CiDIA, ARCHITECTURE OF. 



INDIA, ARCHITECTURE OF. 



pillars, of which 8 are broken, and 16 pilasters, support the roof. 

 frtjlhtsr the floor nor the roof is in the same plane, and consequently 

 the height varies, being in tome parU 174 "** in othen IS feet 

 Two row* of pillar* run parallel to one another from the northern 

 entrance, and at right angle* to it, to the extremity of the cave ; and 

 the pilasters, one of which we hare described a* standing on each aide 

 of the two front pillar*, are followed by other pilasters and pillars alio, 

 forming, on each side of the two row* already dn ; 



running parallel to them up to the southern extremity of the care. 

 The pillar* on the east and west front, which have been described a* like 

 those on the north aide, are also continued acruw the temple from east 

 to west. Thu* the range* of pillar* form a number of parallel line* 

 intersecting one another at right angle*, the pillar* of the central part* 

 being considered as common to the two set* of intersecting line*. The 

 pillar* vary both in their size and decorations, though the difference is 

 not sufficient to strike the eye at first. Each column itandH upon a 



Temple of Elephant*. 



square pedestal and is fluted, but instead of being cylindrical U 

 gradually enlarged towards the middle. The capitals exhibit that 

 bulbous form which U one of the most distinctive characteristics 

 of Indian architecture. Above the tops of the columns a kind 

 of ridge has been cut to resemble a beam about 12 inches square, 

 and this is richly carved. Along the sides of the temple are cut 

 between 40 and 50 colossal figures, varying in height from 12 to 15 

 feet ; none of them are entirely detached from the wall. Some of 

 these figures have on their heads a kind of helmet; others wear crowns 

 with rich devices ; and others, again, are without any other covering 

 than curled or flowing hair. Some of them have four and others six 

 hands, holding sceptres, shields, symbols of justice, ensigns of religion, 

 weapons of war, and trophies of peace. On the south side, facing the 

 main entrance, is an enormous bust with three faces ; of which the 

 central face measures 5 feet in length ; the width from the ear to the 

 middle of the nose U 8 feet 4 inches ; the breadth of the whole figure 

 U near 20 feet. To the left of this bust, amid a group of uncouth 

 figures, is one (a female figure with four arms) to which Niebuhr has 

 given the name of Amazon, from the fact of its being without the 

 right breast. At the west side of the temple is a recess, 20 feet square, 

 having in the centre an altar, upon which are placed symbols of the 

 worship once practised here. The entrance to this recess is guarded 

 by eight naked figures, each 184 feet high, sculptured in a manner 

 which show* that the people by whom they were executed must have 

 made considerable progress in the statuary's art. The cave is not at 

 present used a* a temple, nor has it any establishment of priests con- 

 nected with it, although it is frequently visited by devotees for the 

 purpose of offering prayers and oblations. 



The roof of the temple at Elephants is flat; in others it is 

 hollowed out so as to resemble more or less a regular vaulting. Of 

 this last-mentioned kind is the temple of Kennareh, or Canarah, in 

 Salsettc, which is exactly on the same plan as that at Carli, and the 

 principal object or idol is alike in both, consisting, as Moor describes 

 it, " of a vast hemisphere of stone resting on a round pedestal of 

 greater diameter having its convexity surrounded by a sort of canopy 

 or umbrella of peculiar construction.'' The ground-plan of an arched 

 temple of Buddha at EUora is exactly similar, but there is here a figure 

 of Buddha himself in front of the cylindrical pedestal and characteristic 

 umbrella ornament just mentioned. The temple at Salsette Mr. Fer- 

 gusson is inclined to reckon among the latest of the Buddhist edifices 

 of this class, regarding it as a copy of the temple at Carli, and as late 

 in date as the 0th or 10th century of the Christian era. 



The Buddhist rock-cut monasteries are much less rich in detail than 

 the temples. They consist of a central hall, around which are nume- 

 rous plain cells for the priests of various grades. There were places for 

 private devotion ; the public worship and more imposing ceremonies 

 were performed in the temples. The oldest of these oaves occur *t 

 Behar, in the Bengal presidency, but they are quite unornamonted. 

 At Cuttack is one known as the Tiger Cave, from the exterior being 

 carved into the form of a tiger's head, the entrance being through the 



animal's open mouth. Another in the same neighbourhood is dis- 

 tinguished by being two stories in height, and having a verandah 

 carved along the whole extent of its front. Dr. Iinpey has published a 

 full account of a series of Buddhistic caves at Koolvee, in Central India, 

 which are " cut literally round the circumference " of a hill, and are in 

 all about fifty in number. Among them are six dagobas (or relic- 

 chambers), connected with each of which is a shala, or hall of assembly, 

 and a larger cell for a superior priest. Two only of the caves are 

 supported by pillars, and these are each 32 feet by 24 feet. " One of 

 these caves is subordinate to a dagoba, which stands in a court-yard in 

 front of it, flanked by an erect colossal figure of Budh, in the attitude 

 of expounding ; and the other to a seated image of Budh, which is in a 

 cell opposite the porch flanked on either side by diminutive dagobas in 

 relief." The figures are of rude execution, and much defaced and 

 weatherworn. The inferior cells are all small in size and quite simple 

 in plan. 



The walls of the larger chambers of some of these rock-monasteries 

 are profusely decorated with paintings of religious and historical sub- 

 jects, executed in fresco or distemper, portraits of Buddha and Budd- 

 hist saints covering the pillars, and the roofs being at the same time 

 painted with scrolls and other architectural designs. In many places 

 these paintings have been destroyed by the effects of damp, or by the 

 hand of man, but at the Ajunta and elsewhere they " remain nearly com- 

 plete, and as fresh as the day they were painted. A competent artist, 

 Capt. Gill, of the Company's Service, has been employed for some 

 years in copying these." Their publication would doubtless, ss Mr. 

 Fergufwon remarks, throw light not only on the " manners and customs 

 of India more than a thousand years ago, but illustrate also to a 

 considerable extent tin- form and ordinance of the buildings they 

 adorn." Dr. Impey (' Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,' Bombay 

 Branch, July, 1856,) describes a series of historical and mythological 

 paintings on the famous caves of Bagh in Rath, on the Nerbudda, 

 whirh .ibove 220 feet in length. The ]iintings are in a 



n>w, one set above the other, the figures being about the natural 

 The designs are very varied, and display no little skill. " The 

 fmrface extent of the work thus elaborately depicted must have been 

 at least 8000 feet" They appear to be not later in date than the flth 

 century. A i> 



The other Buddhist religious edifices have been all classed under the 

 general term Topt*. They consist of detached pillars and towers, and 

 of building*, usually circular in form but always surmounted with a 

 dome. The pillars are the oldest. AH that remain in India proper are 

 monoliths, but there appears to be little doubt that built pillars did 

 formerly exist; and Mr. Fergusson, who adduces two such pillars as 

 till standing among the topee of Cabul, thinks that their destruction 

 is " sufficiently accounted for by the ease with which they could be 

 thrown down and their materials removed, when they had loxt thf 

 sanctity by which alone they had been protected." Of these monoliths, 

 or l&ts, the oldest known were erected- by Asoka about 250 B.C., and 

 bore inscribed on them the Buddhist creed. Three of them are still 



