Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/157

 CHAP. III. BRAHMANICAL ROCK-CUT TEMPLES. 127 other end Vishnu seated on the five-headed serpent Ananta. The front pillars have three brackets each, of very wooden design, all of which are ornamented by two or three figures, generally a male and female, with a child or dwarf all of considerable beauty and delicacy of execution. The inner pillars are varied, and more architectural in their forms, but in the best style of Hindu art. 1 Compared with the style of art found at Amaravati, on the opposite coast, it is curious to observe how nearly Buddha, seated on the many- 327. Plan of Cave NO. 3> Badami. headed Naga, 2 resembles Vishnu on Ananta in the next woodcut, and though the religion is changed, the art has hardly altered to such an extent as might be expected, considering that three 328. Section of Cave No. 3, Badami. (From a Drawing by J. Burgess. Scale 25 ft. to i in. centuries at least had probably elapsed between the execution of these two bas-reliefs. The change of religion, however, is complete. Sometimes the Hindus successfully conquered one of the main difficulties of cave architecture by excavating them on the spur of a hill, as in the Dhumar Lena at Elura, and by surrounding them by courts, as there and at Elephanta and at Joge^war ; so that light was introduced on three sides in- stead of only one, as was too often the case both with Buddhist and Hindu excavations. These, though probably among the last, are certainly the finest Hindu excavations existing, if looked at from an architectural point of view. The Elura example is the larger and finer, measuring 149 ft by 148 (Woodcut No. 329). That at Elephanta, though extremely similar in general arrangement (No. 330), is less regular in 1 Burgess, ' Report on Belgam and Kaladgi,' plates 24-35. 2 'Tree and Serpent Worship,' plate 76 ; and ' Cave Temples of India,' plate 39.