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44
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
appears of his hair under the hood, which is one with the robe, is curly. His features are by no means Ethiopian. The attitude is easy and his tout ensemble, when compared with his bedecked and bejewelled companions-the gods, pleasingly simple. A peculiarity, observable both in this and the lower frieze where underdelineations of the same figure are to be found, is-that he is always in attendance upon, or attended by, a perfectly nude woman, whose only covering is a few snakes? She wears sandals of uncommon pattern, and has large earrings. Her hair is curly but her features by no means of the negro type. The fact that her companion wears a hood would support the idea that he was an inhabitant of a cold climate, but her want of dress and being entwined by snakes would lead one to think she was some unknown goddess or religious devotee. All enquiries from natives and search among authorities fail to show by what right or title these figures take a place among the gods.
The building was originally protected by curtains of cloth hung all round. These have long ago disappeared, but the carvings have in no way suffered by the atmosphere; and if they had not been wilfully mutilated, would have been as clear and perfect as the day they were finished.
In front of each of the eastern doors and under porticos supported by massive, beautifully turned stone pillars, are splendid specimens of Shiva's vehicle-the Bull. The larger is opposite the upper door, and like its companion, is represented in a lying position watching its master's emblem-the Linga. They are each carved out of a single block of stone. So natural is the position, and so well proportioned the parts, that one does not fully realize the size until the dimensions are examined. The larger, formed of stone similar to that employed in the construction of the temple, is sixteen feet long, ten feet high, and seven broad. The stone used for the other bull is finer and admits of a marble polish. "It seems, also, to be potstone or perhaps a talc impregnated with hornblende, and contains small irregular veins of a green shining matter. Its general colour is black with a greenish tinge."*
The general effect of the inside of the temple is somewhat marred by pillars, which evidently
[FEB. 2, 1872.
formed no part of the original plan, and which were subsequently erected to prop up some cross beams where the stone has unfortunately cracked. Judging from these pillars, as compared with the original ones, it is clear that architecture, so far as finish is concerned, had already deteriorated. If proof were wanting that the Department of Public Works of to-day either wants the means or skill to produce works equal to those of former ages, we have only to turn to the pillar recently erected by that department. It is a single slab of undressed granite which ekes out its length and strength in a rough bed of brick and chunam. The walls inside are covered with inscriptions, in old Kánadá, comemorating donations given at various times by different persons.
Jakanácharya is the reputed architect of this magnificent building, but he is also credited with having built all the temples, similar in style, throughout the district. The number of these is so great, that even if we allow him the lakh of masons tradition says he always employed-it would be difficult to believe he could have superintended the building of all. A man of the same name is said to have built the temples at Madurá. Jakanácharya was a prince who, having accidently killed a Brahman, employed twenty years of life, with the hope of washing away this great sin, in rebuilding temples between Kási and Rameshwara (Cape Comorin),-so says tradition. The engineers of the Belála kings did not confine their attention to building alone, but irrigation works were also taken in hand. Tradition has it that the waters of the Yagachi, which flows through a valley distant 10 miles and divided by a range of hills from the Halabid Valley, were brought by a channel to supply the capital with water and fill the neighbouring tanks: a deep cutting on the HasanBailur road at the 16th mile, marks the spot where the channel crossed the saddle of the hills.
It is difficult, when looking at this fine temple, to believe that the builders of the neighbouring mud huts are the descendants of the great masons whose brains planned, and whose hands fashioned, this monument of their skill and taste. What has become of them, and where have they gone, are questions which, though hard to answer, are none the less interesting, and may well form the subject of antiquarian research.
• Buchanan's Journey, vol. III. page 392.-Ed.
