Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/403

 1868.] A History of Architecture: — The Hindoo. 325 crowded with sculptured figures ; there being not fewer than 600 throughout these caves, including 90 in the great Pagoda itself. This latter is 40 feet high, to the crown of the arch. We have omit- ted to mention, that the roof of this tem- ple differs from that of Elephanta in being arched, supported by rows of pil- lars, 35 in number, 5 feet iu diameter, of an octagonal form, and arranged with great regularity. The bases and capitals of these pillars are richly ornamented with figures of elephants, horses and tigers most truthfully and accurately carved. The temple is 84 feet long and 16 feet broad. There is a large vestibule, adorned with columns, having capitals and bases, and in which are two cele- brated colossal statues, 2T feet high, standing one on each side of the en- trance'to the temple. These figures are, like the rest, beautifully proportioned, and present the appearance of having been once painted. At the farther end, there is a stupendous altar, of a convex form, 21 feet high and 20 in diameter; and surrounding it are recesses, hewn out of the rock, for lamps. The general appearance of the?e excavations is con- sidered as being, if possible, still more grand than that of Elephanta, and bear- ing equally indisputable marks of remote antiquity. But even these intra-petrean temples, again, are surpassed by those of Ellora — a town situated 18 miles from Aurung- abad, in the Deccan — which, in the magnitude and extent of the excava- tions, and the beauty and grandeur of the sculptured figures, far excel any other works of a sinr'TiVr nature in Hin- dustan. There are no less than 16 dis- tinct Pagodas or temples in these ex- cavations, all of which are crowded with colossal figures and representations in relief of all the personages of the Hindoo Mythology, and embellished with the most lavish ornamentation of the style peculiar to that era. By actual measure- ment, the principal Pagoda has been ascertained to be 247 feet long, 150 feet broad, and 90 feet high. Any detailed description of these would, however, here be out of place, as, in the main, a mere repetition of what we have already said concerning the caves of Elephanta and Salsette. It will give the reader, perhaps, a faint concep- tion of the stupendous vastness of these monuments of antiquity, when we say, that it was the opinion of an artist em- ployed to take measurement and make drawings of them, that, to excavate and carve them, must have cost the labor of 40,000 men for 40 consecutive years ! We have hitherto confined our de- scription to those temples of Hindustan, which were formed by excavating the sides of rocky mountains. There were other forms of thSse ancient structures, however, that we must not pass by, with- out making a few cursory remarks. Some, of pyramidal form, were constructed of huge stones, rudely put together, and di- minished by steps — as at Tanjore and Deogur. Others, again, were composed of square or oblong courts of enormous dimensions. The stones composing them were of a size hardly credible. The gate- way of a Pagoda, on the coast of Coro- mandel, still existing at the present day, leads under a pyramid, 120 feet high. The circumference of the outer wall of another is four miles; and the stones composing the roof of the gateway are 33 feet in length, and 5i feet in breadth. We have temples of still more varied forms, and entirely different construc- tion, scattered throughout the East, which, although not boasting of such a great antiquity as the Bock-cut Temples, are equally deserving of mention. There are some in the form of a cross: for in- stance, the celebrated one on the Ganges at Benares, in Bengal- This temple is in the shape of a great cross, with a cupola in the centre. Others, again, are circular, of which the most noted one is Juggernath, near Point Palmyras, in the Province of Orissah, which is con-