The “late” period of religious architecture and art of South India, especially of Tamilnadu, has until recently been a much neglected subject. While there is no shortage of studies on Pallava and Chola temples and sculptures (sixth–thirteenth centuries), for example, the Vijayanagara and Nāyaka eras (fourteenth–seventeenth centuries) have not attracted serious attention from art historians. The appearance of this volume signals a major change in focus, since it is for the most part concerned with the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. As the author argues, it was only from the middle of the sixteenth century, once Tamilnadu had achieved autonomy from the Vijayanagara emperors who had dominated the region from the end of the fourteenth century, that artistic production once again resumed on a major scale. The revival of temple building in the second half of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries may be judged from the large number of splendidly appointed and grandiosely scaled religious monuments that date from this time. Though this period was marked by political instability there was nonetheless a sustained investment in Hindu architecture, sculpture and the related arts on the part of the Nāyaka rulers of the Gingee, Tanjavur (Tanjore) and Madurai kingdoms, as well as their successors. The temples that were substantially expanded or newly founded by these figures are the principal focus of the work under review here. Illustrated by a generous selection of photographs and measured architectural plans, many of which are published here for the first time, the author's discussions constitute a welcome contribution to the subject that should be of particular interest for scholars, students and even travellers to Tamilnadu.

After outlining the relationship of temple building and royal authority in Tamilnadu in the years prior to the invasion of the region by the Delhi sultans at the beginning of the fourteenth century, Branfoot proceeds to describe the subsequent revival of artistic patronage. Here, however, he notes that the Vijayanagara period in Tamilnadu was not particularly fruitful in this regard, with the exception of the Pandya kings in the extreme south of Tamilnadu during the fifteenth century. The situation changes markedly once local governors had attained a certain measure of autonomy from Vijayanagara. This chronological pattern is clear from the author's analysis of the building phases of particular religious monuments, such as the Mīnākṣī-Sundareśvara temple in the middle of Madurai and the Skanda temple in Tirupparankundram, both of which reached their final form after the mid-sixteenth century.

In the next chapter Branfoot turns his attention to the towered gateways of temples, known in local terminology as gopuras. Here he describes the different configurations of walled compounds that are entered through sequences of gopuras, noting that these gateways are not always axially aligned with the sanctuaries within. The discussion is much aided by schematic plans of the most important religious monuments. Of particular interest here is the author's consideration of temple towns, such as those that incorporate streets and dwellings, like the Ranganātha temple on Srirangam Island in the Kaveri river. From this overview of the urban context of the Nāyaka temple Branfoot proceeds to an investigation of the features of the vimāna, or focal sanctuary of the religious monument. Here, he meticulously describes the essential “aedicular” language of the Drāviḍa style, tracing the stylistic evolution of basement mouldings, columnar forms, niche types and parapet elements. The value of this chapter is the clear definition that Branfoot is able to offer for the Tamilnadu style during the Nāyaka era. His analysis demonstrates that building practice was only partly influenced by theoretical prescriptions. From the vimāna the author proceeds to a consideration of temple dynamics, as expressed in the colonnaded corridors along which images were paraded and the various types of halls, especially the ornate kalyāṇa maṇḍapas in which marriage ceremonies of the god and goddess were annually celebrated, and the vasanta maṇḍapas intended for rites commemorating the beginning of the spring season. The author concludes this chapter with a description of the teppakkuḷams, or great tanks of the Nāyaka religious complex, in which the gods were floated so that they may be ritually “cooled”. The author is, however, mistaken, in describing the Mahāmakam tank at Kumbakonam as an irregular octagon (p. 163); in reality, it is four-sided.

Branfoot next turns to the sculptural component of the Nāyaka temple. Here he notes that the emphasis on niche carvings that characterizes the art of earlier periods now shifts to carvings on the columns that line the central aisles of corridors and maṇḍapas. The author traces the “liberation” of figural and animal sculptures from the confines of the column shaft, until it reaches a climax in huge, virtually three-dimensional compositions, such as those at Madurai, Tenkasi and Krishnapuram. The iconographic classification of Nāyaka plastic art that he presents here is without doubt the most comprehensive that has yet been attempted. Readers will appreciate the author's useful distinction between fierce deities and epic heroes of all types, and more benign personalities, such as Manmatha and Rati, the divinities associated with erotic love, and figures drawn from Kuṟuvañci, the popular Tamil dance drama. The author's discussion of temple sculpture continues with a chapter on royal portraiture, which he considers to be one of the most original aspects of Nāyaka art. Here Branfoot shows how sculpted effigies of particular rulers, many of whom can be identified with some certainty, are strategically positioned within the temple so as to “greet” deities as they are paraded through the monument. These carvings invariably depict kings with their hands held together in attitudes of adoration, thereby permitting historical figures “permanently” to interact with temple gods.

In his conclusion the author observes that the Tamilnadu temple style survives to the present day, and has even spread beyond South India, as evidenced by recently constructed Hindu monuments in Singapore, Durban, Hawaii, London and elsewhere. A glossary, bibliography and index are appended.