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34
MAULIK HAJARNIS
SAMBODHI-PURĀTATTVA
temple is lost still it can be presumed that it must be a typical Solanki style-porch with a pyramidal roof.
Climate responsiveness in the design of the Sivālaya
The temple is built along the East-West axis. Hence the walls along the entire length of the temple are facing the North direction on one side and the South direction on the other. Only a small portion of the walls face the sun on the East and West. Even the double layer section of the roof of the Mandapa, acts as an insulator and keeps the hall underneath comparatively cooler. Thick wall sections of the garbhagrha also help to reduce the heat-penetration inside. The ornamentation of the structure constantly acts as a sun breaking device. The intricate ornamentation of the Mandovara, Saṁvarņā and the Sikhara (now lost) creates shadows and the surface partially remains shaded all the time.
*PIC
Architectural Treatment of the temple The horizontal areas of the temple include the Garbhagrha (the Sanctum)
-the Antarāla (the Vestibule) -the Mandapa (the Hall)
-the Srngār Cowki (the entrance porch) which is now lost completely. The vertical areas of the temple include the Pītha (the plinth)
-the Mandovara (the exterior wall of the garbhagrha) -the Vedikā (the railing or the short wall of the mandapa)
-the Sikhara (the superstructure of the garbhagrha)
-the Samvarnā (the superstructure of the mandapa) Now we will study each of them in detail, as follows:
Garbhagrha (the Sanctum)
The garbha-grha is 3.3 mts. square inside and its floor is somewhat lower than that of sabhā-mandapa. Sankalia has compared Galateśvara with the Ambaranātha temple at Mumbai which has an 'Astabhadrī' plan, wherein the floor of the shrine is lower than that of the Sabhā-Mandapa and the arrangement of a flight of steps lead to the Linga of the temple. Sankalia had observed the Galateśvara temple as of the Caulukyan Style on the basis of the 8 Dikpālas of the Mandovara and its iconographical features. Outside, walls of the shrine are given numerous
