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The Muktesvara Temple in Bhubaneswar

The Muktesvara Temple in Bhubaneswar

About the Author(s)

WALTER SMITH

The Hindu Temple (2 Vols.)

The Hindu Temple is the sum total of architectural rites performed on the basis of its myth. The myth covers the ground and is the plan on which the structure is raised. It explains in detail the religious and spiritual significance of the temple b4y means of copious references to Sanskrit texts„both sacred and scientific. It depicts the Hindu Temple as not merely a heap of brick, stone or wood but a visible symbol of aspirations of pious men and women, the throbbings of their hearts in religious fervor and their endeavor for the attainment of salvation. The first four parts of this volume are devoted to the philosophy of temple architecture. Part V deals with the origin and development of the temple from the Vedic fire altars to the latest forms. Part VI discusses the pyramidal and curvilinear superstructures in the main varieties of the _ikhara, the

_ikhara enmeshed in Gavaksas and the composite _ikhara. Part VII described the proportional measurements and the rhythmic disposition of the garbha-grha and the vertical section. It discusses the proportions of the Mandapa and the types of temples described in the ancient sanskrit texts like the Brhatasmhita and the Samarnganasutradhara.

This most comprehensive and authoritative treatise of ancient Indian Temple Architecture will prove of immense help to the students of ancient Indian culture.

This two-volume work explains in detail the religious and spiritual significance of the temple by means of copious references to Sanskrit texts–both sacred and scientific. It depicts the Hindu Temple as not merely a heap of brick, stone or wood but a visible symbol of aspirations of pious men and women, the throbbings of their hearts in religious fervor and their endeavor for the attainment of salvation.

The first four parts of the work are devoted to the philosophy of temple architecture. Part V deals with the origin and development of the temple from the Vedic fire altars to the latest forms. Part VI discusses the pyramidal and curvilinear superstructures in the main varieties of the Sikhara, the Sikhara enmeshed in Gavaksas and the composite Sikhara. Part VII describes the proportional measurements and the rhythmic disposition of the garbha-grha and the vertical section. It discusses the proportions of the Mandapa and the types of temples described in ancient Sanskrit texts like the Brhatsamhita and the Samaranganasutradhara.

This most comprehensive and authoritative treatise of ancient Indian Temple Architecture will prove of immense help to the students of ancient Indian culture.

Contents (Vol. 1)

PART I: The Site, Part II: The Plan, Part III: Plan and Supernal Man, Part IV: The Substances of which the temple is built, Names and Origins of the Temple, Part VI. The Superstructure, Part VII: Proportionate Measurement and Varieties of the Temple (Volume 2) Part VIII: The Images of the Temple, Explanation of Plates, Appendix, Sources, Index, Plates I-IXXX.

Indian Sculpture: Ancient, Classical and Mediaeval

Anyone with an understanding of art in general and a knowledge, however slight, of Indian things, will, on being shown a work of Indian sculpture, unfailingly label it Indian. Differences in age and origin, however clearly marked to the discerning eye, when pointed out to the outsider, will be apprehended only with more or less difficulty. There is something so strong, and at the same time unique, in any Indian work of art that its ‘Indianness’ is felt first of all, and what it is, is seen only on second thought.

How this Indianness is expressed in terms of relation between line, surface, volume and other elements of visulisation is dealt with in this book. There are permanent qualities throughout the fabric of Indian sculpture which are discussed in detail. These essential qualities, all inter-related and inseparable, contain within their compass the life of Indian plastic art.

The book surveys the structure of Indian sculpture in its relevant aspects. The underlying and essential qualities are viewed in their permanency throughout the special conditions that the single monuments imply. Their outward connections, geographical and chronological, are seen to resolve themselves into ethical problems and those of the artistic process itself.

While stylistical investigations are the basis of this book, Indian sculpture is dealt with as conditioned by the Indian craftsman. His consciousness makes him known to himself as a part of nature and his work is the form of this ‘naturalism’. Its degree and aspects vary according to the levels of his consciousness.