James Fergusson

“ The tee, or square relic casket, on its summit, being cut in the rock, still retains its original form, but the umbrella which once crowned it, being of wood, has perished, and nothing remains to tell of its existence here but the mortice into which it was originally stepped. ”

“ The first was that of the immigrating Aryans—an elemental fire-worship, as far removed from superstition or idolatry as any human faith well can be. We know it only from the Vedas, and from its analogy with the fire-worship of the ancient Persians; for no stranger visited India during its prevalence who has left us an account of what he saw, and no monument or material records remain by which it could be judged. We have every reason, however, to suppose that it continued pure and undefiled till the period when it was superseded by Buddhism, some three centuries before our era. ”

“ Taking it altogether, this façade is perhaps as pleasing a specimen of design as is to be found in this style of architecture. If the principles on which it is composed are condemned, the whole system falls; but it seems there is an amount of variety combined with sufficient uniformity for architectural purposes, and there is a richness of effect produced by the whole composition, for which it would not be easy to quote a rival in any other building of the same size or pretensions. ”

“ Occasionally, however, strata intervene of harder texture than the rest, giving that curious steplike character which distinguishes the hill forts of India. Whether harder or softer, it is free from faults and cracks, and so uniform in character, that the architect feels the most perfect confidence in finding a suitable material, however deeply he may penetrate. ”

“ The centre hall is surrounded by twenty pillars, generally of an octagonal form, the sides of which are adorned in painting with something like a Roman scroll, alternating with wreaths of flowers.
All the details of the architecture of this Cave are particularly good and elegant, more so than any other in this series. There are no side chapels, but eighteen cells surrounding the great hall. The figure in the sanctuary is seated with his feet down. Some of the paintings are tolerably entire and extremely interesting, though not so much so as those in the next cave. ”

“ The pillars of its external façade are bold and suitable in design to rock-cut architecture; but they are deficient in elegance of outline, and their details are small and shallow to an extent wholly unsuited to their position. ”

“ At all events, the earliest monuments we know in India, the lâts of Asoka, are adorned with Greek ornaments, evidently borrowed from the Bactrian Greeks of Central Asia, and in the earlier caves there is not one single form that suggests lithic architecture; every form is essentially wooden, and frequently interchanging with wood itself.
All the Buddhist caves we know of belong to one of two classes. They are either Viharas or Monasteries, or they are Chaitya caves or churches,—the former being, as might be expected, by far the most numerous. ”

“ The upper storey is a splendid hall, measuring 100 feet each way; the roof supported by 44 pillars spaced equally over the floor, but in lieu of the cells of a Vihara, there is a group of sculpture between each pilaster. ”

“ When standing in the pit, however, and looking up at them, there is something in the seclusion, and an effect of eternity in the simple wall of rock enclosing the richly-carved temple, which goes far to redeem these faults, and renders them, on the whole, much more impressive than structural temples of even greatly increased dimensions. ”

“ So far as we know, the Aryans built no permanent buildings in India. Their pure religion required no stately ceremonies, and consequently no temples. The climate is so temperate, that palatial structures were only necessary for the display of passing pageantry; and it also happens that where races of men are not in the habit of building temples or tombs, their residences are more remarkable for temporary convenience than they are for permanent magnificence. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The light on the floor is subdued, and the roof and aisles fade into comparative gloom. It is perhaps the most artistic mode of lighting a building of this class that has ever been invented, certainly superior to anything that was done by the Romans, or during the middle ages. ”

“ On the whole, it appears that it is the last process that has taken the greatest amount of time and labour. The blocking out of a Cave in such a material as amygdaloidal trap is probably not a more expensive process than building such a structure on the plain might prove. If this be so, the durability of a rock-cut structure is such that it might have been far more generally adopted were it not that the situation where they are necessarily placed is often inconvenient, and the power of lighting them frequently insufficient. ”

“ The whole light being introduced through one great opening in the centre of the façade throws a brilliant light on the altar—the principal object—and also in the triforium belt and the capitals of the pillars, being exactly where it is most wanted for artistic effect. ”

“ THE external architecture has nearly lost all trace of its wooden origin, except the rafters of the great opening, which were seldom lost sight of; but now they are beginning to be used as shelves for figures, and the lowest is cut through to make room for two seated Buddhas, larger than the rest. ”

“ THE amount of sculpture, both historical and architectural, that covers every part of the Kylas adds immensely to the impressive but mysterious effect of the whole, and its variety is as remarkable as its quantity. ”

“ IMMEDIATELY to the north of the Buddhist group just described are three Caves, which are singularly interesting as showing the steps by which a Buddhist Vihara was converted into a Brahmanical Chaori. ”

“ The Jaina temples are so few as hardly to require classification, and have no architectural peculiarities by which they can be distinguished. Their arrangements partake principally of that of the Brahmanical caves; indeed, it is only by their sculpture that they can be distinguished from them. ”

