Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/371

 CHAP. II. ^IKHARAS. 323 vessel." l Its peculiar corrugated form occurs frequently in old examples as a sort of blocking course dividing the jikharas horizontally into numerous small compartments, and it seems as if what is used there in a straight-lined form was employed as a circular orna- ment at the summit. It is a very beautiful architectural device, and was, as far as I can see, adopted only because it was so, and con- trasted brilliantly with the flat ornaments with which it was employed. At present 183. Restored Elevation of the Sun-temple at Kanarak. (From a Drawing by the Author.) No Scale. we do not seem to be in a position to explain its origin, or that of a great many other details that are frequently met with in Hindu architecture. 1 The "amalaka" has been popularly- supposed to be derived from dmalaka the Phyllanthus emblica, Emblica officinalis or Emblica myrobalan ; but, though an article of Hindu materia medica, it is so insignificant a berry that it could hardly be thought of as an architectural model. May it not be from aniala "pure," " spotless " ? Amalanla " pure stone," is applied to this crowning member. Beal, ' Buddhist Records,' vol. ii pp. 136-137 ; Foucher, ' L'Art Greco-Bouddhique du Gandhara,' tome i. p. g6n.