Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/474

 398 FURTHER INDIA. BOOK VIII. goddesses, the richly sculptured cornices with cresting, and the roofs carved in imitation of tile construction, though all built in stone in horizontal courses. Some idea may also be conceived, Carved Lintel of the Temple at Bassak. as shown in Plate XLV., of the terrible ruin which is overtaking all the Cambodian temples owing to the overgrowth of the trees. The preservation of this building, constructed nearly nine centuries ago, is very remarkable, and this is borne out better in Plate XLIV., where, owing to the magnificent con- struction, the tower still stands erect, having lost only its two upper storeys and lotus cresting. PYRAMID TEMPLES. The finest example of the pyramid temples is that of Bapuon, immediately south of the palace in Angkor Thorn. It bears considerable resemblance to the temple of Bayon, but the height of the second and third platforms is much greater than in the latter ; thus whilst the first and second platforms of Bayon are respectively 10 and 26 ft. in height, those of Bapuon are 21 and 37, and the third platform is 48 ft. high. The Brahma masks were not carved on the twenty-eight towers of Bapuon, nor are the walls of the corridor enriched with the bas-relief sculpture of Bayon and Angkor Vat. The richness in beauty of the carving, however, is quite as fine as that of Bayon, and the arabesque scrolls of the architrave at Bassak (Woodcut No. 471), and of the pilasters and vertical panels elsewhere bear much resemblance to I2th century work French Gothic. The Chinese traveller of the I3th century already