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20
The Structural Temples of Gujarat
The protohistoric and the early historic periods mark a
primitive stage in the history of architecture. It is charactrised
by architectural attempts in impermanent materials like earth,
stucco, bamboo, and timber. The fire altars (yajna vedis)
of this age must have been like simple platforms made of
Ku艣a grass and mud and the yajna 艣膩l膩 must be a thatched
hut. Dr. Radhakamala Mukerji in his "Social function of Art"
traces the evolution of temple construction to the original
shape of a hut. He says, "The temple rises skyward like a
thatched conical hut of the Indian peasant, but since the
temple is the abode of god it is capped by the fruit amalaka,
or inverted petals of the lotus flower, or the inverted water-
jar." It is clear that the shapes of the structures, originally,
were round i. e. at first those of circular plan predominated.
At a later date in the evolution of vedic hut the circular
plan was elongated into an oval. And during the period of the
composition of the Sulva sutras, Taitiriya Samhit膩, Baudh膩yana
and Apastamba S奴tra 5 the vedis took the diverse artistic shapes
and forms which ultimately lead us to believe that this sacred
ritual edifice (vedi) was the earlier ancestar to all later temples
which were perhaps made of bamboo, reads, mats and muds.
It is interesting to note that the principal shapes, prescribed
for the ground plan of temples in the Canonical literature of
architecture figures among those prescribed in the Sulva s奴tra's
for the ground plan of the Yajna Vedi (altar ).
Dr. P. K. Acharya also accepts the probability of the
beginning of temple building under the circumstances noted
above. This was the thatched period of Indian Architecture,
3. Dr. Radha Kumuda Mukerji. "Social Function of Art."
p. 320.
4. For details cf: Percy Brown. Indian Architecture ( Buddhist
and Hindu period) Ch. I. P. 3.
5. c. 800. B. C.
6. Dr. P. K. Acharya, The cultural Heritage of India pt. II p. 253