The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

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

1858

Captain Linnaeus Tripe

(British, 1822–1902)
England, 19th century
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.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2020.211
Catalogue raisonné: Dewan: CR6-114
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This hall was built to serve as a summer house for the gods to whom the temple is dedicated.

Description

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.
  • Private Collection, United Kingdom
    2020
    (Prahlad Bubbar Indian and Islamic Art, London, United Kingdom)
    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. CR6-114
  • {{cite web|title=Pudhu Mandapa of Tirumal Nayak (r. 1623–59), 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/2020.211