Govind Deo

The Temple of Govind Deo is not only the finest of this particular series(Gobind Deva, Gopi-nath, Jugal-Kishor and Madan Mohan.), but is the most impressive religions edifice that Hindu art has ever produced, at least in Upper India. The body of the building is in the form of a Greek cross, the nave being a hundred feet in length and the breadth across the transepts the same.

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Indian historions are not agreeed with Mr. Growse' view that Govind Deo Temple ' building is in the form of a 'Greek cross' or 'constructed of true radiating arches as in our Gothic cathedrals' The central compart ment is surmounted by a dome of singularly graceful proportions; and the four arms of the cross are roofed by a waggon vault of pointed form, not, as is usual in Hindu architecture, composed of overlapping brackets, but constructed of true radiating arches as in our Gothic cathedrals. The walls have an average thickness of ten feet and are pierced in two stages, the upper stage being a regular triforium, to which access is obtained by an internal staircase, as in the somewhat later temple of Radha Ballabh. This triforium is a reproduction of Muhammadan design, while the work both above and below it is purely Hindu. It should be noted, however, that the arches are decorative only, not constructural : the spandrels in the head might be—and, as a fact, for the most part had been—struck out, leaving only the lintel supported on the straight jambs, without any injury to the stability of the building. They have been re-inserted in the course of the recent resto ration. At the east entrance of the nave there is a small narthex fifteen feet deep; and at the west end, between two niches and incased in a rich canopy of sculpture, a square-headed doorway leads into the choir. a chamber some twenty feet by twenty. Beyond this was the sacrarium flanked on either side by a lateral chapel; each of these three cells being of the same dimen sions as the choir, and like it vaulted by a lofty dome. The latter building has greatly the advantage in size, but in the other, the central dome is more elegant, while the richer decoration of the wall surface and the natural glow of the red sandstone supply that relief and warmth of colouring which are so lamentably deficient in its western rival. The ground-plan is so similar to that of many European churches as to suggest the idea that the architect was assisted by the Jesuit missionaries, who were people of considerable influence at Akbar's court : were this really the case, the temple would be one of the most eclectic buildings in the world, having a Christian ground-plan, a Hindu elevation, and a roof of modified Saracenic character. But the surmise, though a curious one, must not be too closely pressed; for some of the temples at Khajurao, by Mahoba, are of similar design and of much earlier date; nor is it very likely that the Jesuits would have interested themselves in the construction of a heathen fane. It would seem that, according to the original design, there were to have been five towers; one over the central dome, and the other four covering respectively the choir, sacrarium, and two chapels.The sacrarium has been utterly razed to the ground the chapel towers were never completed, and that over the choir, though the most perfect, has still lost several of its upper stages. This last was of slighter elevation than the others, occupying the same relative position as the spirelet over the Sanctus bell in western ecclesiology. The loss of the towers and of the lofty arcaded parapet that surmounted the walls has terribly marred the effect of the exterior and given it a heavy stunted appear¬ance; while, as a further disfigurement, a plain masonry wall had been run along the top of the centre dome. It is generally believed that this was built by Aurangzeb for the purpose of desecrating the temple, though it is also said to have been put up by the Hindus themselves to assist in some grand illumi¬nation. It either case it was an ugly modern excrescence, and its removal was the very first step taken at the commencement of the recent repairs. Under one of the niches at the west end of the nave is a tablet with a long Sanskrit inscription. This has unfortunately been too much mutilated to allow of transcription, but so much of it as can be deciphered records the fact that the temple was built in sambat 1647, i.e., A.D. 1590, under the direction of the two Gurus, Rupa and Sanatana. As it was in verse, it probably com bined a minimum of information with an excess of verbosity, and its loss is not greatly to be regretted. The following is taken from the exterior of the north-west chapel, where it is cut into the wall some ten feet from the ground, and is of considerable interest :—

संबत् ३४ श्री शकवंध अकबर शाह राज श्री कर्मकुल श्री पृथिराजाधिराज वंश महाराज श्रीभगवंतदाससुत श्री महाराजाधिराज श्रीमानसिंहदेव श्री बृंदाबन जोग पीठस्थान मंदिर कराजै । श्री गोविन्ददेव को कामउपरि श्रीकल्याणदास आज्ञाकारी माणिकचंद चोपाङ शिल्पकारि गोविन्ददास दील वलि कारिगरु: द:। गोरषदसुवींभवलृ ।। " In the 34th year of the era inaugurated by the reign of the Emperor Akbar, Sri Maharaj Man Sinh Deva, son of Maharaj Bhagavan Das, of the family of Maharaj Prithiraj, founded, at the holy station of Brinda-ban, this temple of Gobind Deva. The head of the works, Kalyan Das, the Assistant Superintendent, Manik Chand Chopar (?), the architect, Gobind Das of Delhi, the mason, Gorakh Das." There is some mistake in the engraving of the last words, which seem to be intended for Subham bhavatu, like the Latin `Felix, faustumque sit.'