Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/330

 2 86 ARCHITECTURE IN THE HIMALAYAS. BOOK II. been " improved." His drawings show it to have been one of the most picturesque buildings in the valley. It certainly is not so now. In speaking of the architecture of Kanara (vol. ii., pp. 76, 77, 83), the similarity that existed between that of that remote province and the style that is found in this Himalayan valley will be remarked ; and scarcely any one can look at the illus- trations referred to, especially Woodcuts Nos. 303 and 306, and not perceive the similarity between them and the Nepalese examples, though it might require a familiarity with all the photographs to make it evident, without its being pointed out. WOODEN TEMPLES. In the Himalayan districts between Kashmir and Nepal, in Kullu, Chamba, Kangra, and Kumaon, there are a vast number of temples, regarding which it would be extremely interesting to have more information than we now possess. They are all in wood, generally Deodar pine, and, like most buildings in that material, more fantastic in shape, but at the same time more picturesque and more richly carved than buildings in more permanent and more intractable materials. What we now know of them, however, is mainly derived from photographs, taken without any system, only as pictures, because the build- ings were either picturesque in themselves or so situated as to improve the landscape. No one yet has thought of measuring them, nor of enquiring into their age or traditions ; and till this is done it is impossible to treat of them in anything like a satisfactory manner. General Sir A. Cunningham in his Report for 1878-1879 made some mention of the temples he visited at Barmawar, Chaitran, and Chamba ; but beyond stating to what divinities they were severally dedicated, and the inscriptions found, his remarks on the architecture are of the briefest. 1 In 1902 and in 1903, the provincial archaeological surveyor visited the same places, but in search of epigraphical materials, and the chief addition of an architectural nature was a number of photographs, which, with- out plans and descriptions made on the spot, do not help us. In 1883 the late Mr. Wm. Simpson read to the Royal Institute of British Architects a paper on ' Architecture in the Himalayas,' in which he brought to notice that most of the houses in the hill country between the Satlaj and the Ganges valley are built of wood and stone ; timber being used in 1 'Archaeological Survey Reports,' vol. xiv. pp. 110-114.