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The Indian Analyst
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North Indian Inscriptions |
ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE
nymphs and dancing girls which enhance the beauty of the temple. Some other images are of the country folk. See e.g. that of the girl in Plate G, Fig. 9. She is shown standing with a pot held aloft in her right hand. Her left hand holds her lower garment. She wears only a few simple ornaments round her neck, waist, hands and feet. She undoubtedly represents an unsophisticated countrywoman of the age. ..The sanctum, the maṇḍapa and the three porches have separate śikharas. The śikhara on the sanctum has mostly collapsed, but the part on the north is still extant, from which one can form an idea of the original spire. It is the Deccan type of the North-Indian śikhara. Percy Brown has thus described it: [1] “Instead of the turrets or uruśṛiṅgas being grouped around the lower part of this structure, as in most examples, the Deccan śikhara has a pronounced vertical band carried up on each of its angles, taking the form of a ‘spine’ or quoin. This feature extends from the lower cornice right up to the finial, and displays functional qualities of a high order, as it follows the main contours of the spire thus holding the entire shape within its firm outline. Then the spaces between these quoins are filled in with rows of small reproductions of the śikhara, each supported on a pedestal like an altar, the contrast of the strongly marked repeating pattern with the more delicate diaper on the quoins producing an effect of some emphasis.” The spires on the maṇḍapa and the porches are of the pyramidal type consisting of ‘diminishing rows of miniature multiples of itself’. There is a śuka-nāsikā on the antarāla of the temple, west of the śikhara, which shows a pot-bellied figure in a circle decorated with beautiful scrolls. The top portion of the main śikhara consisting of the āmalaka and the kalaśa has now been broken away and lost.
.. The Ambarnāth temple is regarded as the earliest and best example of the Deccan type of architecture. It evinces the interest that the Śilāhāras of North Koṅkaṇ took in constructing magnificent temples of their gods and goddesses. Remains of some other shrines exist at Wāḷkeshwar and other places in Bombay. Those at Wāḷkeshwar consist of several richly carved stones and other fragments, and of a finely carved slab showing Nārāyaṇa lying on his serpent couch. On stylistic grounds they are referred to about the tenth century A.D. [2] ..Another existing Hindu temple of the Śilāhāra age is that dedicated to Śiva under the name of Kōppēśvara at the village Khidrāpur. [3] This villages has a total population of about 1500 and lies on the bank of the Kṛishṇā, twelve miles south-east of Shiroḷ, the chief town of the Shiroḷ tāluka of the Kolhāpur District. It derives its sanctity from the fact that the river Kṛishṇā, which generally flows eastward, takes a westward band here. A similar thing is noticed at the village of Mārkaṇḍī in Vidarbha in respect of the river Waingaṅgā. This place has strategic importance also; for several inscriptions in this temple record the victory which Bōppaṇa, the Daṇḍanāyaka of the Śilāhāra king Vijayāditya, won on an enemy. The victory probably occurred during the Kalachuri king Bijjala’s invasion of the Śilāhāra territory during the reign of Vijayāditya. ..
This temple, though not definitely dated anywhere, was probably commenced during
the reign of Gaṇḍarāditya. As shown later, it consists of the garbha-gṛiha (sanctum), the antārāla (antechamḃer), the gūḍha-maṇḍapa (enclosed hall) and the raṅga-maṇḍapa, constructed in a row. [4]
Several brackets in the raṅga-maṇḍapa [5] have inscriptions recording the victory of Bōppaṇa, [6]
[1] Percy Brown, Indo-Aryan Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu), p. 125.
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