Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/444

 59 a DRAVIDIAN STYLE. BOOK III. restored. The temple itself certainly owes all its magnificence to Tirumalai Nayyak, A.D. 1623-1659, or to his elder brother, Muttu Virappa, who preceded him, and who built the Minakshi Nayyak mantapam, said to be the oldest thing now existing, outside the shrines. The Kalyana mantapam is said to have been built in A.D. 1707, and the Tatta Suddhi in 1770. These, however, are insignificant parts compared with those which owe their origin to Tirumalai Nayyak. The temple itself is a nearly regular rectangle, two of its sides measuring 720 ft. and 729 ft, the other two 834 ft. and 852 ft. It possessed four gopurams of the first class (I. II. III. IV.), and six smaller ones (VI. to XI.) ; a very beautiful tank (L), surrounded by arcades ; and a hall of 1000 columns (Q), whose sculptures surpass those of any other hall of its class I am acquainted with. There is a small shrine (J), dedicated to the god Sabhapati, which occupies the space of fifteen columns, so the real number is only 985 ; but it is not their number but their marvellous elaboration that makes it the wonder of the place, and renders it, in some respects, more remarkable than the chaultri about which so much has been said and written. I do not feel sure that this hall alone is not a greater work than the chaultri ; taken in conjunction with the other buildings of the temple, it certainly forms a far more imposing group. TlNNEVELLY. Though neither among the largest nor the most splendid temples of southern India, that at Tinnevelly will serve to give a good general idea of the arrangement of these edifices, and has the advantage of having been built on one plan, and at one time, without subsequent alteration or change. Like the little cell in the Tiruvalur temple (Woodcut No. 216), it has the singularity of being a double temple, the great square being divided into equal portions, of which the north one is dedicated to the god Siva, the south half to his consort Parvati. The following plan (Woodcut No. 230) represents one of the halves, Minakshidevi ; C Small shrine of Ganeia, and D of Subrahmanya ; E Vedi or Altar ; F Nandi Pavilion ; G Javandi^vara man- tapam ; H Navagraha or nine planets ; I Large Gane^a ; JJ Shrines of Natejvar ; K Poet's College; L Tank of Golden Lillies ; M Mudali Pillai mantapam ; O Ashta Lakshmi hall ; P 16 pillar man- tapam ; Q Thousand pillar mantapam ; R Viravasantaraya mantapam ; S Katyana tapam ; U Lingam ; V Tiruvachi Gopu- ram ; W Chitra mantapam ; Y Ellam- vatta-siddha; Z Madura Nayyak temple; I, II, III, IV, Four outer Gopurams; VI, VIII, IX, Three Gopurams of the second Prakaram; X, XI, Gates to the Minakshi prakaram ; VII, Gate between the temples ; XII, Ashta-Sakti mantapam ; The plan is reduced from one in Francis's ' Madura Gazetteer,' Sundara mantapam ; T Servaikaran man- i vol. i.