Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/165

 CHAP. V. BIHAR CAVES. breadth, and beyond this a nearly circular apartment 19 ft. u in. by 19 ft., in the place usually occupied by the solid dagaba ; l in front of which the roof hangs down and projects in a manner very much as if it were intended to represent thatch. The most interesting of the group is that called Lomas Rishi, which, though bearing no contemporary in- scription, certainly belongs to the same age. The frontispiece is singularly interesting as representing in the rock the form of the structural chaityas of the age. These, as will be seen from the woodcut (No 55), were apparently constructed with strong 55. Facade of Lomas Rishi Cave. (From a Photograph by Mr Peppe, C. EX) wooden posts, sloping slightly inwards, supporting a longitudinal purlin morticed into their heads, while three smaller purlins on each side are employed to keep the roof in form. Between the pillars was a framework of wood, above which are shown five were all made for the Ajivika ascetics. 1 Indian Antiquary,' vol. xx. p. 362 ; ' Epigraphia Indica,' vol. ii. pp. 272. 274 ; Buhler, ' Sect of the Jainas,' (English version) p. 39. 1 At Kondivte, in Salsette, near Bombay, there is a chaitya cave of more modern date, which possesses a circular chamber like this, except that it is sunk perpendicularly into the hill side. In the older examples it is probable a relic or some sacred symbol occupied the cell ; in the later it may have been an 54. Kondivte Cave, Salsette. Scale, 50 ft. to i in. image though we know too little of the Ajivikas to say of whom or what.