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Tirumala Nayaka's “New Hall” and theEuropean Study of the South Indian Temple*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2001

Crispin Branfoot
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Abstract

The Pudu Mandapa (‘New Hall’) in Madurai is one of thebest-known monuments from the Nayaka period ofTamilnadu (c. 1550–1700). It was built around 1630under the patronage of Tirumala Nayaka as a majoraddition to the Minaksi-Sundaresvara temple complexthat dominates the centre of this major Tamil townand Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Pudu Mandapa iswell known in the West from the aquatint produced byThomas and William Daniell, but this is only one ofnumerous other illustrations by Western and Indianartists in the late eighteenth and early nineteenthcentury of this single Tamil temple structure. Adiscussion of the Pudu Mandapa as an example of amajor architectural type, the festivalmandapa, is followed by anexamination of the structure's architecturalsculpture. The final section discusses the RoyalAsiatic Society's collection of drawings of thismandapa and the Europeandocumentation of the south Indian temple moregenerally.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , July 2001 , pp. 191 - 217
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Asiatic Society 2001

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Footnotes

*

This article is based on a paper delivered atthe Symposium on Indian Architectural Drawingsheld at the Royal Asiatic Society on 24thSeptember 1999. I am grateful to the participantsfor their comments, to Jennifer Howes, and theRoyal Asiatic Society for permission to publishparts of their fine collection. My research wasgenerously funded by the British Academy, theSchool of Oriental and African Studies, Universityof London, and the Society for South Asian Studiesto whom I am very grateful.

References

* This article is based on a paper delivered at the Symposium on Indian Architectural Drawings held at the Royal Asiatic Society on 24th September 1999. I am grateful to the participants for their comments, to Jennifer Howes, and the Royal Asiatic Society for permission to publish parts of their fine collection. My research was generously funded by the British Academy, the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and the Society for South Asian Studies to whom I am very grateful.