DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0399
EIAJRA. 377
VlSWAKARMA CAVE.
The next cave is locally known as the Sutar ka jhopra or Vis-
wakarma, and is much frequented by carpenters who come to
worship the image of Buddha as Viswakarma, the patron of their
craft. It is the only Chaitya cave here, the cathedral temple of
the Buddhist caves. And, though not so magnificent in its propor-
tions, or severe in its decoration, as the great cave at Karle, it is
still a splendid work, with a large open court in front surrounded by
a corridor, and a frieze above its pillars carved with representations
of the chase, &c. The inner temple, consisting of a central nave
and side aisles, measures 85 feet 10 inches by 43, and 34 feet high.
(See plan, Plate LXII.) The nave is separated from the aisles by
28 octagonal pillars, 14 feet high, with plain bracket capitals,
while two more square ones, just inside the entrance, support the
gallery above, and cut off the front aisle. The remote end of the
nave is nearly filled by a high dagoba, 15^ feet in diameter, and
nearly 27 feet high, which, unlike older examples, has a large fron-
tispiece, nearly 17 feet high, attached to it—as on that in the Caves
Nos. XIX. and XXVI. at Ajanta—on which is a colossal seated
figure of Buddha, 11 feet high, with his feet down, and his usual
attendants, while on the arch over his head is carved his Bodhi-
tree, with gandharoas on each side.
The arched roof is carved in imitation of wooden ribs, each rising
from hehind a little Ndga bust, alternately male and female, and
joining a ridge piece above. The triforium or deep frieze above the
pillars is divided into two belts, the lower and narrower carved with
crowds of fat little gambolling figures (ganas) in all attitudes. The
"Pper is much deeper, and is divided over each pillar so as to form
compartments, each usually containing a seated Buddha with two
attendants and two standing Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. The inner
S1de of the gallery over the entrance is also divided into three com-
partments filled with figures.
At the ends of the front corridor, outside, are two cells and two
c ^pels with the usual Buddhist figures repeated. From the west
of the north corridor a stair ascends to the gallery above, which
-onsists of an outer one over the corridor, and an inner one over the
°nt aisle, separated by the two pillars that divide the lower por-
m of the great window into three lights. The pillars of these
VlSWAKARMA CAVE.
The next cave is locally known as the Sutar ka jhopra or Vis-
wakarma, and is much frequented by carpenters who come to
worship the image of Buddha as Viswakarma, the patron of their
craft. It is the only Chaitya cave here, the cathedral temple of
the Buddhist caves. And, though not so magnificent in its propor-
tions, or severe in its decoration, as the great cave at Karle, it is
still a splendid work, with a large open court in front surrounded by
a corridor, and a frieze above its pillars carved with representations
of the chase, &c. The inner temple, consisting of a central nave
and side aisles, measures 85 feet 10 inches by 43, and 34 feet high.
(See plan, Plate LXII.) The nave is separated from the aisles by
28 octagonal pillars, 14 feet high, with plain bracket capitals,
while two more square ones, just inside the entrance, support the
gallery above, and cut off the front aisle. The remote end of the
nave is nearly filled by a high dagoba, 15^ feet in diameter, and
nearly 27 feet high, which, unlike older examples, has a large fron-
tispiece, nearly 17 feet high, attached to it—as on that in the Caves
Nos. XIX. and XXVI. at Ajanta—on which is a colossal seated
figure of Buddha, 11 feet high, with his feet down, and his usual
attendants, while on the arch over his head is carved his Bodhi-
tree, with gandharoas on each side.
The arched roof is carved in imitation of wooden ribs, each rising
from hehind a little Ndga bust, alternately male and female, and
joining a ridge piece above. The triforium or deep frieze above the
pillars is divided into two belts, the lower and narrower carved with
crowds of fat little gambolling figures (ganas) in all attitudes. The
"Pper is much deeper, and is divided over each pillar so as to form
compartments, each usually containing a seated Buddha with two
attendants and two standing Buddhas or Bodhisattvas. The inner
S1de of the gallery over the entrance is also divided into three com-
partments filled with figures.
At the ends of the front corridor, outside, are two cells and two
c ^pels with the usual Buddhist figures repeated. From the west
of the north corridor a stair ascends to the gallery above, which
-onsists of an outer one over the corridor, and an inner one over the
°nt aisle, separated by the two pillars that divide the lower por-
m of the great window into three lights. The pillars of these