Conclusion (Introduction)

India possesses treatises on architecture from ancient period prescribing rules to build edifices such as temples and palaces of stupendous structures. They have been objects of admiration to the travellers from various parts of the world as they are endowed with huge maṇḍapas, vast prākāras, rich and grand elevated gopuras with different architectural embellishments.

Religious edifices in the form of temples are numerous in south India. They are found everywhere–in cities, towns, villages, mountains and forests. Temples are still constructed in our modern days and though the present day workmen have before them many monuments, they are not inspired by them. The temples constructed in the present century are also built following the Agamic tradition which has been taught to the traditional Sthapatis by their ancestors.

Personal interviews with traditional Sthapatis and modern Sthapatis who graduate out of the Government College of Architecture and Sculpture, Mamallapuram, show that the modern architects too, to some extent, follow the principles of Vāstuśāstra and Śilpaśāstra, especially that of Kāśyapa Śilpaśāstra.

Kāśyapa Śilpaśāstra is a special text, in the sense that it combines both the traditions of architecture as enunciated by the Śaivāgamas and the texts on Śilpaśāstra. While going through the text, as explained in the previous chapters, it is seen that almost all the temples in south India, especially Tamilnadu, have been structured on the basis of the tenets expounded by Kāśyapa Śilpaśāstra.

The temples of Tamilnadu, especially, have undergone changes through the centuries, under various dynasties like the Pallava, Cholas, Pandyas, and Nayaks. Even then, we see a homogeneity in their construction they have added maṇḍapas, sthūpas, vimānas or gopuras suiting the taste of the time, but have followed the basic principles laid down in the Āgamas, Kāśyapa Śilpaśāstra and other Śilpa texts, be they Śaiva or Vaiṣṇava.