The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

TEMPLE

GATEWAYS

31

the
gateways of
the ancient Indo-Aryan
village—thegopuram

or gateway
of Indian temples: both
those which
Fergusson

classifies

as

"

Indo-Aryan

"—a type which now

belongs to

Northern India—

and those which he labelled

"

Dravidian."

The former,

PI. VIII,a,withthenaubat-khina

overit, roofed

in Bengali

fashion, is clearly

related to the town gateway

of

ancient

India built of brick

or stone with a wooden

super-

structure, as in PI.

VI.

Acareful

studyofthe

facade

of

thegreathallormandapam

of the temple

of Virtlpaksha at

Pattadakal (PI. VIII, b), one

oftheearliest oftheso-calledDravidian

typenowextinct,will

showa similar relationship

between it andthe

fortified town

wallsofancient India.

Thetreatmentofthewalls,

whichare

divided

atregular

intervalsintopilasteredbays

eachcontaining

theshrine ofadeity,isstructurallybased

uponthe

"

embattled

fret," likethe brickandstonewalls

whichsurroundedan Indo-

Aryanfortifiedvillage

ortown:thewalls arecrownedwith an

entablaturewhich isa

closeadaptationinstone ofthe ancient

superstructurewith the

vaulted roof, which gave shelter

toits

Kshatriyadefenders. Eventhesun-windowsofthetraditional

Bengali designare reproduced as decorative

features on the

stone chhaja. Over the entrance-porch,

which maybe taken

as the type

ofan ancient

Indian town gateway in localities

where stonewastheusual buildingmaterial,thenaubat-khana

appears as usual, only employed here for purely

ornamental

purposes.

In theRamayanathewordgopuram isused in the sense

ofatowngateway,andthemeaningofit,"cowfort,"orshelter,

also

givesacluetoitssecularorigininthedailylife

ofanIndian

village. Themedievaltemplegopuramsarenotcattle-shelters

;

but

it is easy to imagine that in the ancient Aryan village

communities thegate through which the cattlewent to their

pastures wouldbe

called the

"

cow-gate,"and that incase ofa