276 Essay on the Avian Order of Architecture. [Sept. 



4. — The erection of the two temples by Avanti Varmma is assigned 

 to different periods, in the following verse of the Raja Tarangini. 

 B. 5, v. 45. 



f ' This wise one erected Avantiswdmi before he became King, and 

 Avanteswara after he had attained sovereignty." 



5. — Now as there is a very considerable difference in the size of the 

 temples, as well as in the- extent of the surrounding quadrangles, it ap- 

 pears to me that the respective periods of their foundation may be 

 safely inferred by assuming, that the smaller temple was built by 

 Avanti Varmma, before his advancement to the throne, and the larger 

 one after his accession, when his increased means enabled him to erect 

 a more costly edifice. For the sake of distinguishing the one from the 

 other, I have taken this assumption as correct, and have named the 

 two temples accordingly ; the smaller one as Avantiswami, and the 

 larger one as Avanteswara, under which names I will now de^ 

 scribe them. 



Temple of Avantiswdmi. 

 1. — As Avanti Varmma ascended the throne in A. D. 854, the erec- 

 tion of this temple may be placed a few years earlier or in about A. D. 

 850. The ground-plan is a square of 34 feet, with pilasters at the cor- 

 ners, 5 feet in thickness. The porches are 21 feet wide with a projec- 

 tion 1|- feet in advance of the pilasters. The superstructure of this 

 temple has been entirely overturned ; and although amongst the con- 

 fused heap of stones, there are many which still preserve portions of 

 the different mouldings and decorations almost in their original fresh- 

 ness, yet I feel that it would be presumptuous to attempt even the sim- 

 plest kind of restoration. From the stones which still exist I can say 

 positively, that the temple had a porch on each side, with a trefoil- 

 headed arch covered by a pediment ; similar in general appearance to 

 the Marttand example, but differing somewhat in details. For instance 

 the imposts of the smaller pediments, within the trefoils, were sur- 

 mounted by human-headed birds, and the horizontal lines of mould- 

 ings of the larger pediments were surmounted by colossal human heads 

 similar to those represented on the Pravareswara Pillar in Plate VII. 



