Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/88

 6o JAINA ARCHITECTURE. BOOK V. in height ; the whole being covered with archi- tectural ornaments and sculptures of Hindu divin- ities to such an extent as to leave no plain parts, while at the same time this mass of decoration is kept so subdued, that it in no way interferes either with the outline or the general effect of the pillar. 1 The Muhammadans, as we shall afterwards see, adopted the plan of erecting towers of victory to commemorate their exploits, but the most direct imitation was by the Chinese, whose nine- storeyed pagodas are almost literal copies of these Indian towers, trans- lated into their own peculiar mode of expres- sion. Other examples of this middle style of Jaina architecture are to be found at Palitana, Girnar, and all the fashionable tirthas of the Jains, but they have not been de- scribed or illustrated to that extent that enables us always to feel sure that what we see really belongs to this date, and may not be a repair or a modification of some pre- existing building. The Chaumukh or Four- Tower of Victory of Kumbha Rana at Chitor. (From a Photograph.) 1 The dome that now crowns this tower was substituted for an older dome since I sketched it in 1839-