Although the temple of Vitoba is certainly one of the most remarkable ruins in India, and there are other temples of great beauty and extent in the capital, it is not quite clear that it is there the _chefs-d’œuvre_ of this dynasty are to be found, but rather at a place called Tarputry, about one hundred miles a little east of south from the capital. There are two temples there: the one now in use, dedicated to Vishnu, is the elder, and in so far as whitewash and paint will allow one to judge, ranges with the works of the earliest kings of the Vijayanagar dynasty; but the wonders of the place are two gopuras belonging to a now deserted temple on the banks of the river, about a quarter of a mile from the others. One of these was apparently quite finished, the other never carried higher than the perpendicular part. In almost all the gopuras of India this part is comparatively plain, all the figure-sculpture and ornament being reserved for the upper or pyramidal part. In this instance, however, the whole of the perpendicular part is covered with the most elaborate sculpture, cut with exquisite sharpness and precision, in a fine close-grained hornblende (?) stone, and produces an effect richer, and on the whole perhaps in [Illustration: 211. Entrance through Gopura at Tarputry. (From a Photograph.)] [Illustration: 212. Portion of Gopura at Tarputry. (From a Photograph.)] better taste, than anything else in this style (Woodcuts Nos. 211, 212). It is difficult of course to institute a comparison between these gopuras and such works as Tirumulla Nayak’s choultrie, or the corridors at Ramisseram; they are so different that there is no common basis of comparison but the vulgar one of cost; but if compared with Hullabîd or Baillûr, these Tarputry gopuras stand that test better than any other works of the Vijayanagar Rajas. They are inferior, but not so much so as one would expect from the two centuries of decadence that elapsed between them, and they certainly show a marked superiority over the great unfinished gopura of Tirumulla Nayak, which was commenced, as nearly as may be, one century afterwards.