DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0700
676
FURTHER INDIA.
Book VIII.
Nakhon Wat, also, there are intersecting vaults and ingenious roofing-
contrivances of all sorts, but no dome, and no hint that the architects
were aware of the existence of such a form.
On the contrary, take such a pillar as that
shown in Woodcut No. 376 : the proportion of
diameter to height; the entasis; the propor-
tion betwee:i the upper and lower diameter;
the capital with its abacus; the base with its
plinth; the architrave, &c, are so like the
Roman order that it is difficult to conceive
the likeness being accidental.
But whoever gave the design for these
pillars—and, according to M. Mouhot, there
are 1532 of them in this single building—we
have abundant evidence to show that the
people for whom it was erected were of pure
Turanian blood. Without insisting on other
facts, there are in every part of the building
groups of female figures in alto-relievo. They
are sometimes in niches or in pairs, as in the
Woodcut No. 377, attached to pilasters, or in
groups of four or more. There are a hundred
or more in various parts of the building, and
all have the thick lips and the flat noses of
true Tartars, their eyes forming an angle with
one another like those of the Egyptians, or
any other of the true building-races of the
world. Unfortunately, no statues of men are
so attached, though there are several free-
standing figures which tell the same tale.
The bas-reliefs do not help in the inquiry,
as the artist has taken pains to distinguish
carefully the ethnographic peculiarities of all
the nations represented, and, till the inscriptions are read, and we
know who are intended for Indians or who for Chinese or Cambo-
dians, we cannot use the evidence they supply.
It is a well-known fact that, wherever Serpent-worship prevailed
in any part of the world, it was the custom to devote the most
beautiful young girls to the service of the temple. This would not only
account for these numerous female statues, but their presence affords
a hint of the worship to which it was dedicated. This, however, is
not required; for, though the god is gone, and the Buddhists have
taken possession of the temple, everywhere the Snake-god appears.
Every angle of every roof is adorned with an image of the seven-
headed snake, and there are hundreds of them; every cornice is
37ii. Pilto of Porcli,
Xnkhon Wat.
(From a Photograph by
Mr J. Thomson.)
FURTHER INDIA.
Book VIII.
Nakhon Wat, also, there are intersecting vaults and ingenious roofing-
contrivances of all sorts, but no dome, and no hint that the architects
were aware of the existence of such a form.
On the contrary, take such a pillar as that
shown in Woodcut No. 376 : the proportion of
diameter to height; the entasis; the propor-
tion betwee:i the upper and lower diameter;
the capital with its abacus; the base with its
plinth; the architrave, &c, are so like the
Roman order that it is difficult to conceive
the likeness being accidental.
But whoever gave the design for these
pillars—and, according to M. Mouhot, there
are 1532 of them in this single building—we
have abundant evidence to show that the
people for whom it was erected were of pure
Turanian blood. Without insisting on other
facts, there are in every part of the building
groups of female figures in alto-relievo. They
are sometimes in niches or in pairs, as in the
Woodcut No. 377, attached to pilasters, or in
groups of four or more. There are a hundred
or more in various parts of the building, and
all have the thick lips and the flat noses of
true Tartars, their eyes forming an angle with
one another like those of the Egyptians, or
any other of the true building-races of the
world. Unfortunately, no statues of men are
so attached, though there are several free-
standing figures which tell the same tale.
The bas-reliefs do not help in the inquiry,
as the artist has taken pains to distinguish
carefully the ethnographic peculiarities of all
the nations represented, and, till the inscriptions are read, and we
know who are intended for Indians or who for Chinese or Cambo-
dians, we cannot use the evidence they supply.
It is a well-known fact that, wherever Serpent-worship prevailed
in any part of the world, it was the custom to devote the most
beautiful young girls to the service of the temple. This would not only
account for these numerous female statues, but their presence affords
a hint of the worship to which it was dedicated. This, however, is
not required; for, though the god is gone, and the Buddhists have
taken possession of the temple, everywhere the Snake-god appears.
Every angle of every roof is adorned with an image of the seven-
headed snake, and there are hundreds of them; every cornice is
37ii. Pilto of Porcli,
Xnkhon Wat.
(From a Photograph by
Mr J. Thomson.)