The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 22, 2025

Two, black-and-white, side-by-side repeated square photographs of a Hindu temple tank, a reservoir holding water. In the water, front left, sits an open-air island structure with a roof supported by columns, a tower with carved figures and capped in a pyramid shape. To the right, on land, extends the taller, ornate temple gate with a square shape narrowing on top. Further right, a wagon carries a structure reminiscent of the gate, but made of sticks.

Temple Tank, Tamil Nadu

c. 1860

Unknown British photographer

stereoscopic albumen print
Image: 7.4 x 7.7 cm (2 15/16 x 3 1/16 in.); Mounted: 8.2 x 7.3 cm (3 1/4 x 2 7/8 in.)
Gift of Daniella Dangoor 2019.72
Location: Not on view

Description

The photographer has not only shown us this Hindu temple from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, but also one aspect of how people worshiped there: the ritual bath. He placed the temple’s tank in the foreground, with ghats (steps leading into the water), bathers, and a temple chariot for the procession of bronzes during festivals occupying the middle ground. In the background is a high gopura, a gateway that marks the entry into the temple’s grounds. When seen through a stereo viewer, the two images—each taken from a slightly different angle—create the illusion of a three-dimensional scene.
  • ?–2019
    Daniella Dangoor, London, England, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    March 4, 2019–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Temples and Worship in South Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14, 2024-March 9, 2025).
  • {{cite web|title=Temple Tank, Tamil Nadu|url=false|author=|year=c. 1860|access-date=22 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2019.72