Two more temples of the Chola period deserve mention here: the Airavatesvara temple at Darasuram and the Kampaharesvara temple at Tribhuvanam, both in the Tanjore District.

While the former marks in many ways the transition from the full plenitude of the Chola style as seen in Tanjore and Gangaiknodacholapuram to the great temple complexes of post-Chola epoch’.

The latter “as a whole is a veritable sculpture gallery of varied iconography and is the last templr to preserve the predominance of the vimana characteristic of the Chola style of architecture. The images that were made during this period were those Nataraja, various aspects of Siva, Brahma, Sapta-matrikas, Rama, Sita etc.

The Pandyan Style

ADVERTISEMENTS:

The significant feature of the temples of the Pandya period is the dominance of the monumental gateway or gopuram at the entrance to temples which dwarfed the vimana over the central sancturary. These gopurams were treated with rich plastic decoration and were surmounted by a barrel vaulted roof with gable ends originally derived from the example of the Buddhist chaitya hall.

The gopura in the second enclosure of the temple at Jambukesvaram near Tiruchirapalli and the eastern gopura of the temple at Chidambaram contain characteristic features of this development.

The Hoysala Style

During this period another type of architecture developed in the Karnataka country under the Hoysalas. Hence it is called the Hoysala style of architecture. In the construction of the Hoysala temples a dark stone of a very fine grain was used. The temples, examples of which are found in Halebid, Belur and Somanathpur, are all structured on star-shaped (or ploygonal) plinth, built in triplicate or guadruplicate tiers.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

The shrines are surrounded by a high and broad pradakshina patha. The temples have an excellent finish and contain many exquisitely carved sculptures.