THE MARBLE DAMS OF RAJPUTANA 



477 



A PORTION OF THE TEMPLE TO BRAHMA AT CHITOR 



This magnificent pile is recognized as one of the most beautiful specimens of pure Hindu 



carving in India. 



its waters were gathered from a moun- 

 tain stream, and, while not as large in 

 area, it was a far more stupendous 

 achievement. 



The enormous pressure, due to the 

 great depth to which the water would 

 eventually attain, must have been fore- 

 seen, as the Raj Samand dam forms an 

 irregular segment of a circle, extending 

 for nearly three miles. It, also, is of 

 white marble, endless tons of it, all faced 

 and polished. It is buttressed by thick 

 ramparts of earth, which, had the builder 

 lived to complete the work, would have 

 been planted with flowering trees to form 

 a promenade. 



Here three terraces of steps descend to 

 the water. On the lower tier rise four 

 graceful and elaborately carved Hindu 

 arches, of a peculiar and distinctive de- 

 sign. Dividing the expanse of steps, six 

 broad platforms inclose cool twilight 

 spaces underneath. Marble terraces ex- 

 tend out over the water, supporting three 

 twelve-pillared pavilions, where royalty 

 used to sit after the bath (see page 468). 



A walled fortress, with the dome of a 

 white palace rising from the center, 



crowns a sloping flat-topped mountain 

 above the dam. At its foot is the temple 

 of Kankroli. Its position in the somber 

 shadows of overhanging rocks detracts 

 from its actual size and dignity, yet not 

 from its importance as the shrine of 

 Hanuman, guardian and protector of the 

 dam, a startling four-faced and many- 

 armed statue of Agra marble highly 

 decorated in gold and colors (see p. 478). 



BUII/T TO REUEVE A STARVING PEOPLE 



Lake Raj Samand, including the tem- 

 ple, was a famine work which took ten 

 years to build. But, magnificent, costly 

 and useful as it is, it derives its chief 

 beauty from the compassionate motive of 

 the king to relieve the misery of a starv- 

 ing population, and to render impossible 

 for all time another such visitation of 

 famine and pestilence as swept over Ale- 

 war in 1 66 1,* during the first years of 

 Rana Raj Singh's reign. 



A literal translation from the chron- 



* Those familiar with history will recall that 

 during the years 1661 to 1665 plagues and 

 pestilence raged in many parts of the world, 

 notably the Great Plague of London. 



