Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/427

 CHAP. IV. CHIDAMBARAM. 375 on a stylobate, ornamented with dancing figures, more graceful and more elegantly executed than any others of their class, so Sca/e of Fe-t 260 ft. to i in. 220. Plan of Temple of Chidambaram. (From a Plan by Admiral Paris, in ' Tour du Monde,' vol. xvi. p. 35.) far as I know, in southern India. At the sides are wheels and horses, the whole being intended to represent a car, as is frequently the case in these temples. Whitewash and modern alterations have sadly disfigured this gem, but enough remains to show how exquisite, and consequently how ancient, it was. It is the Nritya or Nritta Sabha, the hall of the dance, in allusion, probably, to the circumstance above mentioned as