Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/190

 '56 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. figures of Buddha himself, 1 but there are not even any of those figures of men and women which we meet with at Karle and elsewhere. Everything at Junnar wears an aspect of simplicity and severity, due partly to the antiquity of the caves of course, but, so far as known, unequalled elsewhere. There are evidences in several places that plaster and painting were employed for the decoration of these caves ; and among them we find ten chaityas some unfinished mostly without side aisles or the arched facades we find else- where. Only one that in Manmoda hill 2 has any sculpture on the facade: and as will be seen from Woodcut No. 78, this is quite unique in style. In a fan -shaped sculpture is represented the goddess Sri or Gaja Lakshmi, standing with her two elephants pouring water over her, and behind them, on each side are two worshippers in attitudes of adoration. Though so ubiquitous and continuous through all ages, it is seldom this goddess occupies so important a position as she does here ; but her history has still to be written. On the edge of the small semicircular centre of the sculpture on this facade is an inscription in an alphabet of about the century H.C., stating that " the hall-front was the gift of Chanda a Yavana." Above the fronton, on each side of the finial, are figures : on the right, of a Nagaraja with a fly flap, and on the left a figure with a bird on his shoulders, and behind each is a dagaba in high relief. The interior of this cave is 30 ft. in length and 12 ft. 6 in. wide between the pillars of the nave, of which three are blocked out on the right side and two just commenced on the left ; and the entrance, nearly the width of the nave, is destroyed by the breaking of the lintel. The dagaba is plain, but, with the whole interior of the cave, it has been left quite unfinished, owing apparently to a soft stratum of rock being met with by the excavators. A little to the east of this is a series of four cells with a neatly carved facade ; each door has the chaitya-window arch over it projecting about 15 in., and is carved below in the same style as over the doorway of the Nasik chaitya, whilst between the arches are sculptured dagabas, rail-pattern and smaller arches indicative of an early date. 3 The Tulja Lena group, about 2 miles west from Junnar, consists of some dozen excavations, among which one is a vihara with five cells, another was, perhaps a refection hall, 1 There are some defaced images probably of late date in a cell in the Manmoda group, that are probably late Jaina. ' Cave Temples,' p. 261; 'Archae- ological Survey of Western India,' vol. iv. p. 36. 2 There is a representation of this cave in Dr. Bird's book, plate 16, but so badly done that it requires being told what is intended in order to find it out. 3 A part of this fa$ade is represented in ' Cave Temples,' plate 17, fig. 5.