Chapter 60 - Meru etc. 20 Prāsādas

[Note: This chapter corresponds to Chapter 57 of the original Samarāṅgaṇa-Sūtradhāra]

Let the reader be not tired with the repetition of the type of the temple, the Prāsādarāja Meru as it has already formed fascination to not only of the gods who reside in it but also of the author who dwells at length upon it. Let this fascination be sustained to the reader and the writer also,

Meru heads the list of twenty temples. Let us have a glimpse of the paintings and mouldings of Meru in the ornamental style, the Lāṭa Style. Many names though repeated several times really belong to dissimilar types and groups forming the subject matter of the respective chapters and therefore they should not be taken as pure repetition. It is the Karma, the architecture, the style and the superstructure, dedication and size etc. which varies in various groups and types of temples. These twenty temples are really master-piece of Hindu Temple architecture at its zenith. A glowing dedication and glorious representation of the very developed temple institution both in its architectural as well as devotional aspects would not be found elsewhere. The reader is particularly referred to the quotations in the Vāstulakṣaṇa regarding the ornamental motifs of the class of types.

All these varieties (Meru and others) as described in this chapter with their curvilinear superstructure, the Śikhara, are the most particularly Indian amongst the monumental shapes of the temple. This is the pre-eminent shape of Hindu Temple, It formed the nucleus of many developments.