Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/268

 234 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. appears since it was restored in 1842, is shown on Plate No. II. Its diameter and height are now nearly the same at the base about 55 ft; and it stands on a platform raised about II ft. from 130. Thuparama Dagaba. (From an unpublished Lithograph by the late James Prinsep. ) the ground, on which are arranged four rows of tall pillars of strikingly slender proportions, which form by far the most important architectural ornament of the building. The inner circle stands about 3 ft. from the dagaba, and the next two about 10 ft. from each other. The shafts are monoliths 22 ft. 10 in. in height in the inner row, and diminish successively by about 18 in. in the next two rows, in each of which the lower part, to a third of the height, is left square, each side being about i ft. These sustain octagonal capitals of singularly grace- ful outlines, 2 ft. I in. in height, and 2 ft. 2 in. across the top. They are carved with figures and foliage, and under the capitals the pillars are ornamented with fringes 14 in. deep, depending from kirttimukh faces carved in low relief on the angles. The sculpture on the capitals of the first and second circles are similar, namely squatting or dwarf human figures ; in the third row the ornaments differ. The pillars in the fourth or outer circle are monoliths, 14 ft. in height including the capitals ; they are entirely octagonal, and their shafts are 10 in. diameter. The capitals are very similar to those of the inner circles, but differ in dimensions and ornamentation. They are 21 in. in height and i8 in. across the abacus, and are sculptured with sixteen capering dwarfs (Woodcut No. 131). They have octagonal seatings on the tops of 2 in. high and 10 in. diameter,