Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/148

 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. it may have taken a hundred years to erect. The age of the torans is more easily ascertained. There is an inscription on the south gateway, which is certainly integral, which states that the gateway was erected during the reign of King Satakarni of the Andhra dynasty, and it is nearly certain that this applies to a king of that name who reigned about B.C. 155. If we assume that this gateway which leads to the steps by which the berm is ascended is probably the oldest of the four, it gives us a starting-point from which to determine the age of the others. The next to be erected would be the northern. That may have been followed by the eastern the one of which there is a cast at South Kensington and the last erected was perhaps the western. 1 The style and details of all these show a succes- sion and a progress that could hardly have taken place in much less than a century, and, with other reasons, enable us to assert without much hesitation, that the four gateways were added to the rail of the great tope during the 2nd century before the Christian Era. 2 The northern gateway is shown in the general view of the building (Woodcut No. 12), but more in detail in the cut (No. 38) on the following page. In design and dimensions these four gateways are all very similar to one another. The northern is the finest, 3 as well as somewhat larger than the others. Its pillars, to the underside of the lower beam, measure 18 ft, including the elephant capitals, and the total height to the top of the emblem is 35 ft. The extreme width across the lower beam is 20 ft. The other gateways are somewhat less in dimen- sions, the eastern being only 33 ft. in height. The other two having fallen, and though re-erected by Government we cannot be sure what their exact dimensions may originally have been. All these four gateways, or torans as they are properly called, were covered with the most elaborate sculptures both in front and rear wherever, in fact, their surface was not hidden by being attached to the rail behind them. Generally the sculptures represent scenes from the life or legend of 1 In later stupas, the west side seems to have been frequently regarded as the front ; but generally it was on the side facing the monastic buildings. 2 The details from which these de- terminations are arrived at will be found in ' Tree and Serpent Worship,' pp. 98 et seqq. Since that work was published, however, the discovery of .Satakarni's name in the Hathigumpha inscription, at Khandagiri, the re - adjustment of the chronology of the Andhras, and other epigraphical results, have considerably altered the actual dates ascribed to monuments of this early period ; their relative ages, however, are not materially affected by this. when Lieut. Cole had the opportunity he did not take a cast of this one instead of the eastern gateway. It is far more com- plete, and its sculptures more interesting.
 * It is very much to be regretted that