Entrance to the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple, Madurai

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.