Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/303

 CHAP. I. MARTAND. 259 where prevalent in Kashmir. Or, if we refer to Woodcut No. 60 or to 72, 1 the section of the cave at Ajanta, which it represents, affords a similar outline ; and, as in Kashmir and everywhere else in India, architectural decoration is made up of small models of large buildings applied as decorative features wherever required, it is by no means improbable that the trefoiled facade may have been adopted in Kashmir as currently as the simple horse-shoe form was throughout the Buddhist buildings of India Proper. All these features, however, mark a local style differing from anything else in India. MARTAND. By far the finest and most typical example of the Kashmiri style is the temple of Martand, situated about 5 miles east of Islamabad, the old capital of the valley. It is the archi- tectural lion of Kashmir, and all tourists think it necessary to go into raptures about its beauty and magnificence, comparing it to Palmyra or Thebes, or other wonderful groups of ruins of the old world. Great part, however, of the admiration it excites is due to its situation. It stands well on an elevated plateau, from which a most ex- tensive view is obtained, over a great part of the valley. No tree or house interferes with its solitary grandeur, and its ruins shaken down apparently by an earthquake lie scattered as they fell, and, unobscured by vegetation, they are the most impressive remains of early 145. Temple of Martand. (From a Draw- Kashmir architecture; nor are they vulgarised by any modern accretions. Add to this the mystery that hangs over their origin, and a Western impress on its details unusual in the East but which calls back the 1 See also Woodcut No. 80. On the Toran attached to the rail at Bharaut are elevations of chaitya halls, shown in section, which represent this trefoil form with great exactness. Cunningham, ' Stflpa of Bharhut,' plates 6 and 9.