Page:India in Primitive Christianity.djvu/201

Rh seven, and that two of them had been demolished by the advancing tide.

Mahâbalipur is the famous Maliarpha of Ptolemy. Whether it had anything to do with the "Sheba," or "Tarshish," or " Pout," of the Egyptians and Jews we have not space to inquire.

And now what is the date of this Gopura pyramid? Perhaps Mr. Fergusson is right when he tells us confidently that it came into being 500 On the other hand there are potentialities of distant ages that make us tremble. With a chisel of four inches how long would it take to change a range of rocky hills into a range of temples? Then, how long would it take for a mighty city to rise up step by step, and to powerfully influence the civilised world, under the wing of the God of the Gopura? Then again, how long would it take the sea to destroy a large city? And a more crucial question, how long would it take for the soft lapping waves to reduce to sand and hide quite away two Rathas of solid rock?

I give a drawing of the Rathas done on the spot by that excellent artist Daniell a hundred years ago. (See Frontispiece). The taller pyramid from its position does not quite show how much taller it is than its neighbours.

I also give by the same excellent artist a view of the Kailâs rock-detached temples of Elora as seen from the top. (Pl. 11, page 147). The two viewed together bring out some striking facts.

1. Each is a group of minor buildings dominated by a great pyramid.

2. These pyramids have practically the same name, the City of S'iva (Mahâbalipur, Kailâs, Gopura).

3. The minor buildings have the same name Vimânas at Elora, Rathas at Mahâbalipur, synonyms for processional god-carriages.

4. In both cases we have a mountain changed into a group of temples by the aid of a small chisel.