Lot Essay
Bemusement seems to have been the Daniells' response to the first example of south Indian temple architecture that they encountered: on 11 April 1792, on the second day of their tour, they reached Perumbudur, midway between Madras and Kanchipuram:
'[We were] much entertained by the Hindoo temple... This temple is the most considerable of any we have seen of that highly ornamented stile. It is built of coarse granite & the Decorated part is chiefly of Hindoo idols. The general effect was very rich & in many parts well designed, but not equal in point of execution to some we have seen in the upper parts of Hindoostan' (Journal).
Such judgements depend on familiarity, of course, and the Daniells went on to see and admire many more south Indian temples. The drawing shows the long gallery or mandapa in front of the temple's gopura or gateway, a characteristic development in the south under Nayaka patronage. For another drawing by the Daniells of the same temple, see Tillotson, 1987, p.131.
'[We were] much entertained by the Hindoo temple... This temple is the most considerable of any we have seen of that highly ornamented stile. It is built of coarse granite & the Decorated part is chiefly of Hindoo idols. The general effect was very rich & in many parts well designed, but not equal in point of execution to some we have seen in the upper parts of Hindoostan' (Journal).
Such judgements depend on familiarity, of course, and the Daniells went on to see and admire many more south Indian temples. The drawing shows the long gallery or mandapa in front of the temple's gopura or gateway, a characteristic development in the south under Nayaka patronage. For another drawing by the Daniells of the same temple, see Tillotson, 1987, p.131.