1848.] Essay on the Avian Order of Architecture. 267 



itself only another symbol of the San ; who was Brahma, or the Creator 

 at Mom, Vishnu or the Preserver at Noon, and Siva or the Destroyer at 

 Even. This is the "Mystic orb triform" of Sir William Jones's hymn 

 to Surya. On the flanks of the main entrance as well as on those of 

 the side doorways were pointed and trefoiled niches, each of which held 

 a statue of a Hindu divinity. That in the larger niche I presume to re- 

 present the Sun himself, while those to the right and left are probably 

 intended for some of his wives, for Chandri or the " Moon," when in 

 conjunction, for Sajnya or "Intellect ;" for Prabha, or "brightness" — 

 or for Aswini, one of the constellations. The same representations were 

 repeated in the niches of the opposite wall. In Plate XVI. I have 

 given a sketch of the northern wall of this chamber ; and a view of the 

 southern wall may be found in Vigne's travels.* 



19. — In his sketch of this chamber however the decoration of the 

 entablature which surmounts the niches is altogether misrepresented. 

 Its true character will be seen in Plate XVI. where the leading feature 

 is a niche formed of a trefoiled-headed arch resting upon half engaged 

 semicircular pillars. Each of these niches contains a seated figure 

 connected with the Hindu Mythology, and is separated from its neigh- 

 bour by a plain pilaster. 



20. — The interior decorations of the roof can only be conjecturally 

 determined, as I was unable to discover any ornamented stones that 

 could with certainty be assigned to it. Baron Hugel doubts that 

 Marttand ever had a roof ; but as the walls of the temple are still stand- 

 ing, the numerous heaps of large stones that are scattered about on all 

 sides can only have belonged to the roof. The northern wing has still 

 a portion of its roof remaining ; and there are besides two curved 

 stones lying on the top of a heap to the northward or right of the 

 temple, as shown in Plate XVI. which certainly must once have formed 

 part of the circular portion of the ceiling. A reference to Plates XI. 

 and XXI. of the Payach and Pandrethan temples, will show the 

 arrangement and decoration of two of the smaller Kashmirian roofs. 

 The same treatment, which is also of common occurrence in India, was 

 most probably followed with Marttand. The corners of the square 

 were first covered by overlapping stones, which reduced the opening to 



* Kashmir, v. 1— p. 390. 



2 p 2 



