A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c21.62

c21.62

In the far South, the Pallavas bridge the transition from rock-architecture to structural stone temples. Their architecture and sculpture constitute a most brilliant chapter in the history of South Indian art. Its first phase was entirely rock-cut and comprised two groups of monuments: one the pillared maṇḍapas, all of the reign of Mahendravarman I, who gloried in the construction of temples without the use of bricks, timber, metals or mortar; and the other, including similar but more elaborate maṇḍapas and monolithic temples known as rathas, all of the reign of Narasimhavarman I Mahāmalla and his immediate successors. The maṇḍapas of the Mahendra group are simple pillared halls with one or more cellas cut into the back wall. The main feature of the front façade is a row of pillars each 7 feet high, the shaft being square in section with a two-foot side above and below, and the corners chamfered in the middle third to give an octagonal section. A heavy bracket provides the capital. In the earliest examples (Maṇḍagappaṭṭu and Trichinopoly), there is no cornice above the pillars, but later a roll moulding was added as at Pallāvaram. In still later examples, e.g. Mogalrājapuram, the roll cornice carries at intervals a new ornament known as the kūḍu which is really a much reduced version of the Buddhist caitya window.