *palagai* becomes thinner later, and the *idaḷ* undergoes interesting modifications.