Chapter XI: The Dravidian Temples 115-124

The Dravidians are the aborigines of India 117

The Aryan conquerors appropriated their gods, and
Siva married Kali 117

Massiveness and vastness characterize their
temples, but also Oriental imagination and
invention 118

The temple at Tanjore, with its court eight hundred
by four hundred feet 118

Its multitude of chapels, each with its image in
stone of the lingam, or phallus 119

Its central image of a bull, the favorite animal of
Siva 119

Its tower, or gopura, is the grandest in India 119

Its sculptures of gods and goddesses wonderfully
realistic 119

Its appurtenances tawdry, childish, and immoral 120

Yet Tanjore was the home, and is the tomb, of
Schwartz, the first English missionary to India 120

The raja's library of Oriental manuscripts 121

Madura, the center of Dravidian worship, one
hundred miles farther south 121

Temple built about two great shrines for the god
Siva and his wife Minakshi 121

Five great pyramidal towers and a court eight
hundred and thirty by seven hundred and thirty feet 121

The "Golden Lily Tank," and "The Hall of a
Thousand Pillars" 122

Dark alcoves and a festival night, the acme of
Hindu religion 122

The palace of Tirumala and his Teppa Kulam tank,
one thousand feet on each side 123

The noblest sight of Madura is its American
Congregational Mission 123

Under Dr. J. X. Miller, its schools and seminaries
are revolutionizing southern India 124