Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/212

 i 7 8 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. The notable feature, however, are the sculptures of the cave : a pillar and pilaster in the east end of the verandah have the bell-shaped quasi-Persepolitan capitals we find on some of the A.yoka lats, and which became more Indianised in detail at Bedsa, Karl, and elsewhere ; the figures that surmount these are here of exceptional form, being human female busts on bovine bodies (Woodcut No. 97). The jambs of the cell doorways slope inwards, and the walls above and between them are ornamented with the chaitya window pattern. On each wall are three deep niches roofed by three chaitya arches ; and between those on the east side, corresponding to the cell doors opposite, are two panels containing standing figures or guards, each with a staff or spear and peculiar head-dresses. In the verandah are three others in very unusual and elabo- rate costumes and head-dresses ; one hold- ing two arrows and another a bow. And on the west end of the verandah is a large sculpture, divided by the cell door. On one side we have Surya and his two wives, in his chariot drawn (as in the Greek mythology) by four horses, and apparently accompanied by two guards on horseback, with what may be meant for demons of darkness below the horses ; the other half represents two large figures on an elephant, with many smaller ones below and around, 97. Capital of Pilaster at and two sacred trees. In the verandah of Bhaja. Scale about i/i6th. t h e Ananta Gumpha at Khandagiri and at Bodh-Gaya are also found representations of Surya, and on the Lahul lota both parts of this sculpture are represented with but slight differences. 1 Are these traces of the Suryopasakas or Saurapatas, the sun-worshippers, who were long an influential sect in India, 2 or how are we to account for such sculptures? Besides this, among the Buddhist caves of western India there are at least six or seven viharas which we know for certain were excavated before the Christian Era. There are 1 This cave has been pretty fully illustrated in 'Cave Temples,' pp. 513- 517, and plates 96-98; 'Archaeological Survey of Western India,' vol. iv. pp. 3-6, and plate 6; and in Le Bon's c Les Monu- ments de 1'Inde,' p. 42. 8 The five orthodox divisions of Hindus are the 5aivas, Vaishnavas, Jiaktis, Saurapatas, and Ganapatyas, but the last two are of very limited extent, though sun-worship is still found among the Kathis and other tribes in Gujarat. ' Archaeological Survey Western India,' vol. ix. pp. 72ff ; Beal, ' Buddhist Records,' vol. i. p. 223 ; vol. ii. pp. 188, 274; Al-Beruni's 'India,' Sachau's trans, vol. i. pp. 1 1 6, 121, 298; and 'Bombay Gazetteer,' vol. ix. part i. pp. 257, 393.