Page:Picturesque Nepal.djvu/266

 drawing, modelling, and technique of which are equal to any Italian acanthus of the best period. But this is only one specimen of hundreds. The Makara is said to be the vehicle of Varuna, the god of the ocean, and is also borne on the banner of the god of love. It represents the sign of Capricornus in the Hindu zodiac, and is a feature in Asiatic art of all countries and all ages. In Bengal this strange decorative animal may be identified in many buildings dating from the third century A.D. to the thirteenth, and in edifices of the latter century it is also observable in China. Tibet, Southern India, and Ceylon have also utilized this universal element in the art of the varying periods, and it was employed in the most profuse manner in Java during the ninth and tenth centuries of this era. Van Erp states that it is "the favourite motive of Central Javanese-Hindu art. It is found everywhere, a thousand times repeated, and on structural parts which lend themselves in any degree to its application. It occurs on staircase stringers, as a border, in frames, niches, gateways, in crown pieces and