Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/187

 CHAP. V. CHAITYA HALLS AT AJANTA. '53 afterwards in China became the conventional number for the nine-storeyed towers of that land. The last chaitya at Ajanta (No. 26) is of a medium size, 67 ft. 10 in. by 36 ft. 3 in., and 31 ft. 3 in. high, and has a long inscription and three short ones, but, unfortunately, they contain nothing to enable us to fix its date with certainty. 1 It is certainly more modern than the last-named, its sculptures are coarser, and their meaning more mythological. We shall probably not err in assuming that it was excavated towards the end of the 6th or beginning of the 7th century ; and that 75. Rock-cut Dagaba at Ajanta. (From a Drawing by the Author.) 76. Small Model found in the Tope at Sul- tanpur. (From Wilson's 'Ariana Antiqua,' plate 3.) the year 600 is not far from its true date. 2 An idea of the 1 ' Archaeological Survey of Western India,' vol. iv. pp. 132-136. In the longer inscription, the Arhat or Sthavira Achala is mentioned, who is also spoken of by Iliuen Tsiang. Beal, 'Buddhist Records,' vol. ii. pp. 257-258. 2 'Cave Temples,' pp. 341-345, and plates 37, 38, 50, and 51; 'Archaeo- logical Survey of Western India,' vol. iv. PP- 58, 59, and plates 3 and 36.