Administration and Social Life under Vijayanagar c16.11

c16.11

In the same way the niches which are generally sculptured in high relief on the walls of temples, present varied appearance in the different periods of the history of the architecture of South India. While in the Pallava and Cōḷa periods there was great ornamentation made over the niche, in the Vijayanagar period, greater prominence was given to the śālai which contains an elongated roof surmounted by stūpis. The upper part of the niche is plain and simple except perhaps for the kūḍu which is sculptured in a few of the śālais.