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CHAPTER IV THE ARCHITECTURAL FORMS OF TEMPLES
(a) The Pre-Caulukyan Phase.
Among the surving pre-Caulukyan temples in Gujarat the oldest one is that of Gop.
On plan the temple of Gop consits of a square central shrine, enclosed within a square covered court, the larger size of the latter producing a spacious aisle all round. This aisle was flat roofed, and out of its centre rose a pyramidal structure covering the shrine and its cella. In this instance the central feature rises well above the roof of the aisle, standing up high enough to be called a tower, and its pyramidal portion is in two tiers, squares in section surmounted by a substantial finial, or amalaśilā, which is circular in plan. On each side of the lower tier are two Caitya dormers while the upper tier has only one and it is the position. proportions and general design of these ornamental arched projections that give this building much of its character. 1
Due to its unusal shape Cousens has described it as a stranger in this region.2 He finds certain striking resemblances between this temple and the early Kashmirian monuments, particularly the Mārtand temple, in two important respects, namely the stepped out pyramidal roof with Caitya arches in the courses, and in the trefoil arches seen around the lower terraced basement. According to him the type was introduced in this region from Kashmir by the sun worshipping ancestors of the
1. IABH. p. p. 160. 2. SMIK. D 6.
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