Siva Temple: doorway

Example of ornate type of portal now appearing, Projecting lintel-cornice overhangs the elaborate frame of doorway proper, The main motif here consists of richly decorated pilasters, alternately square, octagonal and 16-sided in section, supporting an architrave in the shape of an elongated vesara or chaitya roof ornamented with chaitya dormers, Within this framework are enclosed narrow vertical bands of decoration with representations of mithunas or auspicious couples, In the centre of the over-door slab is a plaque of Vishnu on the great naga, Around the frame of the doorway itself are panels with crisply carved foliate details, To right and left at the top and outside the main zone of the frame are reliefs of the river goddesses of the Ganges and Jumna, This is a motif that occurs repeatedly in this position in the buildings of Gupta times, At the bases of the overlapping frames of the door are carvings of dvarapalas or door guardians and female divinities, The richness of the sculptured portal, is, like the reliefs of the false windows, set off by the plain surfaces of the ashlar masonry