Temples of Kumbhariya

SR No.: 001571
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: M A Dhaky, U S Moorty
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad
Publication Year: 2001
Total Pages: 394
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Art
File Size: 34 MB

Page 94

The Temples in Kumbhariya
Plates 15, 20) with salilāntara-recesses between. The pratiratha is narrow as is the case with the Ambikā temple at Jagat (c. A.D. 961), the Vişnu temple of the late tenth century in the gorge near the Ekalingji group, and a small Śiva temple of the same date within the Ekalingjī ensemble: the three buildings under reference are situated in Medapāta or Mevād region in Rajasthan. In northern Gujarat, the Latina shrine of today's Jina Sambhavanātha at Tārangā (c. early 11th century) has anga-divisions somewhat similarly proportioned but is earlier than the Kumbhāriyā building, possibly by three decades or a little more.
The mūlaprāsāda has a short, moulded, but very sparingly ornamented pītha or base (Fig. 4a; Plate 20) with ardharatna flanked by half thakāras (notional dormers) applied on the otherwise plain jādyakumbha (inverted cyma recta/doucine) moulding only at the three bhadras, the karņaka (arris) is somewhat thicker than what is noticeable in that age (Fig. 4a), an echo of the convention followed a few decades ago. The vedibandha, on its kumbha-faces, does not bear the figures of Yakṣīs and Vidyādevīs; instead are seen ardharatnas as in several late Mahā-Gurjara in lower Rajasthan and early Maru-Gurjara temples in Gujarat, without in our instance the enrichment of the carved detail. The janghā-rathas as well as the recesses between the rathas are barren of images (Plates 15, 20). In their lieu, there is a medial band of grāsas or grāsapattī, the regular grāsapattī, as per the standardized convention of the Maru-Gurjara style, occurs at the upper end of the janghā section. The bhadras show projecting deep khattaka-niches, their lateral sides formed by screens as in some Rajasthan temples, such as for example at the Siva temple (c. early 11th cent.) on the hillock at Cohtan (or Cottan). The Jina images that occupied these niches are no more, though their parikaras (frames) survive, those in the east and south niches seem original, that in the west, going by its style, a 12th century substitution.
The sikhara (Plate 14) consists of 21 andakas and four (bifacial) tilakas showing panelled diamonds in lieu of figures (Plates 15, 17), and may be identified with the type Nandīša of the series 'Kesaryādi prāsādas' of the medieval western Indian vāstuśāstras. Its tri-sectioned bhadra-rathikās show Jinatrayas—a central seated Jina figure with a flanking pair of standing Jinas—at south and west, at east, however, the niche-complex is vacant. The sikhara shows the typical 11th century jāla-web (Plates 15-18). A finely detailed makara-pranāla is inserted above the pītha in the eastern wall of the prāsāda (Plate 21).
The form of the base together with the wall pattern of the gūdhamandapa generally follows that of the prāsāda; but the divisions here are broader. The