DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0135
112
BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE.
Book I.
day. Everything, in fact, that could be made in wood remained in
wood, and only the constructive parts necessary for stability were
executed in the rock.
It is easy to understand that, the first time men undertook to
repeat in stone forms they had only been accustomed to erect in
wood, they should have done so literally. The sloping inwards of the
pillars was requisite to resist the thrust of the circular roof in the
wooden building, but it must have appeared so awkward in stone that it
would hardly be often repeated. As, however, it was probably almost
universal in structural buildings, the doorways and openings naturally
followed the same lines, hence the sloping jambs. Though these were
by no means so objectionable in practice, they varied with the lines of
the supports, and, as these became upright, the jambs became parallel.
In like manner, when it was done, the architects could hardly fail to
perceive that they had wasted both time and labour in cutting away the
nu k tn make way for their wooden screen in front. Had they left it
standing, with far less expense they could have got a more ornamental
and more durable feature. This was so self-evident that it never, so far
as is known, was repeated, but it was some time before the pillars of the
interior got quite perpendicular, and the jambs of the doors quite
] larallel.
There is very little figure sculpture about this cave; none in the
interior, and what there is on the facade seems to be of a very domestic
character. But on the pillars in the interior at g and h in the plan
(Woodcut No. 45), we find two emblems, and at a, e, and / three others
are found somewhat rudely formed, but which occur again so frequently
that it may be worth while to quote them here. They are known as the
48.
Trisul. Shield. Chakra. Trisul.
trisul, or trident, the central point being usually more important than
here shown, the shield, and the chakra, or wheel. The two first are
generally found in combination, as in Woodcut No. 33, and the wheel
is frequently found edged with trisul ornaments, as in the central
compartment of Woodcut No. 38 from Amravati. The fourth emblem
here is the trisul, in combination with a face, and the fifth is one which
is frequently repeated on coins and elsewhere, but to which no name has
yet been given.
The next group of caves, however, that at Bedsa, ten or eleven
miles south of Karli, shows considerable progress towards lithic
construction. The screen is in stone : the pillars are more upright
BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE.
Book I.
day. Everything, in fact, that could be made in wood remained in
wood, and only the constructive parts necessary for stability were
executed in the rock.
It is easy to understand that, the first time men undertook to
repeat in stone forms they had only been accustomed to erect in
wood, they should have done so literally. The sloping inwards of the
pillars was requisite to resist the thrust of the circular roof in the
wooden building, but it must have appeared so awkward in stone that it
would hardly be often repeated. As, however, it was probably almost
universal in structural buildings, the doorways and openings naturally
followed the same lines, hence the sloping jambs. Though these were
by no means so objectionable in practice, they varied with the lines of
the supports, and, as these became upright, the jambs became parallel.
In like manner, when it was done, the architects could hardly fail to
perceive that they had wasted both time and labour in cutting away the
nu k tn make way for their wooden screen in front. Had they left it
standing, with far less expense they could have got a more ornamental
and more durable feature. This was so self-evident that it never, so far
as is known, was repeated, but it was some time before the pillars of the
interior got quite perpendicular, and the jambs of the doors quite
] larallel.
There is very little figure sculpture about this cave; none in the
interior, and what there is on the facade seems to be of a very domestic
character. But on the pillars in the interior at g and h in the plan
(Woodcut No. 45), we find two emblems, and at a, e, and / three others
are found somewhat rudely formed, but which occur again so frequently
that it may be worth while to quote them here. They are known as the
48.
Trisul. Shield. Chakra. Trisul.
trisul, or trident, the central point being usually more important than
here shown, the shield, and the chakra, or wheel. The two first are
generally found in combination, as in Woodcut No. 33, and the wheel
is frequently found edged with trisul ornaments, as in the central
compartment of Woodcut No. 38 from Amravati. The fourth emblem
here is the trisul, in combination with a face, and the fifth is one which
is frequently repeated on coins and elsewhere, but to which no name has
yet been given.
The next group of caves, however, that at Bedsa, ten or eleven
miles south of Karli, shows considerable progress towards lithic
construction. The screen is in stone : the pillars are more upright