A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c21.69

c21.69

The monolithic *rathas* popularly called the Seven Pagodas, though in the same style as the *maṇḍapas*, are obviously copies of wooden religious structures with all the details of timber work faithfully reproduced in granite. None of their interiors is finished and they do not seem ever to have been actually used. There are eight of them all together, the southern group called after the names of Draupadi, Arjuna, Bhima, Dharmarāja and Sahadeva, and three others in the north and north-west called Gaṇeśa, Piḍāri and Vaḷaiyān-kuṭṭai. The *rathas* are only of moderate size, none of them being more than 42 feet long, 35 feet broad or 40 feet high. The Draupadi *ratha* is merely a cell, a copy of a thatched structure, with its base supported by animal figures, a lion alternating with an elephant. All the other *rathas* are copies of the *vihāra* or the *caitya*. The *vihāra* type is pyramidal in shape, and the Dharmarāja is a good example of the style. It is a small square hall in the centre with pillared verandahs below and a pyramidal *śikhara* above. Its plinth has many strong mouldings and its porticos with lion pillars greatly improve the appearance. ‘This type of design,’ says Brown, ‘is not only an effective production in itself, but it is a storehouse of pleasing forms and motifs, besides being replete with potentialities.’