DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0372
348
DRAVIDIAX STYLE.
Book IV.
evidence of misapplied labour. The next four enclosures have nothing
very remarkable in them, being generally occupied by the Brahmans
and persons connected with the temple. Each, however, has, or was
intended to have, four gopuras, one on each face, and some of these
are of very considerable magnificence. The outer enclosure is, practi-
cal^', a bazaar, filled with shops, where pilgrims are lodged, and
fed, and fleeced. The wall that encloses it measures 2475 ft. by
2880 ft.,1 and, had its gopuras been finished, they would have sur-
passed all others in the south to the same extent as these dimensions
exceed those of any other known temple. The northern gopura,
leading to the river and Trichinopoly, measures 130 ft. in width by
100 ft. in depth ; the opening through it measures 21 ft. C> in., and
twice that in height. The four jambs or gateposts are each of a
single slab of granite, more than 40 ft. in height, and the roofing-
slabs throughout measure from 23 ft. to 24 ft. Had the ordinary
brick pyramid of the usual proportion been added to this, the whole
would have risen to a height of nearly 300 ft. Even as it is, it is
one of the most imposing masses in southern India, and probably—
perhaps because it never was quite finished—it is in severe and good
taste throughout.- Its date, fortunately, is perfectly well known, as
its progress was stopped by its being occupied and fortified by the
French during our ten years' struggle with them for the possession of
Trichinopoly; and if we allow fifty years for its progress, even this
would bring the whole within the limits of the 18th century. The
other three gopuras of this enclosure are in the same style, and were
commenced on the same scale, but not being so far advanced when
we stopped the work, their gateposts project above their walls in a
manner that gives them a very singular appearance, and has led to
some strange theories as to their design.
Looked at from a distance, or in any direction where the whole
can be grasped at once, these fourteen or fifteen great gate towers
cannot fail to produce a certain effect, as may be gathered from
the view in Woodcut No. 105 ; but even then it can only be by
considering them as separate buildings. As parts of one whole,
their arrangement is exactly that which enables them to produce the
least possible effect that can be obtained either from their mass or
ornament. Had the four great outer gopuras formed the four sides of
a central hall, and the others gone on diminishing, in three or four
directions, to the exterior, the effect of the whole would have been
increased in a surprising degree. To accomplish this, however, one
1 Except this dimension, which is from
a survey, ami those of the gopuras, the
dimensions above quoted must be taken
cum rjrano. They were obtained only
by pacing and eye-sketching.
- A drawing of it was published in
my ' Picturesque Illustrations "f Indian
Architecture.' It has since been fre-
quently photographed.
DRAVIDIAX STYLE.
Book IV.
evidence of misapplied labour. The next four enclosures have nothing
very remarkable in them, being generally occupied by the Brahmans
and persons connected with the temple. Each, however, has, or was
intended to have, four gopuras, one on each face, and some of these
are of very considerable magnificence. The outer enclosure is, practi-
cal^', a bazaar, filled with shops, where pilgrims are lodged, and
fed, and fleeced. The wall that encloses it measures 2475 ft. by
2880 ft.,1 and, had its gopuras been finished, they would have sur-
passed all others in the south to the same extent as these dimensions
exceed those of any other known temple. The northern gopura,
leading to the river and Trichinopoly, measures 130 ft. in width by
100 ft. in depth ; the opening through it measures 21 ft. C> in., and
twice that in height. The four jambs or gateposts are each of a
single slab of granite, more than 40 ft. in height, and the roofing-
slabs throughout measure from 23 ft. to 24 ft. Had the ordinary
brick pyramid of the usual proportion been added to this, the whole
would have risen to a height of nearly 300 ft. Even as it is, it is
one of the most imposing masses in southern India, and probably—
perhaps because it never was quite finished—it is in severe and good
taste throughout.- Its date, fortunately, is perfectly well known, as
its progress was stopped by its being occupied and fortified by the
French during our ten years' struggle with them for the possession of
Trichinopoly; and if we allow fifty years for its progress, even this
would bring the whole within the limits of the 18th century. The
other three gopuras of this enclosure are in the same style, and were
commenced on the same scale, but not being so far advanced when
we stopped the work, their gateposts project above their walls in a
manner that gives them a very singular appearance, and has led to
some strange theories as to their design.
Looked at from a distance, or in any direction where the whole
can be grasped at once, these fourteen or fifteen great gate towers
cannot fail to produce a certain effect, as may be gathered from
the view in Woodcut No. 105 ; but even then it can only be by
considering them as separate buildings. As parts of one whole,
their arrangement is exactly that which enables them to produce the
least possible effect that can be obtained either from their mass or
ornament. Had the four great outer gopuras formed the four sides of
a central hall, and the others gone on diminishing, in three or four
directions, to the exterior, the effect of the whole would have been
increased in a surprising degree. To accomplish this, however, one
1 Except this dimension, which is from
a survey, ami those of the gopuras, the
dimensions above quoted must be taken
cum rjrano. They were obtained only
by pacing and eye-sketching.
- A drawing of it was published in
my ' Picturesque Illustrations "f Indian
Architecture.' It has since been fre-
quently photographed.