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Doris Chatham
Nirgrantha
1/1. Under a banded roll-bracket, the upper half is divided into three sections, consisting of the capital (1), a band of decorative carving 3/4, and a plain 16sided cylinder (1/2); and the square lower half is also divided into three sections, but in reverse order : a rich band of carving at the top (1/2), a plain central section (3/4), and a base of mouldings (1). The third type of pillar (the Brahmakānta of the Dravidian tradition) in the Lankeśvara cave is a simple, square shaft on a moulded, square plinth, with a double band of carving taking up its upper third quarter, above which it slopes into a neck (lasuna) over which rises a square cushion-capital, ghata); on each face, above the carved band, is a central candraśālā motif. This last type is not only the least ornately carved, but it is also the simplest, most unified in form. It is the one chosen to back the various high-relief images of Śiva which line the outer aisle, or gallery, on the south side. Each of these three types of pillars found in the Lańkeśvara temple has its counterpart in the main hall, or upper storey, of the Indra Sabhā temple (Cave 32, (Plate 7). The first noticeable difference is a change in scale : the pillars of the Indra Sabhā, though still massive, are taller and slimmer in proportion, with wider intercolumniation. In type number one, the upper fluted cylinder, including the capital, is taller in proportion, relating to the central pürnaghata section as 1 to 2/3 (rather than 1 to 3/4, as at Lańkeśvara) and to the lower section, including plinth, as 9 to 8 (as opposed to the ratio of 4 to 5). This increase in the height of the upper heavily ornate parts over the plain base, shifts the centre of balance lower, but also, a subtle change in the shape of the capital creates a counter dynamic. The neck section, below the cushion, is extended into a higher, more sharply receding funnel, and the cushion itself is no longer vertically symmetrical, but has a wider upper section, sloping down to the horizontal band, which divides the Lankeśvara cushion cave appears to exert pressure to flatten the capital, that of the Indra Sabhā is buoyed up by the upward thrust of the pillar which springs to meet it. The greater constriction of the neck and of the abacus also creates a sharper profile for the upper section, which produces a more pronounced contrast between it and the bulky lower part. Aside from these rather significant changes in proportion, the pillar follows its prototype in detail to a remarkable degree. Although the transitional funnel-section is not so extended, another example of this type in the cave attached to the southwest corner of the Indra Sabhā main hall16 (Plate 8) exhibits a neck-constriction exaggerated to the point of a mannerism, indicating the probability that this cave, from which one may gain access through a passage to the Jagannātha Sabhā cave on the West, is slightly later than the Indra Sabhā mandapa. The second type of pillar retains the basic design of its prototype, a 16-sided upper part, including capital and banded shaft, and a heavy square base with a decorated band at its top. The proportions are, however, even more noticeably
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