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The grand Adiśvara temple at Ranakpur arouses many responses: of awe, of complexity, of grandeur. In this temple there are many carvings and sculptural pieces, created with overwhelming skill and artistry. But it is the totality of the vision that inspires one. In his History of Indian and Eastern Architecture, James Fergusson observes: "The immense number of parts in the building, and their general smallness, prevents it from laying claim to anything like architectural grandeur, but their variety, their beauty of detail - no two pillars in the whole building being exactly alike the grace with which they are arranged, the tasteful admixture of domes of different heights with flat ceilings and the mode in which the light is introduced, combine to produce an excellent effect. Indeed, I know of no other building in India of the same class, that leaves so pleasing an impression, or affords so many hints for the graceful arrangement of columns in an interior."2
The caumukha design at Ranakpur left a great impact on temple architecture in Rajasthan and Gujarat for many decades and centuries that followed. At Mount Abu, amongst the Dilwara group of temples, in 1459 A.D. a caumukha dedicated to tirthankara Pārśvanatha was created. Another caumukha temple was constructed in 1681 within the Karalavaski-Tuk of the great temple-city on the Satrunjaya mountain near Palitana.
Notes
1. For a comprehensive description of the temple, see Ghosh, A. Ed. Jaina Art and Architecture, pp. 357-65.
2. p. 137.
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