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MONUMENTS & SCULPTURE A.D. 600 TO 1000
[PART IV
Kubera, Gaja-Laksmi, Vayu, etc. Above the ornate kapota of the vedi-bandha occur dik-palas, in niches surmounted by bold udgamas. The jangha terminates with a frieze of lotus-scrolls and supports the varandika comprising a recess between two kapotas, capped by a chadya. The bhadras of the sanctum are articulated by highly artistic grilled balconied windows standing on the usual mouldings of rajasenaka, vedikā, and asana-patta and cantoned by a pair of handsome square pilasters, tastefully decorated with lotuses, ghata-pallavas, kirtti-mukhas and scroll-designs and crowned by taranga-brackets. The grills of the balconied windows show a variety of pleasing patterns (plate 75).
The Sikhara above the sanctum is not original and is substituted by a later one of the Maru-Gurjara style of the eleventh century, characterized by three rows of urah-irrigas and minor frigas showing developed karnas.
The gudha-mand apa comprises only two elements on plan, viz. bhadra and karṇa, and shares the mouldings and decorations of the sanctum up to the varandika. Its jangha-façade is ornamented with figures of Yaksas, and Yaksis, and Vidya-devis. The front karna harbours figures of Sarasvati and Pārsva-Yaksa on the left and Acchuptā and Apraticakra on the right.
The roof of the gudha-mandapa is a three-tiered phansand of remarkable beauty. The first tier starts with a rupa-kantha decorated with dancing figures of Vidyadharas and Gandharvas, followed by chadya and a recess carved with chequer-pattern. The four corners of the first tier are mounted by a graceful Sriga, while the bhadras project a rathika, containing figures of Kubera on the west and an unidentified Yakşa on the east. The second tier shows a simhakarna-design flanked on either side by half its replica. The four corners of this tier are decorated with beautiful karna-kutas. The last or the third tier has a simhakarna in the middle of each side crowned by a shapely bell-finial.
The Sikhara over the trika-mandapa is of two-tiered phänsana type matching with that of the gudha-mandapa and shows three panels of simhakarna on each side. The shakarna on the north harbours figures of the Mahavidyas-Gauri, Vairotya and Manasi. The western phansand shows on the north face figures of Yakşi, Cakreśvari, Mahavidya Mahākāli and Väg-devi. The west face harbours Mahavidya Manavi, flanked on either side by a Yaksi.
The two-tiered phansana-roof of the entrance-porch is capped by a ghania. The three panels of its pediments on each side harbour figures of divinities, the
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