DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0435
BAD AMI CAVES. 413
rafters are lions, human figures, vampires, elephants, &c. The
shrine is approached by five steps, which raise the floor of it 3 feet
above that of the hall; it measures 8 feet 9 inches by 7 feet 5^
inches, and contains a chavamnga or square altar, but the idol that
stood in it is gone.
Cave No. I. (Plate LXVIL, fig. 3) is on the north-west side of the
hill, and only about 50 feet above the level of the town streets. It is
entered by a few steps rising from what may have been a small court,
but which the decay of the rock has carried away. Along the front
on each side of the steps are the gana of Siva—dwarfs, with human,
bovine, and equine heads, capering and posing in all sorts of attitudes.
On the right or west side, above the return of this base, is a figure of
Siva, 5 feet high, with eighteen arms, dancing the tdndava1 or wild
dance of demoniac rage which he is fabled to perform when he
destroys the world—Nandi, Granapati, and the drummer Narada
being the only audience. Between this figure and the cave is a
small chapel2 with two pillars in front, standing on a base or raised
step, the face of which is also sculptured with rollicking gana,—and,
as at Elephanta, and on the four-armed figures that support the
brackets in some of the Ajanta caves, one of these gana has a tor-
toise as a pendant to his necklace. Inside this chapel, round the
ends and back, are more of these gana. Above them, on the back
WaU, is a pretty perfect figure of Mahishasuri or Durga as the
destroyer of the buffalo-demon. On the right wall is Ganapati, and
on the left Skanda or Mahasena, the god of war, and the hda-deva
of the Chalukya royal family.
At the other end of the front of the cave is a dwdrpdla,3 6 feet
" inches high, with the insula of Siva in his hand; and below is a
"gure composed of a bull and elephant in such a way, that when the
b°dy of the bull is hid the elephant is distinctly seen, and when
the body of the elephant is covered the remainder is a bull. The
front of the verandah is supported by four square pillars and two
Pasters, their upper halves and brackets carefully carved with
estoons of beaded work. Over the brackets against the archi-
ave> and hidden from outside by the drip in front, are a series of
1 See my Elephanta, § 69, and notes.
2 First Arch. Report, Plates XVII., XVIII.
3 First Arch. Report, Plate XX., Fig. 2.
rafters are lions, human figures, vampires, elephants, &c. The
shrine is approached by five steps, which raise the floor of it 3 feet
above that of the hall; it measures 8 feet 9 inches by 7 feet 5^
inches, and contains a chavamnga or square altar, but the idol that
stood in it is gone.
Cave No. I. (Plate LXVIL, fig. 3) is on the north-west side of the
hill, and only about 50 feet above the level of the town streets. It is
entered by a few steps rising from what may have been a small court,
but which the decay of the rock has carried away. Along the front
on each side of the steps are the gana of Siva—dwarfs, with human,
bovine, and equine heads, capering and posing in all sorts of attitudes.
On the right or west side, above the return of this base, is a figure of
Siva, 5 feet high, with eighteen arms, dancing the tdndava1 or wild
dance of demoniac rage which he is fabled to perform when he
destroys the world—Nandi, Granapati, and the drummer Narada
being the only audience. Between this figure and the cave is a
small chapel2 with two pillars in front, standing on a base or raised
step, the face of which is also sculptured with rollicking gana,—and,
as at Elephanta, and on the four-armed figures that support the
brackets in some of the Ajanta caves, one of these gana has a tor-
toise as a pendant to his necklace. Inside this chapel, round the
ends and back, are more of these gana. Above them, on the back
WaU, is a pretty perfect figure of Mahishasuri or Durga as the
destroyer of the buffalo-demon. On the right wall is Ganapati, and
on the left Skanda or Mahasena, the god of war, and the hda-deva
of the Chalukya royal family.
At the other end of the front of the cave is a dwdrpdla,3 6 feet
" inches high, with the insula of Siva in his hand; and below is a
"gure composed of a bull and elephant in such a way, that when the
b°dy of the bull is hid the elephant is distinctly seen, and when
the body of the elephant is covered the remainder is a bull. The
front of the verandah is supported by four square pillars and two
Pasters, their upper halves and brackets carefully carved with
estoons of beaded work. Over the brackets against the archi-
ave> and hidden from outside by the drip in front, are a series of
1 See my Elephanta, § 69, and notes.
2 First Arch. Report, Plates XVII., XVIII.
3 First Arch. Report, Plate XX., Fig. 2.