Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/215

 CHAP. V. GWALIAR. '75 large block of building over a hundred yards square, more regular than such buildings generally are, but still sufficiently relieved both in outline, and in the variety of detail applied to the various storeys, to avoid monotony, and with its gardens leading down to the lake and its tombs opposite, combine to make up an architectural scene of a singularly pleasing character. It was built about the beginning jof the i/th century by Bir-Singh Deva, the Bundela chief of Urcha. 1 It is built of granite and is raised on a vaulted terrace about 40 ft. in height ; the first two storeys extend over the whole area and their immense halls, with arched roofs supported by numerous pillars, are badly lighted, as they have windows only on the outer facades. The next two storeys are round a terrace or court- yard, in the middle of which rises a square tower of four storeys containing the family apartments, and crowned by the central dome rising perhaps 140 ft. from the terrace. 2 The other palace is A even less known, as it belongs to the Bundelkhand state of Urcha (Woodcut No. 361), but is of a much more varied outline than that at Datiya, and with its domes and gateways makes up as picturesque a combination as can well be found anywhere. Built by the same Raja, it is too modern for much purity of detail, but that in a residence is less objectionable than it would be in a temple, or in an edifice devoted to any higher purpose. GWALIAR. Perhaps the most historically interesting of these Central Indian palaces is that of Gwaliar. The rock on which that fortress stands is of so peculiar a formation, and by nature so strong, that it must always have been occupied by the chiefs of the state in which it is situated. Its temples have already been described, but its older palaces have undergone the fate of all similar edifices ; it, however, possesses, or possessed, in that built by Man Singh (A.D. 1486-1518), the most remarkable and interesting example of a Hindu palace of an early age in India. The external dimensions of this palace are 300 ft. by 160 ft., and on the east side it is 100 ft. high, having two underground storeys looking over the country. On all its faces the flat surface is relieved by tall towers of singularly pleasing design, crowned by cupolas that were covered with domes of gilt copper when Babar saw them in 1 Bir-Singh was employed by Jahanglr in 1602 to waylay and kill the famous Abu-1-Fazl, when returning to Akbar's court. His tomb is at t)rcha and is an enormous structure. 2 Rousselet, 'L'Inde des Rajahs,' p. 391.