THE TEMPLES OE INDIA 



959 



22. This Great Temple at Bhuva- 

 neshwar is called by Fergusson "the 

 finest example of a purely Hindu temple 

 in India." It was built in 617-657 A. D. 

 The Great Tower is 55 feet high ; every 

 inch of its surface, course after course of 

 stone, is covered with most intricate and 

 elaborate carving. 



23. Arch at the entrance of the Great 

 Temple of Bhuvaneshwar, showing 

 another style of architecture. 



24. A watchman or Gate Guardian at 

 Temple at Belur. 



25. The famous Rock of Trichinoply 

 rises to a height of 265 feet, access to 

 the temples in the rock and on the sum- 

 mit being obtained by staircases and pas- 

 sages tunneled in the rock itself. The 

 rock, like that of Gibraltar, is honey- 

 combed with staircases, galleries, and 

 chambers, with temples and guardrooms, 

 with structures half hewn and half built 

 on its summit. The great battle between 

 the French and English was fought at 

 the base of this rock. Throughout India 

 there are similar rock fortresses. 



26. Great Temple of Bhuvaneshwar 

 from another point of view. There were 

 formerly seven thousand temples at this 

 sacred place, but only five hundred now 

 remain surrounding the great lake or 

 tank. 



27. The Gol Gumbaz, or Round Dome 

 or Rose Dome Temple at Bijapur, is the 

 mausoleum of Muhammad Adil Shah and 

 is remarkable for its simple grandeur and 

 constructive boldness. It stands on a 

 platform 600 feet square, each side of the 

 building 196 feet. The seven-story tower 

 or minarets at each corner are strangely 

 like Chinese pagodas. The dome is 124 

 feet in diameter, and the great hall that 

 it covers is 135 feet square — the greatest 

 domed space in the world. There is a 

 marvelous echo heard from the gallery 

 below the dome. Muhammad, his young- 

 est wife, his dancing girl, daughter, and 

 sons lie in tombs in this hall. The small 

 mosque at the edge of the platform is 

 now the travelers' bungalow, where tour- 

 ists are housed. The Gol Gumbaz was 

 built in 1659. 



28. The Palace at Bijapur is a relic 

 house containing hairs of the prophet's 

 beard. The great portico with three 

 arches opens upon a courtyard and tank. 

 The palace once contained a great library, 

 and its marble and ivory-inlaid walls 

 were coated with gold leaf. 



29. The Temple of Chenna Kesava at 

 Belur contains some of the most wonder- 

 ful carvings in stone. It was built in the 

 twelfth century to celebrate the conver- 

 sion to Vishnuism of a Jain ruler. Fer- 

 gusson says of this particular porch : 

 "The amount of labor which each par- 

 ticular facet of this porch displays is such 

 as never was bestowed on any surface of 

 equal extent in any building in the 

 world." 



30. The Temple (Shrine) at Chidam- 

 baram and great gopura in background. 

 The gopuras, or pagodas, at Chidam- 

 baram are the oldest in southern India 

 and marvels of sculptured ornament. 

 The temple is enormously rich and con- 

 tains an unequaled treasury of jewels 

 and silver cars. 



31. Holy man with an armful of pea- 

 cock feathers and his head in an iron 

 cangue that prevents him from lying 

 down or leaning back. 



32. The Temple at Hullabid, 10 miles 

 from Belur, is another masterpiece of 

 sculpture and full relief ornament. It is 

 greatly ruined now and many of its gems 

 have been removed to the Museum at 

 Bangalore. When intact it was the finest 

 specimen of Indian art in existence. 

 This column is one "of the most marvel- 

 ous exhibitions of human labor to be 

 found even in the patient East ;" . . . 

 "far surpasses anything in Gothic art. 

 The effects are just what the medieval 

 architects were often aiming at, but 

 which they never attained so perfectly as 

 was done at Hullabid." Fergusson fur- 

 ther says, placing this Hullabid Temple 

 and the Parthenon as the two extremes 

 of architecture: "It would be possible 

 to arrange all the buildings of the world 

 between these two extremes, as they 

 tended toward the severe intellectual 

 purity of the one or the playful, exuber- 



