Conjeeveram, Kailasanath Temple, enclosure wall and temple.
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Photographer: Arthur Llewellyn Basham
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In this detail we see the corner of the screen at the entrance gate to the temple grounds, the enclosure wall, and the top of the main shrine itself. A high is reached in this temple and its grounds in terms of architectural complexity and in terms of the development of the Pallava style. In quality, the temple may be somewhat below that of the Shore Temple at Mahabalipuram
however, the greater importance of the Kailasanath lies in its influence, not its refinement. As mentioned above, two other Kailasanaths follow this one and make extensive use of its groundplan and overall proportions. Turning our attention first to the screen at the entrance, we notice that the columns forming the niches are not simply shafts surmounted by decorative capitals, but lion-bodied columns acting like royal guardians for the figure within the niche. This is in keeping with the trend to integrate figural motifs into the roles once played only by purely decorational or semi-organic elements. Floral ornaments are relegated to frames about the niches or across the lintels
they serve a better function as borders than their previous roles as scattered accents, not clearly defined in borders. The body of the enclosure wall is undecorated, but longitudinally beyond the gate are chaitya-type structures forming towers along the wall which are exuberantly decorated.
however, the greater importance of the Kailasanath lies in its influence, not its refinement. As mentioned above, two other Kailasanaths follow this one and make extensive use of its groundplan and overall proportions. Turning our attention first to the screen at the entrance, we notice that the columns forming the niches are not simply shafts surmounted by decorative capitals, but lion-bodied columns acting like royal guardians for the figure within the niche. This is in keeping with the trend to integrate figural motifs into the roles once played only by purely decorational or semi-organic elements. Floral ornaments are relegated to frames about the niches or across the lintels
they serve a better function as borders than their previous roles as scattered accents, not clearly defined in borders. The body of the enclosure wall is undecorated, but longitudinally beyond the gate are chaitya-type structures forming towers along the wall which are exuberantly decorated.
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Archives Series
Basham Collection
Date created
circa 1970s
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This item is provided for research purposes. Contact the Australian National University Archives at butlin.archives@anu.edu.au for permission to use.
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