Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/176

 i 4 2 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. cave but the rafters of the roof internally, and these have fallen down. Outside this cave, over the doorway, there is an inscription, stating that " the villagers of Dhambika gave the carving over it " ; and another though imperfect on the projecting ledge over the guardian to the left of the entrance, reads that " the rail-pattern and the Yaksha were made by Nadasiri." A third inscription, on two of the pillars of the nave, ascribes the com- pletion of the " Chaityagriha " to Bhatapalika granddaughter (?) of Maha-Hakusiri. The first two are in nearly pure Maurya characters, and appear to be about coeval with the inscription of Krishna-raja in the small vihara close by, which we ascribe to about B.C. 160 ; and the third can hardly be much later. 1 Taking these inscriptions in conjunction with the architecture, the age of this cave hardly seems doubtful. We may accept B.C. 1 60 as approximately the date of its inception, though its completion may be a quarter of a century later, and, if this is so, it carries back the caves of Bhaja, Bedsa, and the others, to a period considerably before that time, while, on the other hand, it as certainly is older than the Karle cave, which appears to come after it in age, whilst Cave No. 9 at Ajanta may be quite as old. KARLfi. The last of the caves mentioned above, known as that at Karle, is situated near the railway between Bombay and Poona, and is the finest of all the finest, indeed, of its class. It is certainly the largest as well as the most complete chaitya cave known in India, and was excavated at a time when the style was^in its greatest purity. In it all the architectural defects of the previous examples are removed : the pillars of the nave are quite perpendicular. The screen is ornamented with sculpture its first appearance apparently in such a position and the style had reached a perfection that was never after- wards surpassed. In this cave there is an inscription in the left end of the porch, and another on the lion - pillar in front, which are certainly integral, and the first ascribes its completion to " Setthi Bhutapala of Vaijayanti " (or Banavasi), whilst the second states that the lion-pillar was the gift of the " Maharathi Agnimitranaka son of Goti " ; but neither of these, nor others on pillars, door- way, and arch, help us to a date. We are thus thrown back on style, without any help from examples closely akin in 1 ' Epigraphia Indica,' vol. viii. pp. 91-93.