CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



hall, with cells round three sides, and a verandah 

 on the fourth side, next the open air. Opposite 

 the central entrance there is usually a large cell 



or shrine containing an image of Buddha. There 

 are five caves of this kind at Ajunta, Baugh, &c. 

 many of them beautifully carved and painted. 



Fig. 35. Section of Buddhist Cave-temple at Karli. 

 (From Fergusson's Handbook of Architecture.} 



The pillars are most elaborately ornamented, and 

 have the bracket capitals which distinguish all 

 Indian architecture. 



From the absence of any built example, there 

 has been great difficulty in forming a correct idea 

 of the exterior of the buildings from which these 

 caves were copied. The Temple of Brambanam, 

 in Java, seems to shew the original form of built 

 cells. They are quite detached, and arranged in 

 a square round a central temple, evidently sug- 

 gesting the disposition of parts in the caves at 

 Ajunta. In Burmah, where the monastic system 

 still prevails, the monasteries, which are of wood, 

 are built in stages in a pyramidal form. The 

 Temple of Boro Buddor, in Java (fourteenth cen- 

 tury), has a similar arrangement. It is a nine- 

 storied square pyramid, each story having a 

 terrace running round it, with a range of cells 

 roofed in with spires and pinnacles of the most 

 varied and fantastic outline. Each cell contains a 

 figure of Buddha, instead of the priests who occu- 

 pied the earlier examples, a change of destination 

 quite common in Indian architecture. 



In many styles of architecture, the niches or 

 other subordinate parts are frequently copies on a 

 small scale of the fa$ade of the building itself. 

 Thus, the windows with pillars and pediments in 

 classic architecture are a repetition of the temple 

 end. The niches inside the caves, containing 

 statues of Buddhist saints, are in a similar manner 

 imitations of the main fagade. In the same way 

 externally, the Burmese pagodas and Hindu 

 temples are ornamented all over with models of 

 the buildings themselves. 



The buildings connected with the Brahmanical 

 religion are divided into Northern and Southern 

 Hindu architecture. All the finest examples are 

 southern, and are found south of Madras. The 

 temples consist of the temple proper, called the 

 vimana, always square, with a pyramidal roof ; the 

 pillared porch, or mantopa, in front of the door 

 leading to the cell ; the gate pyramids, or gopuras, 

 forming the entrances to the quadrangular inclo- 

 sures which surround the vimana ; and the pil- 

 lared halls, or choultries. The temples seem to 

 be derived from the Buddhist examples, the trans- 

 formation of the cells being carried further than 

 already pointed out, and being now mere niches 

 with images. In the south, the temple is always 

 pyramidal, and in many stories ; in the north, the 

 478 



outline is curved, and in one story. The finest 

 example is the Pagoda of Tanjore. It is 82 feet 

 square at base, and fourteen stories, or about 

 200 feet, in height. The gopuras are similar to the 

 pagodas, but oblong in place of square. 



j \ ' '> i 



> ^ '3 > '> } 



Fig. 36. Gopura, or Gate : 

 Leading into the inclosure of the temple at Seringham. 



The pillared halls are very wonderful structures, 

 containing sometimes as many as 1000 columns, 

 and as these are usually of granite, and all elabo- 

 rately carved, and all different, the labour of their 

 construction must have been enormous. They 

 are used for many purposes connected with 

 Hinduism, their most important use being as 

 nuptial halls, in which the mystic union of the 

 divinities is celebrated. 



The Jaina style is distinguished from that of 

 the Hindus by its domes. The temples consist of 

 a sanctuary surmounted by a spire ; in front of 

 this, a pillared vestibule, with a dome ; and round 

 the whole an arcaded inclosure, with cells all 

 round, containing images. 



When the Mohammedans conquered India, 

 they imitated the styles of that country in their 



