Page:An Elementary History of Art.djvu/37

 Indian Architecture. 7 the nave from the aisles ; and in Buddhist temples a small dagoba, or shrine, containing a seated image of Buddha, rises at the end of the cave, in much the same place as the altar in Christian churches. Buddhist caves are of simple construction, with plain piers and unpretending ornamentation ; the Brahminical, or Hindu, on the other hand, are often intricate structures, with every part pro- fusely decorated with sculptures. Fig. 2. — Cave of Elephanta. There are no less than thirty-six caves of this description scattered through the Western Ghauts and in the island of Elephanta in the harbour of Bombay. The illustration (Fig. 2) is of one of these. The cave of Karli, on the road between Bombay and Poonah, is the largest, most perfect, and most beautiful. On the Coromandel coast, near the village of Sadras, are the cave-temples of Mahavellipore, which are probably the