ARC H I T 
of this temple was afligned over to the Englilh by the na¬ 
bob of Arcot, as a reimburfement of their expences in 
defending his dominions again ft the attacks of his enemies, 
among whom was Mahomed Comaul, who fought a hard 
•battle with the Engliih juft before the feftival began, in 
1753, hoping to obtain poffeflion of the temple in time to 
receive thefe i,rnmenfe offerings from the Bramins : but he 
was defeated. 
In the city of Madura, which is- alfo under the domi¬ 
nion of the nabob of Arcot, is ftill to be feen uninjured, 
except by the lilent hand of time, a luperb temple of the 
fame kind, with a royal palace remarkable for the elegance 
of its interior conftruCtion ; and a choultry at a little dif- 
tance, which is truly magnificent. It bears the name of 
Trimul-naig, one of the king's of Madura ; but of the date 
of whofe reign we have no authentic account. It is con- 
ftruCted in a ftyle of peculiar rich nets and grandeur, fup- 
ported with columns all varying from each other, which 
exhibit fpecimens of architecture fo lingular and intereft- 
ing, that we are induted to give a reprefentation of them 
in the annexed Plates. A very curious model of a feCtion 
of this choultry, formed in brafs, and worked on the fpot, 
was lately exhibited in London, and offered for fale at 
Chriltie’s.auCtion-room in Pall-mall. Nothing can be 
more minutely accurate ; nor, to thole who have had an 
opportunity of examining it, can any defcription or draw¬ 
ing cbnvey fo perfect an idea of this interefting piece of 
Hindoo architecture. Of the delign and execution of the 
feulpture, however, an attentive examination of the en¬ 
gravings will convey a tolerably corredt notion; though 
from the complicated prdfufion of the hieroglyphics, it is 
not practicable to defcribe the whole. The firft of thefe 
Plates prefents two Tides of one and the fame pillar, which 
is feleCted as the moft curious. The firft fide exhibits a lin¬ 
gular reprefentation of the idol Trimoortee, or triple-god ; 
the belief in which is a leading tenet and very linking fea¬ 
ture of the Hindoo religion. The idol Trimoortee is com¬ 
monly expreffed by three faces on one body; but here tire 
unity of this triad is ftill more diltinCtly marked by three 
feparate bodies on one leg. The fecond fide of the co¬ 
lumn is decorated with an elephant furmounted by two 
fanciful monfters, the higheft and largeft of which refem- 
bles a horfe, with the trunk of an elephant. It is called 
by Hindoo poets tire axdee, and is fuppofed to exceed the 
laft-mentioned animal as much in lize as it is here repre- 
fented. If the reader carries in his mind the recollection 
that the fhaft and bale of this column is fculptured from 
one (tone, he will be convinced that the workmanlhip and 
carving of the animals in queftion is truly ingenious. 
The other Plate reprefents two columns, whereon are 
carved the idol Shivvcn, dancing in His anger ; under which 
is Agoram, and the-infernal goddefs Caullee, evil-genii of 
the Hindoftan mythology. Thefe figures form each a fe¬ 
parate fide of the two corner pillars of the front row in 
the choultry, and are to be feen in the brazen model of it 
above-mentioned. The original drawings from which 
thefe pillars are engraved, were taken on the fpot by a 
Hindoo, and publiflied in 1794, by N. E. Kinderley, Efq. 
in his admirable “Specimens of Hindoo Literature.” 
