Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/512

 446 CHALUKYAN STYLE. BOOK IV. pleasing creamy colour, and so close-grained as to take a polish like marble. The pillars of the great Nan'di pavilion, which look as if they had been turned in a lathe, 1 are so polished as to exhibit what the natives call a double reflection in other words, to reflect light from each other. The enduring qualities of the stone seem to be unrivalled, for, though neglected and exposed to all the vicissitudes of a tropical climate for seven centuries, the minutest details are as clear and sharp as the day they were finished. Except from the splitting of the stone arising from bad masonry, the building is as perfect as when its erection was stopped by the Muhammadan conquest. It is, of course, impossible here to illustrate completely so complicated and so varied a design ; but the following woodcut (No. 263) will suffice to explain the general ordonnance of its elevation. The building stands on a terrace ranging from 5 ft. to 6 ft. in height, and paved with large slabs. On this stands a frieze of elephants, following all the sinuosities of the plan and extending to some 710 ft. in length, and containing not less than 2000 elephants, most of them with riders and trappings, sculptured as only an Oriental can represent the wisest of brutes. Above these is a frieze of " jardulas," vyalas, or conventional lions or tigers the emblems of the Hoysala Ballalas who built the temple. Then comes a scroll of infinite beauty and variety of design; over this a frieze of horsemen and another scroll ; over which is a bas-relief of scenes from the Ramayana, represent- ing the conquest of Ceylon and all the varied incidents of that epic. This, like the other, is about 700 ft. long. (The frieze of the Parthenon is less than 550 ft.) Then come celestial or conventional beasts and birds, and all along the east front a frieze of groups from human life, and then a cornice, with a rail, divided into panels, each containing two figures. Over this are windows of pierced slabs, like those of Belur, though not so rich or varied. These windows will be observed on the right and left of the woodcut. In the centre, in place of the windows, is first a scroll, and then a frieze of gods and heavenly apsarasas dancing girls and other objects of Hindu mythology. This frieze, which is about 5 ft. 6 in. in height, is continued all round the western front of the building, and extends to some 400 ft. in length. Siva, with his consort Parvati seated on his knee, is repeated at least fourteen times ; Vishnu in his various Avataras even oftener. Brahma occurs several times, and every great god of the Hindu Pantheon finds his place. Some of these are 1 They were, in fact, set vertically in a sort of pit and turned, probably in water, giving them a very smooth surface and chasing out the very fine mouldings with an accuracy and uniformity that could hardly have been otherwise attained.