Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/36

 i6 JAINA ARCHITECTURE. BOOK V. so far as I know, is the earliest instance of honour paid to god or man in Indian sculptures. The third to the left is partly broken away by the fall of the wall between the next two doors ; but enough is left to show that it represented Surya, the sun-god, in his chariot drawn by four horses, with his two wives, much as in the small early vihara at Bhaja ; l and the fourth had been filled by a large elephant facing outwards, with one on each side holding up flowers. The arches over these sculptures and the frieze connecting them are also carved with figures in quaint positions or flying, and each arch is covered by two triple- headed serpents whose hoods are raised at the sides of the arches. The pilasters by the sides of the doorways are of a curious, if not exceptional class, and more like some of those found in early caves in the West than any others on this side of India (Woodcut No 271). They are evidently copied from some form of wooden posts stuck into stone bases, as is usual at Karle, Nasik, and other Western caves. Here, however, the surface is carved to an extent not found elsewhere, and betrays a wooden origin indicative of the early age to which the excava- tion of this cave must be assigned. The animal figures on the capitals and on other caves here is also a feature generally marking an early date, 271. Pilaster fron Ananta-gumpha. 272. Tiger Cave, Udayagiri. as is also the inward slope of the door jambs. The pillars of the verandah are gone, and a new support has been inserted by the Public Works engineers. 1 A sketch of this sculpture was pub- lished in Fergusson's 'Archaeology in India' (1884), p. 34. The small figure in front of the chariot with a jar is perhaps meant for Rahu carrying off the Amrita.