CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. 



577 



Mr Groie. 





Practice. Elephanta, are representations of the Lingam deity. 



'- - , ' The grand pagoda is 40 feet high to the soffit of the arch 



Dimen- Qr dome . jt i s 8i ( eet i ongt an J 45 broad. The portico 

 has fine columns decorated with bases and capitals : im- 

 mediately before the entrance into the grand temple arc 

 two colossal statues 27 feet high, which have mitre caps 

 and ear-rings. Thirty-five pillars of an octagonal form, 

 about 5 feet diameter, support the arched roof of the 

 temple ; their bases and capitals are composed of ele- 

 phants, horses, and tygers, carved with great exactness. 



Sculpture. Round the walls two rows of cavities are placed with 

 great regularity for receiving lamps. At the further 

 end is an altar of a convex shape, 27 feet high, and 20 

 in diameter j round this are also recesses for lamps, and 

 directly over it is a large concave dome cut out of the rock. 

 Immediately about this grand pagoda, there are said to 

 be 90 figures of idols, aixl not lees than 600 within the 

 precincts of the excavations. 



Mr Grose, who visited India in 1750, seems to be of 

 opinion, that the labour required to construct Elephan- 

 ta and Saliette, must have been equal to that of erecting 

 the pyramids of Egypt ; and though it is not mentioned 

 which of the many pyramids he refers to, the remark suffi- 

 ciently expresses his admiration of the greatness of these 

 Indian works. He observes, (p. 92. ) that the roof of Ele- 

 phanta was flat; that of Salsette of an arch form, support- 

 ed by rows of pillars of great thickness, arranged with much 

 regularity ; that the walls are crowded with figures of men 

 and women, engaged in various actions in different atti- 

 tude* ; that along the cornice there are figures of ele- 

 phants, homes, and lions, in bold relief j and above, as 

 in a sky, Genii and Dewtah are seen floating in multi- 

 tudes. 



EUora. ^ ut magnificent as the excavations at Elephanta and 



Salsetta must appear, they are still surpassed by those 

 near fellore, Ellore, or Elhra, which is situated 18 miles 

 from Aurungabad, capital of the province of Balagate, 

 N. Lat. 19 '20', E. Lon. 75 30'. 



Sir C. Mallet, in a paper he transmitted to the president 

 of the Asiatic Society, and published in the sixth vo- 

 lume of their Researches, gives a detailed account of 16 of 

 them. 





Sixteen ex 

 civatiun'. 



1. Jugnath Subba. 



2. Adnaut Subba. 



3. ludur Subba. 



4. Pursuram Subba. 



5. Doomar JLyna. 



6. Jun Wassa. 



7. Comar VVana. 



8. Ghana, or oil shop. 



9. Ncclkunt Man dew. 



10. Ramish wur. 



11. Kylas, or Paradise. 



12. Dus Outar. 



13. Tee Tal. 



14. Bhurt Chutturghun. 



15. Biskurma,orcarpenter' 

 hovel. 



16. Dchr Wanar, or Hallul- 



core's quarters. 



Of these we must, of course, confine ourselves to such 

 parts as are calculated to convey generally an idea of 

 their architecture : with this view, we have selected for 

 engravings (Sue Plates CLI. and CLII.) the ground 

 CLI. t'l.H. plan of Kylas, the entrance and section of Biskurma, 

 the elegant entrance to the cave of Jugnath Subba, the 

 temple of Indur Subba, and a singularly beautiful piece 

 of sculpture at the door of Jun Wassa. We shall also 

 give the description and dimensions of the Kylas and 

 the Biskurma. 



KYLAS, alias Paradise, (aspect, west.) This won- 

 d"rful place is approached more handsomely than any 

 of the foregoing, and exhibits a very fine front in an area 

 cut through the rock. On the right hand side of the 

 entrance i-> a cistern of very fine water. On each side 

 of the gateway there ia a projection reaching to the first 

 tory, with much sculpture and handsome battlements, 



VOL. vi. PAHT H. 



which, however, have suffered much from the corroding 

 hand of time. The gateway is very spacious and fine, 

 furnished with apartments ori each side that are now 

 usually added to the dewrics of the eastern palaces. 

 Over the gate is a balcony, which seems intended for the 

 Nobut Khanneh. On the outside of the upper story of 

 the gateway are pillars that have much the appearance 

 of a Grecian order. The passage through the gateway 

 below is richly adorned with sculpture, in which appear 

 Bouannee Ushtbooza on the right, and Gunnes on the 

 left. From the gateway you enter a vast area cut down 

 through the solid rock of the mountain, to make room 

 for an immense temple of the complex pyramidal form, 

 whose wonderful structure, variety, profusion, and minute- 

 ness of ornament, are too minute for description. This 

 temple, which is excavated from the upper region of the 

 rock, and appears like a grand building, is connected 

 with the gateway by a bridge left out of the rock as thu 

 mass of the mountain was excavated. Beneath this 

 bridge, at the end opposite the entrance, there is a fi- 

 gure of Bouannee sitting on a lotus, and two elephants 

 with their trunks joined, as though fighting over her 

 head. On each side of the passage under the bridge, 

 is an elephant, marked (a) in the Plan, one of which 

 has lost its head, the other its trunk, and both are 

 much shortened of their height by earth. There are 

 likewise ranges of apartments on each side behind the 

 elephants, of which those on the left are much the 

 finest, being handsomely decorated with figures. Ad- 

 vanced in the area, beyond the elephants, are two obe- 

 lisks (4) of a square form, handsomely graduated to the 

 commencement of the capitals, which seem to have been 

 crowned with ornaments, but they are not extant, 

 though, from the remains of the left hand one, I judge 

 them to have been a single lion on each. 



To preserve some order, and thereby render easier the 

 description of this great and complex work, we shall, af- 

 ter mentioning that on each side of the gateway within 

 there is an abundance of sculpture, all damaged by time, 

 proceed to describe the parts of the centre structure ; 

 ;ind then, returning to the right side, enumerate its 

 parts ; when, taking the left hand, we shall terminate the 

 whole in a description of the end of the area opposite 

 to the gateway, and behind the grand temple, exempli- 

 fying the whole by references to the annexed plan. 



Centre below. Passing through the gateway (1) be- 

 low, you enter the area (2), and proceeding under 

 a small bridge, pass a solid square (3) mass, which sup- 

 ports the Bull Nundee stationed above : the sides of this 

 recess are profusely sculptured with pillars and figures 

 of various forms. Having passed it, you come to the 

 passage under another small bridge, beneath which there 

 is, on one side, a gigantic figure of the Rajah Bhoj, sur- 

 rounded by a groupe of other figures, opposite to which 

 ia a gigantic figure of Guttordnuj,- with his ten hands. 

 At each end of this short passage commences the body 

 of the grand temple (41, the excavation of which is in 

 the upper story, that is here ascended by flights of steps 

 on each side (5). 



Rig/it and left hand sides of the temple below. Tin: 

 right hand side is adorned with a very full and complex 

 sculpture of the battle of Ram and Rouon, in which 

 Hunomaun makes a very conspicuous figure. Proceed- 

 ing from this field of battle, the heads of elephants, 

 lions, and some imaginary animals, are projected as 

 though supporting the temple, till you come to a pro- 

 jection (6), in the side of which, sunk in the rock, is u 

 large groupe of figures, but much mutilated. This pro- 

 jection was connected with the apartments on the right 



Practice. 



