Temples & Legends of Himachal Pradesh
Major Sections
Temples & Legends Of India

CHAMBA

Two richly carved cornice boards,however, again frame the whole gable triangle. Finally, attention may be drawn to the winged dragons rampant which adorn the upper corners of the doorway.The interior of the temple is much simpler. The pillars (thamb, Sanskrit stambha) of the mandapa are plain quadrangular wooden posts up to about two-thirds of their height. Then a broad and two small ringbands decorated with kirtimukha masks, flowers and string- courses, then a capping covered with lotus petals, and at last a simple pot-and-foliage capital and Rower decorated abacus follow.

The sridhara brackets above aredecorated with a central piece (on top of the capital) representing some Hindu god with his vahana sitting in a niche formed by two miniature columns and a round arch rising frorn the snouts of two makaras.The lateral pieces, only slightly rounded off at the lower edge of the end, have relief of flying minor deities, and, on the level of the arch, a decorative frieze ending in a scroll.

The ceiling is of the lantern type so common in India. By covering each corner with a triangular slab extending from the centre of one side to that of the next, the square of the ceiling is reduced to a smaller diagonally placed square; which is again reduced by the same procedure until the central opening has become small enough to be covered with a single slab. These slabs are all richly carved with ornaments, geometrical borders along the edges, and flower, kirtimukha and makara motifs in the centre of the triangles. The central slab finally is filled by an immense lotus rosette, the various rows of petals of which are partly treated in a naturalistic manner, partly dissolve into various other ornaments.

 

 

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About Chamba
Introduction
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