| Temples & Legends Of Tamilnadu |
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| Temples & Legends Of India |
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MADURAI |
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| The ground
plan of the temple gives a clear idea of its lay-out. It shows that the proper entrance to
the temple was via the Rayagopuram and the Pudumandapam through the eastern tower,
as in all Hindu temples. In this temp however, owing to a superstition, the eastern tower
is never used. the Rayagopuram been completed, it would undoubtedly have provide a
suitable gateway, as the site plan shows how much larger than any of the other gopurams
this gopuram was intended to be. A straight
line east to west from the
Rayagopuram to the western tower will run parallel to the
temple walls and lead directly to the chief deity's shrine after passing through all the
minor turrets. Further, the north-to-south line of towers intersects this line at the
exact point where Sundareswar'sshrine stands. It is therefore clear that all the gopurams
and the minor towers have h arranged according to a well-conceived plan. The advantage of
this arrangement is that the golden top (Vimana) of the central shrine can be seen from a
great distance from all the four points of the compass, through the apertures in
successive towers. |
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