DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0340
318 LATER BUDDHIST CAVE-TEMPLES.
to find Nagas when looked for. They were also adopted by the
Jamas and Vaishnaves, but their origin is certainly Buddhist, and
they must represent some class of the Dasya people who, as
mentioned above, were those who first adopted Buddhism. Whether
the Naga tribes in Sylhet and Asan have any affinity with them
beyond the name is not clear. They certainly belong to the same
race, and their locality is favourable to the idea that they had some
connexion with the serpent worshipping races in Cambodia,1 but
no reverence for serpents has been traced among their religious
observances.2
On the other side opposite this image of the Kaga Raja is a
porch, with two pilasters in front, which probably was a chdwari
or place of rest for pilgrims. It has a room at each end, about
10 feet by 8 feet 4 inches. The capitals of the pillars in front of
it are richly wrought with mango branches and clusters of grapes
in the middle of each.
On each side the great arch is a large male figure in rich headdress,
that on the left holds a bag, and is Kubera, the god of wealth, a
favourite with the Buddhists. The corresponding figure on the
right is nearly the same, and many figures of Buddha sitting or
standing occupy compartments in the facade, and at the sides of it.
Cave XX. is a small Vihara with two pillars and two pilasters in
front of its verandah. One pillar is broken, but on each side of
the capitals there is a pretty bracket statuette of a female under a
canopy of foliage. The roof of the verandah is hewn in imitation
of beams and rafters. There is a cell at each end of the verandah and
two on each side of the hall, which is 28 feet 2 inches wide by 25 feet
4 inches deep and 12^ feet high, and has no columns. The roof is
supported only by the walls and the front of the antechamber, which
advances 7 feet into the cave, and has in front two columns in antis,
surmounted by a carved entablature filled with seven figures o
Buddha and attendants. The statue in the shrine has probably
been painted red, and is attended by two large figures of Indra-
1 Loc. cit. p. 50. Indian and Eastern Architecture, p. 664 et seqq-
3 It is to be regretted that no one has yet read my work on Tree and Scrfei^
Worship, who was capable of carrying the subject further, and of expressing an opiD'^
regarding it. No one, at least, has done so yet. These many headed serpents
so frequently, and in such prominent positions, that their classification would cei
result in important mythological aiid ethnological discoveries.—J. F.
to find Nagas when looked for. They were also adopted by the
Jamas and Vaishnaves, but their origin is certainly Buddhist, and
they must represent some class of the Dasya people who, as
mentioned above, were those who first adopted Buddhism. Whether
the Naga tribes in Sylhet and Asan have any affinity with them
beyond the name is not clear. They certainly belong to the same
race, and their locality is favourable to the idea that they had some
connexion with the serpent worshipping races in Cambodia,1 but
no reverence for serpents has been traced among their religious
observances.2
On the other side opposite this image of the Kaga Raja is a
porch, with two pilasters in front, which probably was a chdwari
or place of rest for pilgrims. It has a room at each end, about
10 feet by 8 feet 4 inches. The capitals of the pillars in front of
it are richly wrought with mango branches and clusters of grapes
in the middle of each.
On each side the great arch is a large male figure in rich headdress,
that on the left holds a bag, and is Kubera, the god of wealth, a
favourite with the Buddhists. The corresponding figure on the
right is nearly the same, and many figures of Buddha sitting or
standing occupy compartments in the facade, and at the sides of it.
Cave XX. is a small Vihara with two pillars and two pilasters in
front of its verandah. One pillar is broken, but on each side of
the capitals there is a pretty bracket statuette of a female under a
canopy of foliage. The roof of the verandah is hewn in imitation
of beams and rafters. There is a cell at each end of the verandah and
two on each side of the hall, which is 28 feet 2 inches wide by 25 feet
4 inches deep and 12^ feet high, and has no columns. The roof is
supported only by the walls and the front of the antechamber, which
advances 7 feet into the cave, and has in front two columns in antis,
surmounted by a carved entablature filled with seven figures o
Buddha and attendants. The statue in the shrine has probably
been painted red, and is attended by two large figures of Indra-
1 Loc. cit. p. 50. Indian and Eastern Architecture, p. 664 et seqq-
3 It is to be regretted that no one has yet read my work on Tree and Scrfei^
Worship, who was capable of carrying the subject further, and of expressing an opiD'^
regarding it. No one, at least, has done so yet. These many headed serpents
so frequently, and in such prominent positions, that their classification would cei
result in important mythological aiid ethnological discoveries.—J. F.