CENTER FOR ART AND ARCHAEOLOGY

Visnu Temple, Kiradu, Rajasthan

Visvanatha temple, Khajuraho

The place Vriddhachalam is significant because it is one of the 22 scared Siva temples of nadu-nadu (the central region) of the Tamil land. Vriddhagirisvarar literally means the Lord of the ancient hill. Vipachit, the sage is said to the earliest builder of the Vriddhagirisvara temple. There is an image of him at the foot of the scared Vanni tree of the temple. Tamil saints Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar have sung His glory in their hymns. Various additions were made to the temple in later times. An inscription from Uttama Chola's time - 982 CE records that parts of the temple were constructed by Sembiyan Mahadevi. She is said to have built the central shrine (Sri Koyil), the covered veranda and the shrines for the minor deities. Even later, various structural additions to the main shrine were made. There are three big courts with walls of enclosure (prakaras) and tall towers with seven storeys, one at the entrance to the second prakara which is the oldest, and four towers at the four middle points of the outer walls of enclosure. References: M.W. Meister and M.A. Dhaky, 1963, p. 185, Venkataraman 1976, pp. 44-46, S.R. Balasubrahmanyam, 1971, pp. 197-200.

The ancient name of the main deity at the Vyaghrapurisvara temple at Tiruppullivanam was Tiruppulivanam-Udaiya Nayanar and the temple. This Shiva temple is a foundation of the days of Pallava Nandivarman II and thus belongs to the eighth century CE. This temple must have originally been in brick and later was rebuilt in stone in the time of Kulottunga I (1070-1122 CE). The pillared hall (mandapa) in front of the central shrine is on wheels and is perhaps one of the earliest temples having the chariot-structure for one of its constituents. The superstructure (vimana) is covered with pilaster and stucco. References: M.W. Meister and M.A. Dhaky, 1963, pp. 257-258, S.R. Balasubrahmanyam, 1979, pp. 36-40.

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West Bengal (Architectural Drawings)