The pagoda style of temples is the rarest of the four types of the temples in
this complex as mentioned. This is naturally so as the more obvious style to be adopted
would be the Chalet-style which is a close imitation to the residential buildings.The temples of any region originate from a number of factors.
Firstly there should be a degree of affluence in individuals or possibly the existence of
a rich ruling dynasty, which make large temples possible.
This has been the case in the South or
Orissa. The Emperor Shah Jahan exhausted the treasury by building the Taj at Agra. Bengal,
which seldom had a very strong and centralized ruling dynasty, never had either the very
rich man to make rich temple endowments like those in the South. Another factor will
naturally be the availability of materials to build temples with.
In Bengal where stones are rare we get
temples built of brick and mud, some with stone and mud and even we findwonderful
specimens of artisanship in mud-temples. The temples in South, Orissa and Bihar are great
examples of stone edifices. In Himachal Pradesh stone and wood are both available in
plenty and naturally we get timber-bonded stone religious shrines. But these shrines were
never as towering as the temples of Orissa or those in the South. |