Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/224

 190 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. the walls are covered with frescoes representing scenes from the Buddhist jatakas, or from the legends of Buddha's life, and the roof and pillars by arabesques and ornaments, generally of great beauty of outline, heightened by the most harmonious colouring. 108. View of Interior of Vihara No. 16, at Ajanta. (From a Sketch by the Author.) No. 17, which is very similar in plan, was long known as the Zodiac cave, from the figure of a Buddhist Bhava-chakra or ' wheel of life ' painted at the left end of its verandah, which was mistaken by early visitors for a celestial emblem. 1 The general effect of its architecture internally may be gathered 1 'Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,' 1894, p. 370 and plate; 'Man' for January 1901. Dr. Bird peeled off many of the figures. 'Cave Temples,' pp. jogffg.