Page:Report of a Tour Through the Bengal Provinces of Patna, Gaya, Mongir and Bhagalpur; The Santal Parganas, Manbhum, Singhbhum and Birbhum; Bankura, Raniganj, Bardwan and Hughli in 1872-73.djvu/187

Rh but not of recent date; the roofs are all of overlapping courses, although the arches supporting them are true arches. There are also some brick temples, of probably the same age, in the village; these, but especially the Rádháráman temple, are profusely ornamented with moulded and cut brick; the minute tracery, executed in such a soft material as brick, exposed to the weather, is in wonderful preservation, and shows how much can be done in this material at little cost; photographs of both temples have been taken, and are worth studying.

The most ancient and interesting objects here are, however, two temples, to the east of, and just outside, the village; one is of brick, the other of a soft kind of stone; both are much weather-beaten and partially broken, but such portions as still exist are interesting.

The stone temple was once a large and complete temple; traces of the foundations of the mahamandapa can still be seen, but only the tower portion containing the sanctum is standing now; this portion was once profusely ornamented with mouldings and sculpture, but the weather has worn away the stone (a very soft sandstone) so much, that the correct outline of the mouldings can nowhere be made out. A curious peculiarity of the mouldings of the temple, and indeed of temples of this part of Bengal in general, is, that at intervals the mouldings are interrupted by thin spaces left projecting, showing that the mouldings were cut after the temples were completely built up plain, generally; the septa interrupting the line of mouldings are solid, but in this temple the mouldings were so bold, that they have found it possible to perforate the septa at the back, and thus carry through the mouldings. This sketch shows the appearance of one where the cross shading represents the mouldings in section; the single shading represents the septum in elevation, and the blank B the portion hollowed through. The faces A of the septa, which are wide, were profusely and delicately sculptured into chaityas, statues, processions, battle scenes, &c.; at present only a few half-worn ones exist to show what they were originally.



It will be seen from the photograph that the upper portion of the tower of this temple is built differently to the lower, both in material and execution, being of coarse stone (granite probably) plain cut; it will also be seen that the front or entrance is quite plain;