ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES OF THE MEDIEVAL

A rchitectural Features Of The M edieval Temples Surviving In M aharashtra

TEMPLES SURVIVING IN MAHARASHTRA
Gerard Foekema

In the winters of 2002–03 and 2003–04 I tried to visit all the medieval temples surviving in Maharashtra.
With the help of earlier publications by Cousens (1931), Naik (1947), Deglurkar (1974) and Deo (1993),
and of the photo-archive of the American Institute of Indian Studies in Gurgaon, I found about 120 of
them. Many are discussed only superficially in the earlier publications, and others mentioned only in
passing. I have therefore started writing a monograph that will discuss and illustrate all the important
architectural features of each of the 120 monuments.
Of the earlier publications, the monograph by Cousens is the best known and also the best.
The work of Naik is published in a journal, but has the character of a monograph. Many new sites are
presented, but it also includes much repetition, notably on the Chalukya temples found in Karnataka.
The publications of Deglurkar and Deo are both a little chaotic, but have great value for the finding
of sites.

Figure 1: Patne, Maheśvara temple, shrine, one of the lateral sides, south

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 Figure 2: Akola, Siddheśvara temple, lateral view. Left: the hall. Right: the shrine, south

Figure 3: Akola, Siddheśvara temple, full plan

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 A rchitectural Features Of The M edieval Temples Surviving In M aharashtra
Figure 4: Ratanvadi, Am.r‌‌teśvara temple, lateral view, south

Character of the Monuments

The body of old monuments found in Maharashtra has a character of its own. As all over India, the temples
are decorated with architecture. In ornate temples, figure sculpture can be added to the architectural
decorations, but, perhaps more than in other parts of India, ornate temples in Maharashtra can be
decorated with architecture alone. They have even become infamous for this characteristic, because
intricate architectural decorations often tire the visitor. A characteristic example is the Maheśvara temple,
Patne (Figure 1). In this temple and many others, architectural decoration is not limited to mouldings,
pilasters and the depiction of miniature towers on the elevations. Added to these are stepped and stellate
plans, which themselves can be considered decorations: the walls of square structures are enlivened
with projections and recesses in intricate patterns. Structurally, both the shrines and the halls of Hindu
temples are very simple, but this is compensated for by an intricate architectural dressing that I call
‘architectural articulation’. This architectural articulation does not need figure sculpture to produce
an extremely rich and ornate look and, because numerous variations are possible and because temple-
building is stongly affected by fashion, it gives the temples of each region and each period a character of
their own. For this paper I have selected the Siddheśvara temple, Akola, to illustrate all this. But before
examining the architectural details of just one temple, I will present a few observations on the present
use of the temples.

The Present Use of the Temples

As all over India, medieval temples in Maharashtra are often still in use for worship. Contrary to the
custom in many other regions, the cellas of most temples are entered by the devotees themselves.
Moreover non-Hindus can enter the cella freely. I myself have no Hindu look at all, but entering has not

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 been a problem. Of course, I have always shown respect for the idol, for instance by touching it gently
and closing my eyes for a moment. The devotees nearly always perform pujà themselves; in other parts
of India often a priest is needed for that. The caressing of the idol by every visitor himself creates a very
relaxed atmosphere. Quite often the floor of the cella is lowered; it can be a pit of two metres deep, and
especially in such cases the atmosphere in the sanctum can be very moving.

THE SIDDHESVARA TEMPLE, AKOLA

This temple has been selected because it shows many features characteristic for Maharashtra. Akola lies
about 70 km south of the city of Nashik (150 km north-east of Mumbai). The Siddheśvara temple stands
near the Pravara river, but does not face it; both the river and the temple run east-west. Figure 2 gives
a side view from south, the river runs behind. At first glance the temple does not look very attractive,
because of the absence of any superstructure and the presence of a later porch (left of the photograph).
But the elevations of both hall and shrine show a pattern of heavily decorated projections and recesses,
conserved without damage, that is characteristic for the times and the region.

