34 THE KYLAS. 



Elloi'a. Imagine vast buildings, many two or three 

 stories high, hewn and excavated, as ah'eady stated, 

 out of the soHd granite-like I'ock, complete not only 

 in their exterior, but also in their interior arrange- 

 ment. The process of executing these tremendous 

 works has been explained by sinking a wide, deep 

 trench all round the mass which is afterwards to be 

 shaped into a temple. The " Kylas," or " Kailasa " 

 (Plate II.), the most beautiful of these monuments, is 

 f*-^ in the Davidian {i.e. non- Aryan) style of Hindu architec- 

 ture, and is its most perfect specimen extant. The 

 other form is the Chalukian, which took its existence 

 under the dynasty bearing that name as early as 

 the third century A.c, although little known as 

 builders until the eighth to the twelfth century, and 

 of these we shall find examples when we reach 

 Conjeveram, in the Madras Presidency ; in their 

 arrangement they are all more or less copies of the 

 Buddhist Vihara. 



The approach to the " Kylas " is through a lofty 

 portico, elaborately carved, like the rest of this stu- 

 pendous pile. Through it one enters a large hall or 

 antechamber, 140 feet by 90, filled with rows of 

 pillars of true Indian design, and its walls covered 

 with representations of the Hindu deities in relief. 

 They are one mass of sculpture. Then through a 



