The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Vertically oriented black-and-white photograph of the Western Gateway of the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple from a side angle, a wall extending to a towering, ornate structure three times its height outlined against a clear sky. The gateway is carved with dense layers of columns, figures, and squared off corners that narrow slightly towards the top of the gateway's rectangular column.

Western Gateway (Gopuram) of the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai

1858

Captain Linnaeus Tripe

(British, 1822–1902)
England, 19th century
albumenized salt print
Image: 38 x 30.2 cm (14 15/16 x 11 7/8 in.); Image with black margin: 39.5 x 31.2 cm (15 9/16 x 12 5/16 in.); Paper: 39.5 x 31.2 cm (15 9/16 x 12 5/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2020.208
Catalogue raisonné: Dewan: CR6-135
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

An important pilgrimage site for centuries, this temple continues to draw tens of thousands of worshippers per day.

Description

This photograph features part of the same temple complex seen in the panoramic collage by Masumi Hayashi CMA 2015.95. Initially established during the 1100s, it was expanded on multiple occasions over the next 500 years. The addition of a series of enclosure walls included gateways topped by towering superstructures ornamented with miniature temples and images of deities. The monochrome monumentality of Tripe’s early photographic image, purposefully devoid of human activity, gives the impression of a timeless wonder. He would have had to clear the scene of worshipers and onlookers to achieve the pristine effect.
  • 1981
    London Art Market
    1981–2020
    Private Collection, United Kingdom
    2020
    (Prahlad Bubbar Indian and Islamic Art, London, United Kingdom, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
    September 14, 2020–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Dewan, Janet, and Linnaeus Tripe. The Photographs of Linnaeus Tripe: A Catalogue Raisonné. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2003.
  • Temples and Worship in South Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14, 2024-March 9, 2025).
  • {{cite web|title=Western Gateway (Gopuram) of the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai|url=false|author=Captain Linnaeus Tripe|year=1858|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.208