The Plan of the Temple

Figure 3 shows the plan of the temple. This plan, with about 25 others, was published by Cousens (1931),
but I did not succeed in finding his original drawings. Figure 3 therefore is my remaking of his work.
The temple consists of a shrine and a hall. Both are square in plan but their plan outlines are nevertheless
different; this difference is important and will be discussed in detail. Other remarkable features are the
shrine having two entrances, the oblong look of the plan of the shrine, and the two additional bays of
the hall.

Figure 5: Ganji Bhovare, two-shrine temple, north-east

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 A rchitectural Features Of The M edieval Temples Surviving In M aharashtra

Figure 6: Ganji Bhovare, two-shrined temple, interior of the eastern shrine, cella with two opposite entrances

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 Figure 7: Cutting off stepped diamonds. Left: the shrine of
the siva temple, Ambarnatha. Right: the same plan with
one more cut

Figure 8: Akola, Siddheśvara temple, interior of the closed hall, one of its open bays

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 A rchitectural Features Of The M edieval Temples Surviving In M aharashtra

Figure 9: Akola, Siddheśvara temple, corner of the closed hall, south-east

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 Figure 10: Akola, Siddheśvara temple, lateral side of the shrine, south

Figure 11: Schematic plans. Above: one side of

a ‘square of projections’. Below: one side of a
‘diamond of corners’

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 A rchitectural Features Of The M edieval Temples Surviving In M aharashtra
Figure 12: Akola, Siddheśvara temple. Left: the elevation of the hall. Right: the elevation of the shrine

Figure 13: Schematic plans. Above: one side of a diamond

of corners. Below: one side of a stellate shrine

A Shrine with Two Entrances

The shrine can be entered from the hall, as usual, but also directly from outside by an open porch.
The temple is still in daily use but the hall is not; it is the direct entrance that is in daily use. It is not
clear which entrance is the principal one. The hall gives the western entrance importance, but east is
the usual orientation for an entrance of a Saiva shrine. The anomaly found here, a shrine with two
opposite entrances, is found more in the region. In Ratanvadi, about 25 km west of Akola, a very well
preserved medieval temple has approximately the same plan. Figure 4 shows the hall to the left and
the direct entrance to the right. In Ganji Bhovare, about 100 km south of Akola, an entirely renovated

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 medieval temple has two shrines, and one of them has two doorways opposite one another and two
small, opposing halls. In all three these cases, the floor of the cella is lowered. Thus each cella has two
opposite flights of steps leading down (Figure 6). In Ratanvadi and Ganji Bhovare we found the shrines
with both entrances open at the same time. On a festival day in Ratanvadi the numbers of devotees
going down in the shrine was very large and on that occasion the two entrances proved very practical:
one-way traffic established itself. The devotees entered from the west, after crossing the hall, and left by
the eastern entrance. On other days, however, the eastern doorway is often used to enter, as shown by
the large number of bells hanging there.

A Square Shrine that looks Oblong

The second remarkable element is the oblong look of the shrine in plan. The cella inside is square but the
stepped outline of the shrine is oblong. This anomaly, however, is a matter of appearance only. Often
shrines are a stepped diamond in plan, and in such cases one tip of the stepped diamond is cut-off by the
adjoining hall. A well-known example is the temple in Ambarnatha (Figure 5, left). In Akola the same
happens twice. The opposite tip of the diamond is cut-off by the second entrance and its porch; but the
rest of the outline is entirely regular, and the whole is clearly a square with two parts missing, rather than
an exotic oblong composition. In Figure 3, it is not the wall-projections marked B that are the corners of
the shrine, but those marked A. One full side of the shrine runs from A to A.

