Temples In India-1.pdf - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

VIVEKANANDA KENDRA PATRIKAKarath). The temple with mandapa issurrounded by open irregularly shapedcourtyards cramped with several buildings.Inside the garbha-griha of the Vishnupadatemple,there exists the holy imprint (16"X 6") of the right foot of the north - facingLord Vishnu, stamped on a piece of rockcalled Dharmasila and it is the main objectof worship where pindas are offered. Thefoot-print lies in a silver trough, having asilver-made ornamented chhatra over it.The Vishnupada-temple represents theAshta-bhadra-type, i.e, it is octagonal inplan (38' across externally). Its pyramidaltower (100' high) is truncated at the top,sealed by a massive square abacus. Thesides of the octagons of the tower arealternately plain and indented, each angleas it reaches the pyramidal roof finishingin a series of small pinnacles, one abovethe other, until they culminate in a singletall and lofty pinnacle, crossed by lotusshapedamalaka, ornamental finial, goldkalasa and dhvaja. The stone blocks ofthe temple and its mandapa are joined withiron clamps and a special kind of adhesivepaste.The huge brass-plated, decorated andscreened doors of the main (or eastern)entrance of the sanctorum, faces to theeast. Within the sanctum, besides Vishnu’sfoot-print in the middle, there are in nichesimages of Visva Devas, Mahalakshmi,Ganesha and other deities. The smallnorthern door of the sanctum faces aGaruda-sthambha with a figure of Garuda,Vishnu’s vehicle and it stands outside thesanctum. The massive stone door jambsand lintel of the main entrance of thesanctum are richly carved with elaboratedecorative works including some distinctTEMPLE INDIAfloral stripes. These are the motifs of ghataand other stylised decorative featuresfinely carved on the tower’s outer walls.At the middle of these walls, there areconventional figures of crouching lions,guarding the cardinal directions.The artistic designs and the neat andgraceful craftsmanship of the structuresof the temple and the mandapa, showsmooth, regular and symmetrical stonecarving,creating a graceful appearance.The Vishnupada-temple, having two tinyshrines attached to its north-east andsouth east corners, represents the tri-ratnatype of Indian temple and at Gaya it is asolitary example of this particular type.Adjacent to the east (front) of theVishnupada-temple, there stands animpressive, spacious and airy ‘sabhamandapa’or an open pillared hall, made ofgrey granite. It is a double height spacecovered with galleries all around, accessibleby stairs and used by the ladies attendingthe religious functions being held in themandapa below. There are two small shrineson the north-west and south-west cornersof the mandapa, containing a Siva-lingaand a ‘Lakshmighar’ (the temple’s treasuryroom), respectively. The mandapa (58'square) has 42 neat pillars, with cornersindented and having eight rows of clusteredpolygonal columns, four in each cluster,leaving an open space in the centre, 16'square.The pillars are disposed in two stories. Overthe central portion is a graceful dome, 80'high, formed by overlapping of stones. Itis noteworthy that the erudite scholar, Dr.F.Buchanan, highly praised the noveltechniques and skill of the masonry of thedome of the mandapa, adding that same165