DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0358
334
DRAVIDIAN STYLE.
Book IV.
runs wild when once freed from the trammels of sober imitation of
natural things, which Ave find to be its characteristic in the earl}'
stages of Buddhist art.
j i
Kylas, Elloka.
From the raths at Mahavellipore to the Kylas at Ellora the transi-
tion is eas}r, but the step considerable. At the first-named place we
have manifest copies of structures intended original])' for other pur-
poses, and used at Mahavellipore in a fragmentary and disjointed
manner. At Ellora, on the contrary, the whole is welded together,
and we have a perfect Dravidian temple, as complete in all its parts
as at any future period, and so far advanced that we might have
some difficulty in tracing
the parts back to their
originals without the for-
tunate possession of the
examples on the Madras
shore.
Independently, how-
ever, of its historical or
ethnographical value, the
Kylas is in itself one of
the most singular and
interesting monuments of
architectural art in India.
Its beauty and singularity
always excited the aston-
ishment of travellers, and
in consequence it is better
known than almost any
other structure in that
country, from the nume-
rous views and sketches
of it that have been pub-
lished. I nlike the Budd-
hist excavations we have
hitherto been describing,
it is not a mere interior
chamber cut in the rock,
but is a model of a complete temple, such as might have been erected
on the plain. In other words, the rock has been cut away, externally
as well as internally. The older caves are of a much more natural
and rational design than this temple, because, in cutting away the
rock around it to provide an exterior, the whole has necessarily been
Is
186. Kylas at Ellnra. (Corrected from a Plan in Daniell's
4 Views in Hindustan.') Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
DRAVIDIAN STYLE.
Book IV.
runs wild when once freed from the trammels of sober imitation of
natural things, which Ave find to be its characteristic in the earl}'
stages of Buddhist art.
j i
Kylas, Elloka.
From the raths at Mahavellipore to the Kylas at Ellora the transi-
tion is eas}r, but the step considerable. At the first-named place we
have manifest copies of structures intended original])' for other pur-
poses, and used at Mahavellipore in a fragmentary and disjointed
manner. At Ellora, on the contrary, the whole is welded together,
and we have a perfect Dravidian temple, as complete in all its parts
as at any future period, and so far advanced that we might have
some difficulty in tracing
the parts back to their
originals without the for-
tunate possession of the
examples on the Madras
shore.
Independently, how-
ever, of its historical or
ethnographical value, the
Kylas is in itself one of
the most singular and
interesting monuments of
architectural art in India.
Its beauty and singularity
always excited the aston-
ishment of travellers, and
in consequence it is better
known than almost any
other structure in that
country, from the nume-
rous views and sketches
of it that have been pub-
lished. I nlike the Budd-
hist excavations we have
hitherto been describing,
it is not a mere interior
chamber cut in the rock,
but is a model of a complete temple, such as might have been erected
on the plain. In other words, the rock has been cut away, externally
as well as internally. The older caves are of a much more natural
and rational design than this temple, because, in cutting away the
rock around it to provide an exterior, the whole has necessarily been
Is
186. Kylas at Ellnra. (Corrected from a Plan in Daniell's
4 Views in Hindustan.') Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.