Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/186

 148 NORTHERN OR INDO-ARYAN STYLE. BOOK VI. Hemadpanti temples, as they are called, are pretty numerous in Berar, the central districts of the Bombay Presidency and the northern parts of the Haidarabad territory districts that belonged to the Devagiri kingdom of the I2th and I3th centuries, to which they seem mostly to belong. But the style is found to have prevailed far beyond the limits of that state, and even at an earlier date. From the later temples at least, in Berar and Khandesh, the mythological representations on the outer walls had disappeared, and geometrical carvings had taken their place. Only upon the older ones usually much ruined as at Lonar, do we find bands of figure sculpture round the mandap. 1 NAGDA. Near the great temple of Eklingaji, about 12 miles north from Udaypur, is a group of scarcely known temples, that seem to range from the I2th century, if not earlier, to the I5th. They are on the western margin of the Baghela-talao, a large artificial lake, and belong to the remains of the ancient city of Nagda or Nagahrad, extending for about a mile in length. The temples are of white marble and belong to both the Jaina and Hindu religions, and form one of the most remarkable series on this side of India. Though the place is quite deserted and the temples much dilapidated, and whilst the sculptures have in many cases been much mutilated, they are of great beauty, and compare not unfavourably with those at Abu. 2 The finest here are two Vaishnava temples, known as Sas-bahu, 3 standing, with other smaller shrines, on a raised platform or terrace. Below the terrace on the east is a handsome swing torana with four pillars in line. This is in front of the Bahu temple, which is the smaller and plainer of the two. Its mandap or portico is open and square, with extensions on the three sides, from which project the entrances, and is surrounded by a low screen wall on which stand fourteen short pillars supporting the roof, 1 Forty years ago Major Gill made a tour through parts of West Berar, photo- raphing the Hemadpanti temples at akegaon, Jaypur-Kotli, Amdapur, Sir- pur, Mehkar, Sendurjana, Lonar, Dhotra and S&tgaon. I expanded his brief notes for him into a somewhat detailed account ; this he somewhat abridged and altered, and it was then printed in the * Proceed- ings of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' Feb. 1873, pp. 66-71. These abridged notes were used in the 'Lists of Antiquarian Remains in Bombay Presidency ' (1885), pp. 226-241. to them early in 1873. ' Architecture and Scenery in Gujarat and Rajputana,' pp. 28, 29, and plates 15, 16. Dr. Le Bon, during his tour in 1884, visited them, and published photographs of the Hindola torana or swinging arch, and three each of the Sasu and Bahii temples, which he mistakenly calls ' Banka ' and ' Sasouka ' or ' Sahaskot' respectively. ' Les Monu- ments de 1'Inde,' pp. 105-107, and figs. 111-118. 3 ' Mother and daughter-in-law,' as at Gwaliar.
 * The editor paid a very hurried visit