DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0166
144 EASTERN CAVES.
dated within the limits of the eighth century, we have a limit
beyond which it seems impossible to carry the date of the Maha-
vallipur sculpture either way. They must be after the sixth and
before the eighth century of our era, and, in so far as can now be
ascertained, nearer the latter than the former date. It is, of course,
impossible to speak of sculptures as affording the same precision
for fixing dates as architecture is acknowledged to possess. There
is so much more individuality in sculpture, and so much that
depends on the taste and talent of the sculptor, and also on the
material in which he is working, that a comparison with other
works of the same age may sometimes lead to conclusions more or
less erroneous. Architecture, on the other hand, is so much more
mechanical, and its development depends so much on the progress
of the school in which it was created, as seldom to lead astray.
But when sculpture is combined with mythology, as it is in this
instance, its indications may become almost equally reliable, and
when these are confirmed by the science of palasography, as before
mentioned, there is hardly room to question the conclusions that
may be drawn from it. If this is so, there seems no reason for
doubting that the caves as well as the Eaths at Mahavallipur were
excavated subsequently to the sixth and before the eighth century,
and, taking all the circumstances of the case into consideration,
there seems no reason for doubting that the date above assigned
to them, 650 to 700 a.d., cannot be far from the truth, and may
be accepted until at least some new discovery may afford addi-
tional means for ascertaining with more precision the facts relating
to their age.
As these caves are scattered promiscuously without any order, on
both sides of the low ridge of hills in which they are excavated,
wherever a suitable piece of rock could be found, it is extremely
difficult to hit on any classification by which a description of them
can be made clear and intelligible. They are all, too, so nearly ot
the same extent, and richness of ornament, that they do not admit
of classification from their relative importance. Being all, too, as
just mentioned, of the same age, with the exception of the Krishna
Mandapa, or at least so nearly so, that it is impossible now to
discriminate between the older or more modern, and being al
unfinished, no chronological arrangement is available for their ae;
dated within the limits of the eighth century, we have a limit
beyond which it seems impossible to carry the date of the Maha-
vallipur sculpture either way. They must be after the sixth and
before the eighth century of our era, and, in so far as can now be
ascertained, nearer the latter than the former date. It is, of course,
impossible to speak of sculptures as affording the same precision
for fixing dates as architecture is acknowledged to possess. There
is so much more individuality in sculpture, and so much that
depends on the taste and talent of the sculptor, and also on the
material in which he is working, that a comparison with other
works of the same age may sometimes lead to conclusions more or
less erroneous. Architecture, on the other hand, is so much more
mechanical, and its development depends so much on the progress
of the school in which it was created, as seldom to lead astray.
But when sculpture is combined with mythology, as it is in this
instance, its indications may become almost equally reliable, and
when these are confirmed by the science of palasography, as before
mentioned, there is hardly room to question the conclusions that
may be drawn from it. If this is so, there seems no reason for
doubting that the caves as well as the Eaths at Mahavallipur were
excavated subsequently to the sixth and before the eighth century,
and, taking all the circumstances of the case into consideration,
there seems no reason for doubting that the date above assigned
to them, 650 to 700 a.d., cannot be far from the truth, and may
be accepted until at least some new discovery may afford addi-
tional means for ascertaining with more precision the facts relating
to their age.
As these caves are scattered promiscuously without any order, on
both sides of the low ridge of hills in which they are excavated,
wherever a suitable piece of rock could be found, it is extremely
difficult to hit on any classification by which a description of them
can be made clear and intelligible. They are all, too, so nearly ot
the same extent, and richness of ornament, that they do not admit
of classification from their relative importance. Being all, too, as
just mentioned, of the same age, with the exception of the Krishna
Mandapa, or at least so nearly so, that it is impossible now to
discriminate between the older or more modern, and being al
unfinished, no chronological arrangement is available for their ae;