The Journal of Oriental Research Madras March 1950

To get over this defect great temple-builders fitted into great temples scenes drawn from the divine deeds of Gods called /i/as principally on the Brahmanical side of the three major Deities Brahma the creator Vishnu the preserver and Siva the destroyer and on the Buddhist side of the life of the Buddha and his past births (jatakas) and on the Jaina side of the lives of their 24 Tirthankaras [...] The main deity (Msila-Vigraha) of the temple which is worshipped has a spiritual as.well as a temporal capacity and the increase in the temple structures was in proportion to the increase in the powers or capacity associated with the God worshipped. [...] That the artists of the Indus valley had fully grasped the essential elements of form and decoration is apparent in the patterns of painted pottery based on geometrical and animal forms and also in the statuary figures of steatite faience and clay. [...] Indeed the sensitive modelling of the back below the waist and the profile of the dancing girl A lig. [...] The figured reliefs in these temples constitute a national epic illustrating the theme of the eternal struggle of the Devas and the Asuras in which Siva and Vishnu take their share and triumph over the forces of darness and evil.