211. Entrance through Gopura at Tarputry. (From a Photograph.)
212. Portion of Gopura at Tarputry. (From a Photograph.)
better taste, than anything else in this style (Woodcuts Nos. [211], [212]). It is difficult of course to institute a comparison between these gopuras and such works as Tirumulla Nayak’s choultrie, or the corridors at Ramisseram; they are so different that there is no common basis of comparison but the vulgar one of cost; but if compared with Hullabîd or Baillûr, these Tarputry gopuras stand that test better than any other works of the Vijayanagar Rajas. They are inferior, but not so much so as one would expect from the two centuries of decadence that elapsed between them, and they certainly show a marked superiority over the great unfinished gopura of Tirumulla Nayak, which was commenced, as nearly as may be, one century afterwards.
About fifty miles still further east, at a place called Diggu Hublum, there is a large unfinished mantapa, in plan and design very like that of the temple of Vitoba at Vijayanagar, but its style and details are so much more like those of the Nayaks, that it must be at least a century more modern, and could not therefore have been erected before the destruction of that capital in A.D. 1565. The dynasty, however, continued to exist for one or two centuries after that time, till the country was finally conquered by Tipu Sultan. It must have been by one of the expatriated rajas that this temple was erected, but by whom even tradition is silent. Whoever may have built it, it is a fine bold specimen of architecture, and if the history of the art in the south of India is ever seriously taken up, it will worthily take a place in the series as one of the best specimens of its age, wanting the delicacy and elegance of the earlier examples, but full of character and merit.[397]
Conclusion.
The buildings mentioned, and more or less perfectly described, in the preceding pages are in number rather more than one-third of the great Dravidian temples known to exist in the province. In importance and extent they certainly are, however, more than one-half. Of the remainder, none have vimanas, like that of Tanjore, nor corridors, like those of Ramisseram; but several have gopuras quite equal to or exceeding those mentioned above, and many have mantapas of great beauty and extent. Several—such as Avadea Covill, Veeringepuram, Taramungulam, and others—possess features unsurpassed by any in the south, especially the first-named, which may, perhaps, be considered as one of the most elegant of its class, as well as one of the oldest. It would, however, be only tedious to attempt to describe them without plans to refer to, or more extensive illustrations than are compatible with a work of this class. They are, however, worthy of more attention than has been paid to them, and of more complete illustration than has hitherto been bestowed upon them. Taken altogether, they certainly do form as extensive, and in some respects as remarkable, a group of buildings as are to be found in provinces of similar extent in any part of the world—Egypt, perhaps, alone excepted; but they equal even the Egyptian in extent, and though at first sight so different, in some respects present similarities which are startling. Without attempting to enumerate the whole, it may be mentioned that the gopuras, both in form and purpose, resemble the pylons of the Egyptian temples. The courts with pillars and cloisters are common to both, and very similar in arrangement and extent. The great mantapas and halls of 1000 columns reproduce the hypostyle halls, both in purpose and effect, with almost minute accuracy. The absence of any central tower or vimana over the sanctuary is universal in Egypt, and only conspicuously violated in one instance in India. Their mode of aggregation, and the amount of labour bestowed upon them for labour’s sake, is only too characteristic of both styles. There are, besides, many similarities that will occur to any one familiar with both styles.