ARCHITECTURE. 3 
each side. A door in the rear wall opens upon a second bridge 21 feet by 23, 
leading to the main temple, which is 90 feet high. The main temple 
entrance is formed by a portico with two porches leading to a peristyle, 
which communicates by staircases with the lower court-yard. The peristyle 
is 18 feet long, by 15 feet 2 inches wide, and,17 feet high. Four steps lead 
to the main temple hall, 61 feet long by 55 feet wide, and 17 feet 10 inches 
high. The ceiling of this hall is supported by 16 pillars. Two porches, one 
on each side of the hall, mark the approach to bridges forming a con- 
nexion with the main rock, in which the private rooms of the priests were 
built. Opposite the main entrance another portico leads to the sanctuary, 
which contains the statues of Indra and of Lingam; small doors on both 
sides of this portico open on a terrace surrounding the sanctuary, and 
communicating with five square chapels of different sizes, two of them 
projecting on the sides, and three in the rear of the temple. The height of 
the temple above the terrace is 50 feet. The court-yard which surrounds the 
temple contains a peristyle of pillars, in some places in two tiers. Near 
the bridge which leads from the entrance hall to the temple of Nundi are 
two colossal elephants, probably the leaders of those placed in the lower 
temple, apparently supporting it. Behind the elephants, ten feet from 
the smaller temple, stand two obelisks, 38 feet high, and 7 feet wide at 
the top, by 11 feet at the base; they are supposed to have supported 
lions. 
Aurungzebe attempted to destroy these temples, by surrounding them with 
fire, and causing water to be poured on the glowing rocks; but the injury 
inflicted was only partial, and in some parts even the paintings on the walls 
have not been affected. Almost all temples of this description are cut out of 
a single rock. The most remarkable are at Mavalipuram, in the province of 
Mysore (pl.1, fig. 1), called the seven pagodas, the smallest of which, decorated 
inside and outside with inscriptions illegible even to the Brahmins, is 24 feet 
high by 12 feet wide. To the second pagoda is attached a gallery formed 
by two tiers of columns. The columns in one tier rest upon bases composed 
of lions lying upon a double plinth, and the caps are formed by equestrian 
statues which support the architrave. These pagodas are estimated by the 
Bramins to be 4800 years old. 
The fourth period is that of the pagodas, when no more rock-cut temples 
were constructed. The pagodas are overloaded with orfiaments and 
grotesque sculptures, and are remarkable for their arrangement, as well 
as for the highly elaborated metallic work attached to them. The most 
important are found at Chalembaram in the kingdom of Tanjore, and at 
Madura or Tretshengur. Those in Tanjore form the entrance-portico to 
the large temple district of Chalembaram, dedicated to the god Vishnu. 
Below the largest pagoda (pl. 1, fig. 2) is acolonnade of slender columns, 
in which is placed a statue of the bull Nundi, consecrated to Vishnu, cut 
out of a single block of stone (monolith). Another monolithic statue of the 
bull Nundi is found before a small tower-like temple near the pagoda of 
Madura or Tretshengur (pl. 1, fig. 3), which was cut in the quarry of Tanjore, 
about 60 miles distant; itis 16 feet long, and is estimated to weigh about 
3 