“ THE second Cave from the north end is a twelve-pillared Vihara, of which is given a plan at page xviii. It is in very good preservation, and the paintings, particularly on the pillars, are tolerably perfect. In the sanctuary there is a statue, of course of Buddha, and there is a chapel on each side of it, at the end of the aisles. In the one on the north are two most portly, fat figures, a male and female; in the south one, two male figures occupying a like position. ”

“ The external façade is plain, but in good taste, consisting of four plain octagonal piers with bracket capitals, standing in a plain panelled stylobate approached by a flight of steps; the whole design being very appropriate to its position. ”

“ The niches and little semicircular canopies have lost so much of their wooden origin that, if they could not be traced back, their derivation would hardly be suspected. The wooden forms, however, still remain the same on the inner face of the great arch, and in the overhanging part of the rock which crowns the façade. ”

“ The Brahmanical temples are still more unlike the Buddhist examples, as these are invariably exteriors, and have consequently no meaning when cut in the rock. In almost every case they have also the disadvantage of standing in a pit, the rock being dug out all round, leaving them in the midst of the excavation. ”

“ The roof of the verandah is also very beautifully adorned with paintings, which are still in very perfect preservation, not unlike those found in the baths of Titus at Rome in design, but of course inferior in execution.
Over the door are painted eight figures sitting cross-legged. The first four are black, the fifth fairer, the next still more so, the last as fair as an European, and wearing a crown. It may be remarked that there are more black people represented in this cave than in any other ”

“ This Porch is further interesting as being the first known attempt to reproduce the exterior of a temple in the rock—a thing never done by the Buddhists. All their Caves are interiors as they ought to be. ”

“ There were internals long before the final expulsion of the Buddhists, when the Brahmans had the upper hand, and this piece of sculpture is so free from the usual extravagance of Hindoo sculpture, that it must be old—older probably than the Caves at either end of the series. ”

“ VIEW taken from the upper gallery, showing the construction of the roof, which still retains the wooden forms of ribs with a ridge piece, though being cut in the rock they are probably stouter and thicker than they were when really executed in timber. The upper part of the daghopa is also seen, with its three umbrellas, but these have departed still further from their wooden prototypes, and are fast approaching those forms which gave rise to the three, six, and nine-storied towers of the Jains, and which are still built at the present day in China. ”

“ The interior has been a good deal filled with mud, but notwithstanding this, its paintings are tolerably entire, and some of them are interesting, but like the sculpture and all the details of the architecture, they are small, and frittered away, and possess nothing of that breadth of treatment which characterizes some of the older excavations. ”

“ The paintings which adorn every part of the Vihara are much more entire than in any other cave of the series, and though the colours in some places are a good deal faded, they are preserved to such an extent at least that their subjects can generally be made out. ”

“ It is also interesting as illustrating the process of change from painting to carving which took place in India as in the middle ages in our own country, and probably also in Greece. The Romanesque architects left all their masonry plain in great flat surfaces as in Cave No. 10. The Gothic artists, on the contrary, trusted very little to colour, but depended chiefly on relief for their shadow and effects. ”

“ THE pit in which the Temple stands measures 150 ft. in width by 270 in length, and is surrounded on all sides by a cloister of which one bay is illustrated in the annexed view. Like everything else in the Kylas, it has the defect of being a literal copy from a structural form without any adaptation to its position. The consequence is that the pillars look painfully light or slender when considered as supporting the 80 or 100 ft. of plain rock which towers over them. ”

“ THE pendant to the bas-relief last described, as representing the campaigns of Rama, from the Ramayana, is taken with the impartiality that characterises this age from the Mahabarata, the other great epic of the Hindoos, and is composed of episodes in the lives of the Pandavas; the upper part apparently representing peaceful occupations, but ending in a battle as a matter of course, and closing with a group of prisoners, the principal of whom is being strangled or having his head cut off. ”

“ As is seen from the picture, the rock here is smoother and more perpendicular than anywhere else, and carries its smoothness down almost to the bottom of the ravine. To the right and left the platform of rock rises considerably, and the Caves are situated on a ledge, which was probably broader in former times, but is now hardly passable in places. ”

“ It is when standing in its shade and looking upwards, towards the Vimana, that we become aware of the grandeur of the composition, and feel that the whole forms an architectural picture not often surpassed. ”

“ The style of the sculpture, too, has more of the character we are accustomed to associate with Jaina than with Buddhist art. Its presence, however, gives a richness of effect to this verandah which is wanting in the others, where the paintings have been washed off, from the exposed nature of the situation. ”

“ There is nothing to fix with certainty the age of this Cave. It is certainly later than the Viharas last described, and cotemporary with some of those which follow, while there are analogies and other circumstances which cannot be detailed here, which render it probable that it was excavated about the eighth century of our era. ”