The most common form of the Hindoo pagodas[8] is the pyramidal,
of which one of the most remarkable is that of Chalembaram, on the
Coromandel coast, about thirty-four geographical miles south of
Pondicherry, and seven from the sea.
[8] The word pagoda is a corruption of _Bhagavati_, "holy
house," one of the several names by which the Hindoo temples
are known.
The whole temple, with its attached buildings covers an area of
1,332 feet by 936, (according to others 1,230 feet by 960,) and is
surrounded with a brick wall[9] 30 feet high and 7 thick, round which
there is another wall furnished with bastions. The four entrances are
under as many pyramids, which, up to the top of the portal, 30 feet in
height, are formed of free-stone, ornamented with sculptured figures.
Above the portal, the pyramid is built of tiles or bricks, to the
height of 150 feet, with a coat of cement upon it, which is covered
with plates of copper, and ornaments of baked clay. On passing through
the chief portico of the western propylaea, we see on the left an
enormous hall with more than 1,000 pillars, which are above 36 feet
high, and covered over with slabs of stone; this hall might have
served as a gallery for the priests to walk about in, just like
the hypostyle halls of the Egyptian temples. In the midst of these
columns, and surrounded by them, is a temple called that of eternity.
On the right or south side, we see the chief temple, with halls of
several hundred pillars at the east and west end, also supporting a
flat roof of stone. The pagoda itself rests on a basis 360 feet long
and 260 broad, and rises to a surprising height. It is formed of
blocks of stone 40 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 5 thick, which must
have been brought, about 200[10] miles, as there are no stone quarries
in the neighbourhood. The temple has a peristyle round it; and
thirty-six of the pillars, which are placed in six rows, and form
the portico, support a roof of smooth blocks. The columns are 30 feet
high, and resemble the old Ionic pillar. The whole pyramid surpasses
in size St. Paul's church in London, the latter being only 474[11]
feet long and 207 wide. The roof of the pyramid has a copper casing
covered with reliefs referring to mythical subjects; the gilding which
was once on it is still visible. In the middle of the courtyard there
is a great tank, surrounded with a gallery of pillars and also an
enclosure round it of marble, well polished and ornamented with
sculptures and arabesques. In the eastern part there is still another
court surrounded with a wall, on the inside of which is a colonnade
covered with large slabs of stone. Here also there is a pagoda, which
is but little inferior in size to the larger one; but it contains only
large dark chambers covered with sculptures, which have reference
to the worship of certain deities, particularly Vishnu. The interior
ornaments are in harmony with the whole; from the nave of one of
the pyramids there hang, on the tops of four buttresses, festoons of
chains, in length altogether 548 feet, made of stone. Each garland,
consisting of twenty links, is made of one piece of stone 60
feet long; the links themselves are monstrous rings 32 inches in
circumference, and polished as smooth as glass. One chain is broken,
and hangs down from the pillar. In the neighbourhood of the pagodas
there are usually tanks and basins lined with cement, or buildings
attached for the purpose of lodging pilgrims who come from a distance.
It is, however, often the case that the adjoining buildings, as well
as the external ornaments in general, are in bad taste, and the work
of a later age than the pagoda itself.
[9] The outer wall is brick cased with stone: the inner is all
of stone. The four sides are turned respectively to the four
cardinal points,--Heeren, India, p. 74.
[10] Fifty meilen.
[11] These dimensions are not exact, even making allowance for
Berlin feet.
The pyramidical entrances of the Indian pagodas are analogous to the
Egyptian propyla, while the large pillared rooms which support a flat
roof of stone, are found frequently in the temples of both countries.
Among the numerous divisions of the excavations of Ellora, there is
an upper story of the _Dasavatara_, or the temple of Vishnu's
incarnations, the roof of which is supported by sixty-four square
based pillars, eight in each row. This chamber is about 100 feet wide,
and somewhat deeper, and as to general design may be compared with the
excavated chambers of Egypt, which are supported by square columns.
The massy materials, the dark chambers, and the walls covered with
highly wrought sculptures; and the tanks near the temples, with their
enclosure of stone, and the steps for the pilgrims, are also equally
characteristic of a pagoda and an Egyptian temple. To this we may
add the high thick wall, of a rectangular form, carried all round the
sacred spot: it is, however, principally the massy structure of
these surrounding walls which forms the point of comparison, as Greek
temples also had a wall enclosing the sacred ground, and the temples
and churches of all countries are as a general rule separated from
unhallowed ground, if not by strong walls at least by some mark which
determines the extent of the sacred precincts. Yet there is a further
resemblance worth noticing between some of these Hindoo pagodas and
the great temple of Phtha at Memphis. The Egyptian temple had four
chief entrances, or propyla, turned to the four cardinal points of the
compass; which is also the case with the pagoda of Chalembaram,
with another at Siringam, and probably others also. The pagoda of
Chalembaram, according to Indian tradition, is one of the oldest in
their country, and this opinion is confirmed by the appearance of the
principal temple contained within the walls; but other parts, such as
the pyramidal entrances, the highly finished sculptures, and the chain
festoons, must be the work of a later date. It seems probable then
that this enormous religious edifice was the growth of many ages,
each adding something to enlarge and perfect the work of former
days.--_Lib. Ent. Knowledge._
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I look upon indolence as a sort of suicide; for the man is
efficiently destroyed, though the appetite of the brute may
survive.--_Lord Chesterfield._
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