Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/307

 CHAP. I. MARTAND. 263 lofty enclosure" was built by King Lalitaditya-Muktapida, 1 who ruled about A.D. 725 to 76o. 2 Jonaraja, a Kashmir chronicler of the first half of the 1 5th century, tells us that Sikandar Shah Bhutshikan (1393 - 1416) destroyed the image, and probably he wrecked the temple itself. The court, however, had been used as a fortification in Jaya- simha's reign, A.D. 1128 to "49- Unfortunately, the stone of which the temple is built is of so friable a nature that the sculptures are now barely recognisable, but, so far as can be made out from such photographs as exist, the principal figures in the niches have snake- hoods, which are recognised adjuncts of certain forms of Vishnu (Woodcut No. 148). Any one on the spot, with a competent know- of Hindu mythology, could determine the character of 148. these sculptures ; but no one has yet visited it with the preparation necessary to settle this and other uncertain points regarding the architecture and mythology of the place. A monograph, however, of this temple would be a work well worthy of any pains that might be bestowed upon it by any Indian archaeologist ; for, besides its historical and mythological importance, many of its details are of great beauty, and they have never been drawn with the care they so well merit (Wood- Niche with Figure at Martind. (From a Photograph.) 1 Gen. Cunningham, loc. cit. p. 263, misinterpreting this passage (' Raja- tarangini,' bk. iv. v. 192, and iii. v. 462), ascribed the temple to Ranaditya, and the enclosure only to Lalitaditya. Simharot- sika, where Ranaditya built a temple to Martanda in the 6th century, cannot now be identified. a Stein, ' Rajatarangint,' vol. i. introd., p. 88, and bk. iv. ver. 192. Lalita- ditya was a great patron of Vaishnavism, but he also countenanced Buddhism, which flourished in Kashmir in the 8th century, and built a vihara at Parihasapur with a colossal image of Buddha, and another vihara and a stupa at Hushkapur, bk. iv. verses 188, 200, 203.