DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0038
14
JAINA ARCHITECTURE.
Book V.
substance to support the mass of rock above, and probably in
consequence of some accident, the mass above fell in, bearing
everything before it. Either then, or at some subsequent period,
an attempt has been made to restore the lower verandah in
wood, and for this purpose a chase has been cut through the
sculptures that adorned its back
wall, and they have been other-
wise so mutilated that it is almost
impossible to make out their
meaning. The accompanying
section (No. 270) will illustrate
the position of this wooden
adjunct and that of the two
storeys of this cave. Fortu-
nately, the sculptures of the
upper verandah are tolerably
entire, though in some parts they, too, have been very badly
treated.
Besides this, which may be called the main body of the
building, two wings project forward ; that on the left 40 ft,
that on the right 20 ft; and, as these contained cells on both
storeys, the whole afforded accommodation for a considerable
number of inmates.
The great interest of these two caves, however, lies in their
sculptures. In the Gane.ra cave, as already mentioned, there
are two bas-reliefs. The first represents a man asleep under
a tree, and a woman watching over him. To them a woman
is approaching, leading a man by the hand, as if to introduce
him to the sleeper. Beyond them a man and a woman are
fighting with swords and shields in very close combat, and
behind them a man is carrying off a female in his arms.1
The second bas - relief comprises fifteen figures and two
elephants. There may be in it two successive scenes, though
my impression is, that only one is intended, while I feel certain
this is the case regarding the first. In the Rani cave the
second bas-relief is identical, in all essential respects, with
the first in the Gane^a, but the reliefs that precede and follow
it represent different scenes altogether. It is, perhaps, in vain
to speculate what episode this rape scene represents, probably
some tradition not yet identified ; its greatest interest for our
1 There is a very faithful drawing of
this bas-relief by Kittoe in the ‘Journal
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol.
vii. plate 44. But casts of all these
sculptures were taken in 1871-1872 by
Mr. Locke, of the School of Art, Calcutta,
and photographs, some of which were
published on plate 100 of 1 Tree and
Serpent Worship,’2nd ed., 1873; ‘Cave
Temples,’ plate I ; and in Rajendralal
Mitra’s ‘ Antiquities of Orissa,’ vol. ii.
plates 6-14.
JAINA ARCHITECTURE.
Book V.
substance to support the mass of rock above, and probably in
consequence of some accident, the mass above fell in, bearing
everything before it. Either then, or at some subsequent period,
an attempt has been made to restore the lower verandah in
wood, and for this purpose a chase has been cut through the
sculptures that adorned its back
wall, and they have been other-
wise so mutilated that it is almost
impossible to make out their
meaning. The accompanying
section (No. 270) will illustrate
the position of this wooden
adjunct and that of the two
storeys of this cave. Fortu-
nately, the sculptures of the
upper verandah are tolerably
entire, though in some parts they, too, have been very badly
treated.
Besides this, which may be called the main body of the
building, two wings project forward ; that on the left 40 ft,
that on the right 20 ft; and, as these contained cells on both
storeys, the whole afforded accommodation for a considerable
number of inmates.
The great interest of these two caves, however, lies in their
sculptures. In the Gane.ra cave, as already mentioned, there
are two bas-reliefs. The first represents a man asleep under
a tree, and a woman watching over him. To them a woman
is approaching, leading a man by the hand, as if to introduce
him to the sleeper. Beyond them a man and a woman are
fighting with swords and shields in very close combat, and
behind them a man is carrying off a female in his arms.1
The second bas - relief comprises fifteen figures and two
elephants. There may be in it two successive scenes, though
my impression is, that only one is intended, while I feel certain
this is the case regarding the first. In the Rani cave the
second bas-relief is identical, in all essential respects, with
the first in the Gane^a, but the reliefs that precede and follow
it represent different scenes altogether. It is, perhaps, in vain
to speculate what episode this rape scene represents, probably
some tradition not yet identified ; its greatest interest for our
1 There is a very faithful drawing of
this bas-relief by Kittoe in the ‘Journal
of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,’ vol.
vii. plate 44. But casts of all these
sculptures were taken in 1871-1872 by
Mr. Locke, of the School of Art, Calcutta,
and photographs, some of which were
published on plate 100 of 1 Tree and
Serpent Worship,’2nd ed., 1873; ‘Cave
Temples,’ plate I ; and in Rajendralal
Mitra’s ‘ Antiquities of Orissa,’ vol. ii.
plates 6-14.