Though there is no poftibility of tracing thefe hierogly¬ 
phics to their fource, yet many refpeCtable ,writers have 
informed us, that the notion of a triad, or trinity, is in 
like manner to be traced among the Egyptians, as well as 
the Jews. This, however, is but one point of fimilarity 
between the Hindoo and Egyptian mythologies, out of 
many which might be adduced, and which prove beyond 
a doubt that one of the fyftems is derived from the other ; 
and no better evidence can pofiibly be dellred by thofe,' 
who contend that the Egyptians and Indians were origi¬ 
nally one and the fame people. At any rate it tan ft be al¬ 
lowed, that the Egyptians, from the earlieft antiquity, have 
been coiilfdeved among the firft inventors of arts ; and in 
the time of their profperity all nations fought and ftudied 
their philofophy and their fciences ; fo that being learned 
in the arts of the Egyptians became proverbial. Among 
E C T U R E. 67 
other arts thus early cultivated by them, was undoubtedly 
that fpecies of original architecture, where the ftrength 
and extent of the fabric was more regarded than its cor- 
reCtnefs of fynunetry. Of this kind are the ruins of a 
magnificent temple at Luxor, (the ancient Thebes;) of 
which there remain more than 130 columns of conlidera- 
blc magnitude, covered with neat and curious hierogly¬ 
phics, limilar to thofe in India. There" are alio others at 
Komonbu, and in many parts of Egypt, as lliewn by Nor- 
den. Hence it is fair to conclude, that from Egypt the 
Greeks derived their principal ideas of building ; and that 
this was the track by which architecture made its way into 
Greece, and role to perfection;, for certainly the ftruCtures 
of Egypt are much more ancient than thole of Greece ; 
and, as it may be confidered the belt character of build¬ 
ings, that they provide for the comforts and conveniences 
of man, fo it mult be allowed that the Greeks firft ren¬ 
dered them productive of elegance, fynunetry, and beauty. 
We mult therefore admit, that to the fine eye, Ikilful hand, 
and fublime genius, of that people, architecture is indebted 
for its rules of decorum, elegance of defign, and tafte of 
ornament, which began to arrive at perfection under the 
foftering care of Pericles ; which period, including the 
reign of Alexander the Great, mult be confidered as its 
climax of grace, magnificence, and beauty, in that empire. 
It is a maxim, that the mind of man is influenced by 
modes of government; and, certain it is, the Greeks with 
their independency, loft alfo their fuperior vigour of ge¬ 
nius ; and v.hat remained was, with the fpoils of their 
cities, carried to Rome: wherefore, from this period, t he 
Romans mult be confidered as the patrons and promoters 
of architecture. From this period alfo, its progrefs was 
great and rapid, though little was done of new.invention ; 
but the rules of the Greeks were applied to ftruCtures fo 
numerous, and of fuch wonderful extent, that we are at 
a lofs which moft to admire, the original inventors of thefe 
fublime rules, or thofe who applied them to fuch ftupen- 
dous buildings. 
There are fome authors well read in ancient hiftory who 
with to prove that from the Etrufcans, and not from the 
Egyptians, the Greeks derived their firft ideas of archi¬ 
tecture. The Etrufcans (or Tufcans) certainly were well 
lkilled in building, and from thefe the Romans in their 
early (late fought help in all their large works : the remains 
of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinas, the Cloaca Maxima, 
See. the work of Tufcan artifts, fttew them to have well 
underftood the fcience and the practice of ufeful and (lately 
architecture. Neither, when we infpeCt the antique vafes 
of undoubted Etrufcan workmanlhip, can we deny them 
to have poffelTed tafte and elegance. It is however gene¬ 
rally agreed, that the Greeks completed the art of build¬ 
ing, by uniting the ufeful with the elegant and agreeable ; 
and that to them, and the Romans, we are indebted for the 
five eftablifhed Orders of architecture, which are the Tuf- 
enn, the Doric, the Ionic-, the, Corinthian, and the Compojiu, 
Thefe are diftinguilhed from each other by the column 
with its bafe and capital, and by the entablature. 
The Plates, chofen to exhibit the different orders, are 
felefted .from fuch antiques as have ftood the teft of ages 
for their fymmetry and effeCt; .and the modern proportions 
in the delcriptive account are taken from Sir William 
Chambers’s ufeful Treatife on Civil Architecture. To 
the examples Ihewn in the plates, the meafurements are 
figured to each particular member ; fo that, by comparing 
them, the variations of the moderns from the ancients may 
be ealily known. The meafurements are in minutes, that 
is, one-half of the lower diameter divideddnlo thirty parts 
or minutes, which method, having fe\yer calculations titan 
any other, is preferable : the projections are meafured 
from the perpendicular of the fuperior and inferior parts 
of the column. 
TUSCAN ORDER. 
Of the Tufcan Order little hiftoric can be faid; its 
plainnefs of ornament gives it the firft place in moft trea- 
1 • ■ tifes ; 
