Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/76

 4 8 JAINA ARCHITECTURE. BOOK V- many hints for the graceful arrangement of columns in an interior. 1 Besides its merits of design, its dimensions are by no means to be despised ; it covers altogether about 48,000 sq. ft, or nearly as much as one of our ordinary mediaeval cathedrals, and, taking the basement into account, is nearly of equal bulk ; while in amount of labour and of sculptural decorations it far surpasses any. Another temple here is of marble, covered outside with sculpture, and contains a black stone image of Parnvanath. It is probably of about the same age as the larger one. GWALIAR. The rock at Gwaliar is, and must always have been, one of the most remarkable high places in Central India, and seems, as such, early to have been appropriated by the Jains. Its position and its scarps, however, led to its being fortified, and, as one of the strongest places in India, it was attacked and taken by storm by Altamsh, the first Moslim Emperor of Delhi, in A.D. 1232 ; and from that time till the fall of the Mughal empire it was held by the Muhammadans, or by Hindu kings subject to their suzerainty. Under these circumstances, we should hardly expect to find any extensive ancient Hindu remains in the place. The most striking part of the Jaina remains at Gwaliar are a series of caves or rock-cut sculptures that are excavated in the rock on all sides, and amount, when taken together, to hardly less than a hundred, great and small. They are, how- ever, very unlike the chaityas or viharas of the Buddhists, still less do they resemble the Jaina and Brahmanical caves, already mentioned or hereafter. Most of them are mere niches to contain statues, though some are cells that may have been originally intended for residences. One curious fact regarding them is, that, according to inscriptions, they were all excavated within the short period of about thirty-three years, between A.D. 1441 and 1474. Some of the figures are of colossal size ; one, for instance, is 57 ft. high, which is greater than any other in the north of India, though in the south there are some which equal or compare with it, and, as free-standing figures, are expressive and more difficult to execute. 2 1 c Picturesque Illustrations of Ancient Architecture in Hindustan,' p. 42, and and Rajputana,' pp. 19-22, and plates. 2 For illustrations of Gwaliar see Dr. G. Lc Bon, 'Les Monuments de 1'Inde,' pp. 93-98, and figs. 85-98; Sir L. Griffin, ' Famous Monuments of Central India,' pp. 60-80, and plates 39-46 ; and Work- man's 'Through Town and Jungle,' pp. iSoff.
 * Architecture and Scenery in Gujarat