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The Ground Plan of the Maņdapa
375
(c) The maņdapa having 20 pillars, 8 forming the central octagon and the rest surrounding them, is known as “ Padmasimha' in canons.37 The maņdapa of the Navalakhā temple at Sejakpur is the example of this type.
(d) The maņdapa of the Siddheśvara temple at Visavada illustrates one more variety. It has 24 pillars, 12 being in the usual position as found in Şubhadra type (narrated in (a) but instead of out side projection (as we see in subvariety (b), it has two projections on its both sides; constituting an addition of 6 pillars on each side. The variety illustrated by this temple is known as Sūryātmaka in canons. 38
(e) The maņdapa having 32 pillars 8 forming the central octagon and the rest surrounding them is known as Bhūjaya ‘in the canons, 39 The maņdapa of the Neminatha temple at Girnar illustrates this variety.
(f) The maņdapa of the Taranga temple has 28 pillars. In canons this variety is known as Vimānabhadra..40 The Sabhāmaņdapa of the Modhera temple consists of 28 pillars, but its architectural form does not tally with the Vimānabhadra variety. If the frontal 8 pillars, 2 being on each direction, are substracted from the 28 pillars of the Sabhāmaņdapa the remaining 20 will form the Padamsiņha variety described above.
(g) The mandapa of the old Somanātha temple (extinct ) of Prabhas, had 48 pillars. It was of Srivatsa variety prescribed by canons.41
From the view point of the variety of the mandapas that the extant temples-pre-Caulukyan as well as Caulukyan-have, it will be realised that the varieties like Subhadra, Simha,
37. Ibid.. CLXXXVIII, 14. 38. APPR. CLXXXVII, 16, 25. 39. APPR, CLXXXVI, 3, 10. 40. Ibid, 3. 9. 41. APPR. CLXXVI, 2, 14.
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