The art and architecture of India - Buddhist, Hindu, Jain (Art Ebook)

306 THE HINDU RENAISSANCE
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relief of the Descent of the Ganges. The temple
was planned in such a way that the door of the
sanctuary opened to the east, in order to catch
the first rays of the rising sun. This in itself
resulted in a rather peculiar arrangement, since
it
necessitated the placing of the mandapa and
the temple court at the rear or west end of the
main sanctuary. The terraced spires crowning
both shrine and porch very clearly reveal a
development from the form of the Dharmaraja
rath. In the Shore Temple, however, the dependence
on the vihara type is less marked, owing
to the new emphasis on the height and slenderness
of the tower, like an attenuated version of
the Dharmaraja rath. Actually, the characteristic
Dra vidian form of a terraced structure with
the shape of the terminal stupika echoed in
lesser replicas on the successive terraces still
prevails, but these recessions are so ordered as
to stress the vertically of the structure as a
whole. Such hallmarks of the Pallava style as
the pilasters with the rampant lions persist in
the decoration of the facade of this structural
monument.
Another building of the Pallava Period is the
Kailasanath temple at Kancipuram (Conjeeveram),
which must date from c. 700 [239].
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In plan it consists of a sanctuary, a connecting
pillared hall or mandapa, and a rectangular
courtyard surrounding the entire complex. The
pyramidal tower of the main shrine is again very
obviously a development out of the Dharmaraja
rath. The storeys are marked by heavy
cornices and stupikas echoing the shape of the
cupola. Around the base of this central spire
are clustered a group of supplementary shrines
that again rhythmically repeat the form of the
terminal stupika. This shape is repeated once
more in the row of cupolas crowning the parapet
of the courtyard. The gateways of the enclosure,
surmounted by hull-shaped
members of the
vesara type repeating the form of Bhima's rath
239. Kancipuram, Kailasanath temple Cf^/