NO. 1921. MODEL OF A BRAHMIN TEMPLE— CASANOWICZ. 653 



The temple at Tanjore, in Mysore, is considered as tlio oldest and 

 best preserved example of Dravidian art. It probably belongs to the 

 tenth century A. D., and was dedicated to Siva. It stands in a 

 courtyard of 500 by 250 feet. The base of the shrine is S2 feet square, 

 and is in two stories. Above this rises the pyramidal tower through 

 13 stories to a height of 190 feet, crowned with a dome said to consist 

 of a single stone. But for vastness of dimensions it is surpassed by 

 the unfmished Vishnu temple at Seringam, near Trichinopoly. It 

 stands with its gilded dome, holding an image of the god, in the 

 center of 7 inclosures, which are crowned with 16 gate pyramids. 

 The outer mclosure extends 2,865 by 2,520 feet. The gi-eat j)illared 

 hall measures 500 by 138 feet, resting on 953 columns, each of a 

 single block of granite and all carved more or less elaborately. 



While the pyramidal tower recalls the terraced temple towers of 

 Babylonia (a model of which is likewise in the United States National 

 Musuem), the pyramidal gatewa^^s, or gopuras, suggest tlio pylons, 

 or doorways with their massive towers which led to the forecourt 

 of the Egyptian temples, and the hall of columns, or choultrie, answers 

 the Egyptian hypostyle hall, so called from its covered colonnade 

 which, like its Hindu counterpart, was used for processions and other 

 ceremonies, and behind which stood the small shrine in which the 

 god dwelt. 



