Pudhu Mandapa of Tirumal Nayak (r. 1623-59), Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai

1858

Pudhu Mandapa of Tirumal Nayak (r. 1623-59), Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai, 1858. Captain Linnaeus Tripe (British, 1822–1902). Albumen print; image: 35.7 x 27.3 cm (14 1/16 x 10 3/4 in.); paper: 35.7 x 27.3 cm (14 1/16 x 10 3/4 in.); mounted: 57.4 x 45.4 cm (22 5/8 x 17 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2020.211 The temple complex that contains this open, pillared hall is dedicated to Minakshi, a form of Parvati, and her consort, Sundareshvara, a form of Shiva. The central column depicts Shiva feeding sugarcane to an elephant. Because Linnaeus Tripe respected the Hindu temples as places of religious, historical, and artistic value, he strove to document the carvings decorating the temples, even when they were hidden in shadow. This hall was built to serve as a summer house for the gods to whom the temple is dedicated.