Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/331

 CHAP. II. WOODEN TEMPLES. 287 alternate layers to bind the courses of stone together. 1 Upon this base of wood and stone stands the real dwelling which is altogether of wood, and on beams it overhangs the more solid structure beneath, and provides the dwelling with a verandah. The gable line of the pointed roof is not straight, but has an angle in it, making it steeper above, where protection was most indispensable, whilst the slope diminished over the external parts, that is in the eaves where leakage was least to be dreaded. This gives a Chinese look to these Himalayan houses. That this style of structure is not devoid of a certain picturesqueness may be judged from a sketch of a Hindu temple at Chergaon (Woodcut No. 161), on the Satlaj above Sarahan. 161. Hindu Temple at Chergaon in Chamba. (From a Sketch by the late Mr. W. Simpson.) It illustrates, too, the form to which the .rikhara is reduced in such a building ; and it may be noted that the corners of the projecting roofs are ornamented with quaint forms of gargoyles, sometimes representing the form of a bird stuck on the snout of a saurian or serpent. Whenever this chapter of Indian architectural history comes to be written, it will form a curious pendant to that of the wooden architecture of Sweden and Norway, the similarities between the two groups being both striking and instructive. It cannot be expected that any ethnographical or political connection can be traced between peoples so remote from one another which could influence their architectural forms ; but 1 'Transactions of the Royal Institute of British Architects,' Session 1882-1883, pp. 65ffg.