The
temple in Outer Saraj is a good example. Here the roof is covered with enormous tiles and
the roof ridge consists often of a single large trunk of a tree the two ends of which are
carved into a monster's or an animal or a crocodile head. This style of a temple is also
the pattern in many of the affluent residential buildings. There is hardly anything to
distinguish between a secular building and a temple building. The third type has been categorized as the Chalet
type. Penelope Chetwode artistically but rather effectively wants one to black out
mentally the tower of the second type temple, place the top Storey on the ground and the
Chalet style temple emerges. This type of temples is to be seen all over the Northern
Himalaya and this is the type, which is patronized now.
The building rest on a broad wooden verandah
with a roof supported by occasional carved pillars and the whole platform has railings and
stands on wooden posts. The Durga temple outside Sarahan, below the Bashleo Pass in Outer
Saraj is an example. There are several such temples including the one of Nar Singh at
Nagar village.
The pagoda style temple is the fourth type and
it really means a building with a succession of superimposed-pent roof, each one a little
smaller than the one below it. The bottom Storey is usually of stone bonded by strong
timber but the remainder of the building is mainly of wood. The eaves are
coveredoccasionally with tiles of stone. The temple of Tripura Sundari at Nagar is a
typical example. |