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(ii) The Different Forms Of The Sikhara And The Classification Of Temples. The early works like Brahatsamhita and Agni Purana, give the classification of temples on the norms of proportional measure and are silent about the distinct styles and about their geographical distribution or racial origin. However, in temple architecture one type of structure is distinguished and differentiated from other types mainly by the shape of the Sikhara. By the shape of the Sikhara we have to understand the inner shape that is to say the original shape at horizontal section. The curvilinear lines are developed on the outer face in a later day construction. Thus the curvilinear and bulging aspect has no functional side and is chiefly ornamental in design i. e. it is a subsidiary feature built into the square Sikhara as a matter of ornamentation in the course of the development of temple architecture. And so the shape of the horizontal section of the Sikhara has become a determining factor in the classification of styles of temple architecture. Taking the shape of the Sikhara as the fundamental basis of classification, nearly all the ancient Indian writers and authorities have laid down the three main styles of temple architetcure known as 'Nagara' 'Dravida' and 'Vesara'. If the shape of 1. IABH p. p. 75

The Component Parts of the Full-Fledged Temple 33 the Sikhara is square (Yugasra)'10 the temple is said to belong to the Nagara class, if circular (Vrtamaka), to the Vesara class if facetted (Saduragasra) (i. e. hexagonal or octagonal) to the Dravida class. Thus Nagara shrine has a square Sikhara i. e. it will be a pyramid on a square base, ending in a point. The square is the fundamental shape. The octagonal and circular shapes are derivation from the fundamental square. Thus, it is clear that Nagara which is square structure from bottom to head i. e. completely square in the shape of its body and head, has a pure form while those of Dravida and Vesara admit of mixture of shape in respect of the body and head. The 'Tantrasamuccaya' a well known treaty of the Southern school of architecture, has clearly accepted the fundamental basis of classification of the styles of temples on the shape of 10. Narrated in Manasara, Mayamata, Tantrasamuccaya, Isangurudeva paddhati, Kamikagama, Silpratna, Samarangana Sutradhara, Aparajitapraccha etc. + Nagaram caturasram Syadastasram Dravidam Tatha | Vrtam Ca Vesaram Prokatam......(vide Manasara LIII. 53-54) Aparajitapraccha, a work of 13 th century at the latest, mentions the six styles-nagara, dravida, vyantara, vesara, kalimga and yamuna instead of the three styles Further, it mentions as many as fourteen varieties of as under :- (1) nagara ( 2 ) dravida ( 3 ) latina (4) varata ( 5 ) vimana ( 6 ) sandhara ( 7 ) vimana - nagara ( 8 ) misraka (9) bhumija ( 10 ) vimana - puspaka ( 11 ) valabhi ( 12 ) simhavalokana ( 13 ) daruja ( 14 ) napumsaka Samarangana Sutradhara, a work of 11 th century, treats all the above mentioned first eight varieties.

34 The Structural Temples of Gujarat the Sikhara. The Stanza 11 which defines the three styles 'Nagara' Dravida and 'Vesara' is as follows:- "That temple is known as Nagara which is made square from the mula (basement) to the Sikhara (head) (both inclusive), that is Dravida which is made distinctly-hexagonal or octagonal from above the griva (neck) to the end of the Sikhara (head); that is vesara which exhibits a circular shape either from the basement (Mula) or the neck (gala). One may construct, according to one's liking, one from among those whose features have been particularly prescribed.12 Shri P. A. Mankada has elaborately treated the subject of geographical distribution of the three styles. He says: "Documentary evidence as gathered from Vastu Sastras points irresistibly to the fact that India was divided geographically as well as politically into three main divisions as under: Northern most division extended from the Himalayas to the Vindhya ranges. The middle zone comprised of a tract of country lying between the Vindhya ranges and the Godavari on the one side and Krsna on the other, and the Southern most zone extended from the Krsna to Capecomorin the Southern extrimity of India These zones were known as nagara, vesara, dravida respectively. The nagara division included all those people whose mother tongue is Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Maghadhi, Bengali etc.; with Sanskrit, 11. Tantrasamuccaya (N. V. Mallaya), Part I, Patala II, St. 71 "Muladya Sikharam Yugasraracitam geham Smrtam Nagaram Grivadya Sikharakriyam Saduragasro-debhaditam Dravidam Muladya Galatoathava Parilasad vritatmakam Vesaram Tesvekam Prithagattalaksmsu vidadhyadatmanah Sammatam. 12. This definition with slight variation has been adopted by Sri Kumara, another author of Southern India, in his Silparatna (Silparatna, T. S. S. ed. pt. I, Patala XVI) 搂 Aparajitapriccha Int. p. XXXIII-XXXIV

