The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 22, 2025

Black-and-white square photograph, upper corners rounded, of the entrance to the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple from a side angle. A relatively unornamented square base of the gateway, level with the wall, extends into three towers with squared corners and figures. The center is tallest and widest, an arch in the lower half under which stand a row of eight figures, facing out. A larger, more ornate tower extends out of the photograph in the back right.

Entrance to the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai

1858

Captain Linnaeus Tripe

(British, 1822–1902)
England, 19th century
albumen print from a waxed paper negative
Image: 30.6 x 37.1 cm (12 1/16 x 14 5/8 in.); Paper: 30.6 x 37.1 cm (12 1/16 x 14 5/8 in.); Mount: 45.5 x 57.3 cm (17 15/16 x 22 9/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 2020.212
Catalogue raisonné: Dewan: CR6-138
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

This photograph shows the relationship in space and scale between one of the towering gateways and the modestly sized original entrance to this Madurai temple complex.

Description

With its multiple gateways, rising to ever greater heights the farther they stand from the center, the Minakshi Sundareshvara temple was one of the monuments Tripe selected for his series documenting India’s architectural achievements in photographs. In 1858, the year this photograph was taken, India became a colony ruled by Britain, and the new colonial government supported Tripe’s project. He sold the images to the British public in pre-selected sets mounted in albums. Tripe was a military officer working to protect the interests of the British East India Company, which controlled sourcing, transportation, and sale of goods from India for profit.
  • Paul F. Walter [1935–2017]
    June 5, 1996
    (Christie's, London, United Kingdom)
    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. CR6-138
  • Temples and Worship in South Asia. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 14, 2024-March 9, 2025).
  • {{cite web|title=Entrance to the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai|url=false|author=Captain Linnaeus Tripe|year=1858|access-date=22 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.212