This is undoubtedly the finest position in Kashmir. The temple itself
is not now (1848) more than forty feet in height, but its solid walls
and bold outlines towering over the fluted pillars of the surrounding
colonnade give it a most imposing appearance.
There are no petty confused details; but all are distinct and massive,
and most admirably suited to the general character of the building.
Many vain speculations have been hazarded regarding the date of the
erection of this temple and the worship to which it was appropriated.
It is usually called the "House of the Pandus" by the Brahmins,
and by the people "Mattan."
The true appellation appears to be preserved in the latter, Matan being
only a corruption of the Sanscrit Marttand maartta.n.d, or the sun,
to which the temple was dedicated.
The true date of the erection of this temple - the wonder of Kashmir
- is a disputed point of chronology; but the period of its foundation
can be determined within the limits of one century, or between A.D. 370
and 500.
The mass of building now known by the name of Matan, or Marttand,
consists of one lofty central edifice, with a small detached wing on
each side of the entrance, the whole standing on a large quadrangle
surrounded by a colonnade of fluted pillars, with intervening
trefoil-headed recesses. The central building is sixty-three feet in
length, by thirty-six in width.
As the main building is at present entirely uncovered, the original
form of the roof can only be determined by a reference to other
temples, and to the general form and character of the various parts
of the Marttand temple itself.
The angle of the roof in the Temple of Pandrethan, and in other
instances, is obtained by making the sides of the pyramid which forms
it parallel to the sides of the doorway pediment, and in restoring
the Temples of Patrun and Marttand I have followed the same rule.
The height of the Pandrethan temple - of the cloistered recesses,
porch pediments, and niches of Marttand itself - were all just double
their respective widths. This agreement in the relative proportions of
my restored roof of Marttand with those deduced from other examples,
is a presumptive proof of the correctness of my restoration. The
entrance-chamber and the wings I suppose to have been also covered
by similar pyramidal roofs. There would thus have been four distinct
pyramids, of which that over the inner chamber must have been the
loftiest, the height of its pinnacle above the ground being about
seventy-five feet.
The interior must have been as imposing as the exterior. On ascending
the flight of steps - now covered by ruins - the votary of the
sun entered a highly-decorated chamber, with a doorway on each side
covered by a pediment, with a trefoil-headed niche containing a bust
of the Hindu triad, and on the flanks of the main entrance, as well
as on those of the side doorways, were pointed and trefoil niches,
each of which held a statue of a Hindu divinity.
