THE SEVEN PAGODAS. 



193 



described. The eight ribs or angles of the dome are carved 

 ornamentally and end below as usual in florid scroll work spread 

 over the base of the dome. In design this shrine much resembles 

 the northernmost monolithic Hatha at the Pidari Kulam quarry 

 (No. 2), but it is more nearly finished. 



The kala^as or ornamental vase finials are all wanting in this 

 specimen, and so are the horns of the oblong cell ornaments, 

 robbing the work largely of its highly ornamental design. In 

 size this work is 16' + H'-6" and about 20' high. 

 (Nakula and) Sahadeva's Eatha of the Madras Survey Map ; the 

 Sahadeva's Vimana of Kdvali Zakshmayya, para. 33, p. 215 of 

 Carr's book ; also mentioned by Braddock, No. 20, p. 103 (un- 

 finished). 



41. This is the apsidal Eatha which stands slightly apart to the 

 west of the other four monolithic shrines at the extreme south 

 end of the locality. It faces, and is only open, to the southward, 

 having its semi-circular apsidal end or back to the north. 



It consists (like Nos. 2, 3, 4, 24 and 39) of a basement or 

 ground floor more or less excavated to afford a cell or shrine 

 chamber with a shallow portico in front, and a roof in two 

 storeys besides the dome, each of which is ornamented with a row 

 of simulated (dormitory or meditation) cells, ranged round its 

 outer edge, joined by a continuous covered passage or corridor, 

 and furnished outside with a railing or balustrade ornament. 



The upper floors or terraces end in a projecting cornice which 

 overhangs and shelters the walls below it, and prominently 

 marks the division of the roof into terraces. Here, as usual, these 

 boldly projecting cornices are of simple convex curvature, and 

 ornamented by erect horse-shoe facets, each containing a human 

 head in relief, usually with a bushy wig of hair. 



Except at the two angles of the temple and at the ends of the 

 portico-roof, where they are square and domed, all the ornamental 

 cells are oblong and waggon-roofed, with horse-shoe dormer niches 

 each containing a curved projecting block as if intended for a flat- 

 sided hood or canopy, over a tall narrow projecting panel-shaft 

 which may well have been once painted or left to be sculptured. 



The larger corresponding projections under the principal 



25 



