Page:The Rock-cut Temples of India.djvu/147



REAT richness of effect is given to this interior by the elaborate sculptures of the capitals. These consist, in every instance, of a square niche containing a seated figure of Buddha, only very slightly varied. The brackets on either side of the central block differ every one from the other, and consist of figures of men and women in the most violent attitudes; of men on horseback, or elephants, of griffins, and dragons—in short, a whole legendary history of Buddhism and of Buddhist symbolism, for there cannot be a doubt but that each composition had a legend attached to it, though we can now only identify a very few of these fragmentary groups. Indeed, we can hardly feel certain that we know the subject of all the larger and more circumstantial pictures painted on the walls of the Viharas. 30