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152 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[SEPTEMBER, 1916 =
It was but natural that Madura attracted the lion's share of the king's attention and the major portion of his endowments. Want of space makes a detailed survey of the various works of Tirumala impossible. We shall mention the most important and interesting ones, and describe them for the intrinsic interest they possess. First of all should be mentioned the teppakulam of Minakshis0 which, it is recorded, absorbed a lakh of pons. The story is that, when it was excavated, an image of Ganeía, the destroyer of all obstacles, was discovered. No better thing could have happened, no more auspicious circumstance, in the opinion of mankind. The god was given a temple worthy of his greatness and his grace. It stands, in the western bank of the golden lily tank, in Minakshi's shrine. The tank itself is a noble square of 1,200 yards. Its sides are faced with granite, and surmounted by a granite para pet wall, broken here and there by flights of steps, and a dorned here and there with life-like portraits of gods, their vehicles, etc. Inside the parapet is a paved gallery, running round the whole reservoir and affording a cool and pleasant ground for an evening walk. Just in the centre of the reservoir is a square island, walled on all sides, and having in its midst, a beautiful grove and fine edifice with a lofty dome rising from the centre of it. The whole presents to the spectator a remarkably fine and picturesque appearance. With its granite façade, its lofty dome, its tiny pretty towers rising from the corners and angles of its walls, it possesses a singular and elegant grace which no similar structure in South India can boast. A small contribution of two pence will enable the curious traveller to cross in a small raft intended for the purpose, to the island. He will then see in the midst of the palm and mango grove, which fills and cools the atmosphere, a small manrapa with 36 plain pillars, the central part of which is in a higher level than the remaining portion, as it is there that the idol is seated during the floating festival. At the four corners of the raised platform are seen fine statues of Tirumal Naik and his queens. It is over this platform that the dome abovementioned rises. The traveller can ascend to its very top by the wooden and brick stair cases which lead to it through four narrowing floors. As he ascends, he will notice how in the construction of the edifice the Hindu and Saracenic arts are combined together, how the arches are in curious combination with tiny miniature gopuras and curious conventional figures and ornamentations worked, as in the palace, in fine stucco. The parapet. walls around the summit of the dome consist chiefly of these tiny gopuras and figures, and beyond them, can be had a most engaging and charming view of the country around. Gardens and groves intercepted here and there by stray bungalows and winding roads meet the eye. To the north is seen, only a few yards off, on the other side of a few bungalows, the dry and sandy Vaigai, with its central meagre artificial watercourse, and miles off the summits of distant hills. Towards the south, the spectator can see the terraces of houses of neighbouring hamlets, with their fields and pasture grounds, fringed in the distance by the sacred rock of Tirupparankunsam. To the west hg turns and has a distant view, and hears the dim noise of busy Madura. He will see the rollicking jatka taking people from and to the noble city. He will see the pious pedestrians coming to take their plunge in the reddish coloured waters beneath him. He will see the four majestic towers of the Minâkshi and Sundarêývara shrines rising, in bold and clear outline, over the coco anut groves that separate him for over a mile from them. He will also see the domes and towers of the
80 See Fergusson's History of Indian architecture. Fergusson's Picturesque illustrations of Ind. Architecture; J. R. A. 8., Vol. III.