The Component Parts of the Full-Fledged Temple 35 Nagari and Deva-nagari, as their scripts. The country known as was the original home of these races. They, agreeably to the exegencies of the times, spread over at different times. in history and in different batches small or great into Gujarat, Malva, Lata and on the South and c, , etc. on the included in its east. Similarly, the middle zone known as boundaries the etc. The people of this zone speak a and the last and the Southern most division includes the Tamil speaking races. Kerala forms a part of this. The Dravidian territory includes the northern half of Ceylon and extends northward up to an irregular line drawn from a point on the Arabian Sea about 1000 miles south of Goa along the Western Ghata as far as Kolhapur, then north east through Hydrabad and further east words to the Bay of Bengal. The old or Telugu country covers about 8000 Sq. miles and is bounded on the east by the Bay of Bengal, on the north by the River Godavari and on the South by the Krsna (Preface of Dr. Burnett, Catlogue or Telugu works.) 13 All the available texts are agreed on the point that the Nagara style was prevalent in the region between the Himalays and Vindhyas (Nagarasya Smtito desah Himavad-Vindhyamadhyagah-Isangurudevapaddhati, Silparatna etc.. Similar statement is also seen in Kasyapasilpa and Kamikagama) while Aparajitapraccha confines the Nagari (Nagara) style to Madhyadesa and further mentions Lati and Vairati (evidently the styles prevailed in Lata and Virata (Varada) regions) as separate styles (Nagari Madhyadesa tu Lati Lata prakirtitaAPPR ) These Lati and Vairati may be considered as remifications of the Nagara style. But, it is noteworthy that these styles are not exclusively confined to any region or race as all the styles are found more or less in all parts of the country. Nearly all the texts or canons 13. Aparajitapriccha Int. p. XXXIII

36 The Structural Temples of Gujarat of architecture have given importance to the shape of the Sikhara while classifying the styles of the temples. The regional or geographical distribution or racial origin is secondary; the primary one is the shape of the temple. Similarly the origin of a particular architectural form cannot be definitely ascribed to any religious sect. Thus it is a misnomer to designate any type of a temple architecture as specifically Buddhist, Jain or Brhmanical. The Nagara style of temple architecture, for instance, applies not only to Siva and Visnu temples, but also to Jain temples as well, as is evident from the various Jain temples of Rajsthana and Gujarat. The Nagara style is represented in modern terms as the North Indian or Indo-Aryan style, while the Dravida style is now known as the Dravidian or South Indian style. The Vesara style is not much accepted as a distinct style in modern works on Indian architecture. Some of the scholars of Indian architecture are of opinion that the Vesara style was prevalent in South and the temples belonging to that style were built by the later Calukyas in the Kanarese Districts, and by Hoysala dynasty in Mysore. 14 The architectural monuments of temples in Gujarat generally belong to the Nagara style. The two distinct prominent features of the Nagara style are revealed one in planning and the other in elevation. 1. In plan it is always a square with a number or offsets or lateral projections in the middle of each side, which give it the shape almost of cruciform. 2. In elevation it exhibits a higher tower (Sikhara) gradually inwards in a convex curve, for we have the term 'Sukanasa Sikhara' ( i. e. the Sikhara which is curved like the parrot's beak) in the Puranas. 14. Vide H. T. p. 291

The Component Parts of the Full-Fledged Temple 37 The Nagara style has exhibited distinct varieties and remifications in different localities conditioned not only by local factors but also by the different lines of evolution and elaboration that each locality choose for itself. But inspite of elaborations and modifications in different localities, the two distinct prominent features i. e. cruciform plan and curvilinear tower have been maintained thoroughly. Apart from the two distinct features of the Nagara temple, other various features which give the elaboration to it are multifarious; and so in the Nagara School of architecture along with the shapes of ground plans and elevations of structures these other features are also taken into account as differentiating features, giving rise to many fold divisions or classification of temples. These are the measures of height of their basements (Pithodayamana), the measurements of doorways (Dvaramana ), the ornamentations and other constructive specialities in the nature of Sikhara and their Rekha, mouldings ( Kantakas) etc. According to writers of the Southern school i. e. the Dravinian school of Architecture, the quadrangularity of the ground plan is the determinant of the Nagara style while hexagonality is that of the Dravida school, But this restriction to the form of the ground plan is not accepted by writers of the Northern i. e. Indo Aryan or Nagara school, for facility of construction, however, all the forms of the ground plan are reduced to five shapes only, viz., Vairajya. (Square), Puspaka (rectangular), Kailasa ( Circular) Manika (ellipsoidal ) and Trivistapa (octagonal). The Dravidian structures have the same five fold forms of the ground plan.1 15 So it is clear that it is not the general ground plan of the temples and their forms alone that determine these styles. There are many other factors which differentiate the one style from the other. These factors, according to Aparajitapraccha, a 15. Aparajitapriccha Int. p. XL

38 The Structural Temples of Gujarat famous work of the Nagara or Northern or Indo Aryan style, are Ksetra (Plan of a site ), Talacchanda (internal as well as external arrangement in the ground plan), urdhavacchanda (arrangement in parts in elevation), Pitha (basement), Dvaramana (measures of doorways), Prasadodayamana (measures of heights of temples), Mandovara (walls of garbha griha), Sikhara (Spire), Kalasa (Finial), Rekha (profile of a spire), ornaments, Kantaka (mouldings), Bathos, Talamana etc. 16