A Closed Hall with Open Lateral Bays

A third remarkable element in the plan is the presence of two lateral projections from the hall. In
plan they look like porches to lateral entrances into the hall. In fact they are two additional open
bays with parapet-walls, and serve a functional purpose by providing the hall with light and fresh
air much more effectively than an entrance does (Figure 8). Other solutions to the same problem
met with in Maharashtra are giving a closed hall three unencumbered entrances, and giving a
closed hall an entirely open front.

Contrasting Outlines of the Square Hall and the Square Shrine

Finally, a fourth element visible in the plan is the difference in outlines between hall and shrine.
It is this difference that is important for understanding the architectural articulation of temples.
The outline of the hall is square with projections and recesses. In elevation, each projection
is articulated as an embedded square pillar (Figure 9). Only the front of each pillar is fully exposed.
At the corners of the hall, however, there is one embedded pillar with two sides fully exposed
and visible.
The outline of the shrine is also a square with projections and recesses, but nevertheless it
is fundamentally different because the projections are very deep – as deep as they are wide. Thus
the outline of the whole becomes a stepped diamond. The recesses are affected by this: now they
consist of a pair of recesses, perpendicular to one another and separated by a re-entrant corner. As
a consequence, each projection here has exactly the same character as the corners of the hall. Each
is articulated as a square pillar with two sides fully exposed, far less than half embedded. The re-
entrant corners are also provided with pillar mouldings, and as a result represent pillars that are
almost entirely embedded.
It may seem natural to call the kinds of plan found here a ‘stepped square’ and a ‘stepped
diamond’, but I propose clearer names for them. The first can be called a ‘square of projections’, the
second a ‘diamond of corners’. The differences between them are visible in Figure 1 and two of them

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 A rchitectural Features Of The M edieval Temples Surviving In M aharashtra

Figure 14: Akola, Siddheśvara temple, decoration of the elevation, lower part of the hall, east.

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 Figure 15: Ratanvadi, Amr.‌‌teśvara temple, a corner of the shrine, south-east

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are fundamental: (1) each projection in the diamond plan is like the corner of the square plan, and (2)

A rchitectural Features Of The M edieval Temples Surviving In M aharashtra

each recess in the diamond plan consists of a pair of recesses, whereas in the square plan the recesses
are simple. Figure 12 shows the corresponding elevations. The two kinds of plan give rise to very
different elevations: elevations consisting of largely embedded pillars versus elevations consisting of
almost free pillars. Stellate plans also give rise to elevations of almost free pillars because they derive
from the diamond of projecting corners, simply by rotating the projecting corners one by one. In
Maharashtra this is done in steps by 11.25 degrees, and the rotations are interrupted in the centre of
each side (Figure 13).

Ornate Elevations without Figure Sculpture

In conclusion, attention is drawn to the beautiful decorative pattern on the elevation of the Siddheśvara
(Figure 14). Both hall and shrine are decorated with embedded pillars with the same details. In the
hall these pillars are wide and largely embedded. In the shrine these pillars are narrower and only
embedded to a slight degree, so they look far more like actual pillars. In between each pair an almost
entirely embedded pillar is found. If the pattern now indicated is kept in mind, the description of the
elevation becomes quite easy. In Ratanvadi, the superstructure survives and underlines the pattern:
each projecting corner of the shrine is crowned with a small roof-tower, each re-entrant corner with
just a corner of an embedded roof-tower (Figure 15). Thus, each projection of the walls is an embedded
but complete depiction of a shrine.

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 References
Cousens, H (1931) Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan, Archaeological Survey of India, Imperial Series, Volume XLVIII, Calcutta:
Government of India Central Publication Branch (Reprint 1996 by Archaeological Survey of India, New
Delhi)
Deglurkar, G B (1974) Temple Architecture and Sculpture of Maharashtra, Nagpur: Nagpur University
Deo Prabhkar (1993) The Temples of Marathwada. Jaipur: Jaipur Publication Scheme
Naik, A V, (1947) ‘Structural Architecture of the Deccan’, New Indian Antiquary IX, 187–329.

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