Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/646

* INDIAN ART. 564 INDIAN ART. the important works were sonip thirty rock-cut templ«M iiiid aUoiit ii thousand moniistiTies. also cut out of the niountainsiilo. Tlic teniplfs arc largo, sinj^lo, oblong halls, diviiled into nave and aisles by two rows of heavy cnluMins, approached by a vestibule with an arilied fa(ade, richly cared, and having at the apsidal end a colossal statue of lUiddha. There is a series of these covering a jv^riod of nearly a thousaml years. The earliest — at I'liaja — are the snuillesl and simplest. At Karli i seiond century n.c.) the nave has a stilted tunnel vault, and the heavy columns are octagonal, with bases and capitals surmounted by elephants, making the interinr somewhat resemble a dark, tunnel-vaulted French Romanesijue church. Kven more impressive are the largest cave temples at Ajanta and Ellora (i].v.). where temples and monasteries are multi- plied side by side in the face of the nnk. The massive piers, the wonderfully varied souljitures, and the frescoes at Ajanta are of s|)ecial interest. TTie monasteries are more modest: they are often grouped about these temples, and consist of a large central hall, out of which ojien the indi- vidual cells of the recluses, all cut out of the rock. One of those at .janta is 05 feet square, and is supported by twenty pillars. The cells are on two sides, the entrance porch at one end and the sanctuary at the other, the whole being richly earveil and painted. The thini class, the itiipas, or toprs. are great brick memorial mounds of circular form. Thov were at first of domical outline, surmounted by a little chapel or shrine, and surrounded by a marble rail or balustrade entered by four gates. The Bharhut stup.a (c.150 B.C.) has been demolished, but that of Sanchi is in splcmlid preservation. The Amra- vati stupa is remarkable for its elaborate and beaulifnl figured sc iiljitures. Finally, the only temple built above ground during the Buddhist period. Buddha Oaya (e.lOO n.c.l. is in the form of a pyramid with square base, at the cor- ners of which rise four small pyramids. It is 52 meters high, in nine .stories, and with three inner superposed sanctuaries. Like all the other early monuments, it is built of brick. Originally it was surroun<led by a marble rail like the slupas. The pyramidal form is exceptional in the north at this period, tlmugh later it became common in the scnitli. Kvjdently there is little of constnutive value in this period, as Buddha Gaya is the only example of the builders' art. the rest being cut out of the mass or mere mounds. XEO-BRAnMAXic Period. The next period, the Neo-Brahmanic, almost entirely abandons the impressive rock-cut temples and monasteries, and develops decorative details. Indian art. which has hitherto been confined to the Xorth. spreads not only southward, but far beyond the borders of India, and had previously been carried to China. The principal branch of this art is mis- takenly called .Taina hy some authorities. Its most interesting examples are perhaps in the Province of Orissa. The southern school asserts its independence. In the North the Brahman temples consist of one or more rectangular halls approached by porches and surmounted by cunM- linear pyramids, while the temples of the South are immense rectancrulnr inelosures entered through pyramidal doorways of several stories. Even now no true vaults are used in construction, but spaces are covered by false vaults of over- hanging courses, and ther" are no vast interiors as there were in the earlier rock-cut temples. The central halls of the monasterici l«'conic open cloisters with their cells. A curious cla.ss of buildings at Kllora slmws the transition to this period from the Buildbisl, for they are in the open instead of cut in the mountain; tl are entirely hewn out- of the ro<'k instead of being constructed. The XeoBrahmanic monuments can be classified under five beails: (1) In the Northeast, Orissa; (2) in Bundelkhund and Uaj- putana; (3) in tiujarat ; (4) in the Central Provinces; (5) in the South. The style in Orissa, as it flourished for 700 or 800 years, differs from that of the Soutli in having no storied towers or columnar halls or liupiirnms. The numerous temples at Bhuva- ncsHar are its highest expression. The tower of the larger temple (c.OOO a.».) is 180 feet high, and near it is the 'Black Pagoda,' whose superb decoration marks a new era. Hut in general these temples are small. They are built of stone, which has entirely replaced brickwork in this region. Much later (c.l200 a.d.) is the temple of Jaga- math at Puri, which shows the absolute deca- dence of this style. Quite distinct is the contemporarj' school of Rajputana, whose ruined city, Khajuraho, with its several miles of ancient buildings, including some forty temples, is unsurpassed in India. The plan of these temples is more elaborate, being made enuifonn by the projection of wings and porches, and the elevation being elaborated hy the grouping of many subordinate pyramids and spires around the central i)yramid. Each temple stands on a stone platform, and ordinarily meas- ures about 40 meters in height and ,■?."> meters in width. Like the preceding, the remarkable tem- ples at Owalior date from the tenth to the elev- enth century. Decorative and figured sculpture now spreads luxuriantly over every inch of sur- face. The interiors are small and dark, the sup- ports heavy and broken, and the decoration of the pyramiilal exterior has Iwconie the most effective part of the style. The style of con- temporary towers is shown by the rich examples at Chittur. Perhaps the extreme of delicacy of ilesign and minute care in execution appears in the two tem])les of Mount .bu (eleventh to twelfth century), built entirely of while marble, and each standing on a raised platform. The carved inside surface of a dome in the earlier of these temples (c.1030) is .a more astonishing piece of work than the most elaborate English i li.te-Gothic fan-vaulting. The use of false domes ' is an interesting feature of a whole group of these temples, including those at Xagda recently discovered. Passing to the centre of India, we find few but important works. The temples of Ellora (q.v.). famois the world over, exemplify the fusion of Buddhism and Brahmanism. There are about thirty excavated in the rock over a distance of two kilometers, during a period of aboit three ' centuries (a.d. .500-800); others, again, as men- tioned above, are cut in the rock above ground. The earliest and greatest temple is that of Vis- wakarma, 20 x 13 X 10 meters, divided into three aisles by 38 pillars. The temple of In- dra ic remarkably rich decoratively, hut less .so than the Kailasa (see Elloba), which is largely in the open (eighth century), cut out of a single mass of rock, and one of the most fantastic and