] 16 



V. A. Smith — Gra>co-Ttoman Tnjhtena 



[No. 3, 



and a breadth of 23| feet from east to west. This room, except at the 

 wide doorway, was surrounded by a bench 4 feet 8g inches broad, and 2 

 feet high, wbich supported plaster statues of Buddha, with his bauds 

 either resting on his lap or raised in the attitude of teaching. It is 

 remarkable that the hair of these figures was rendered by the conven- 

 tional cui'ls, which are so commonly associated in later times with 

 Buddhist and Jain art. Unluckily no drawings or pbotograpbs of these 

 plaster figures have been published, and it is impossible to say whether 

 they were coeval with the Ionic pillars or not. I should not have ex- 

 pected to find plaster statues at the beginning of the Christian era, and 

 I suspect that the images are of considei'ably later date than the pillars. 



Sir A. Cunningham believes that the roof was constructed mainly 

 of wood, and that the chambers were lighted by windows in the upper 

 part of the walls, which projected above the roof of the surrounding 

 cloister. He conjectures that the four portico pillars " must have been 

 intended to support a vaulted roof presenting a pointed arch gable to 

 the front, as in the smaller chapels across the Indus." A small room, 

 20 feet 1| inch long by 15| feet broad, communicated with each end of 

 tbe entrance hall. 



The reader will not fail to observe that the plan and elevation of 

 this temple have little in common with those of Greek temples. 



I agree with Sir A. Cunningham and Mr. Fergussou in regarding 

 the buildings with Ionic pillars at Taxila as the oldest arcbitectural 

 remains yet discovered in the Gandhara province, and I shall subsequent- 

 ly attempt to show that a considerable interval separates them from tbe 

 numerous edifices characterized by a lavish use of Corinthian pillars and 

 pilasters. 



The fact that the Corinthian pillars and pilasters were used, much 

 in the same way as they are in many modern European buildings, for 

 decorative purposes applied to buildiugs of native design, and not as 

 members of an " order " in the technical sense, is clearly proved by 

 the manner in which Indo-Persian and Indo- Corinthian forms are 

 employed together. No styles can be more diverse than these, and yet 

 the Gandhara architects felt no scruples about employing them both in 

 the one building, or even in the one sculpture. The first plate in Major 

 Cole's set of beautiful heliogravures affords a good illustration of this 

 purely decorative use of two diverse styles. The subject of the plate is 

 an alto-rilievo of the seated Buddha embellished by numerous minor 

 figures and architectural decorations. The latter chiefly consist of com- 

 binations of Indo-Persian pillars with plain "Buddhist railings" and 

 ogee-shaped facades, while the pilasters at the lower corners of the slab 

 have acanthus leaf capitals in the Indo-Corinthian style. This sculpture 

 was probably executed in the third century A. D. 



