DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27192#0085
Chap, III.
AMWA.
57
Yet we must not forget that the Hindus also have shown
that they could, and did frequently employ the dome very
successfully. Among examples of their use of it few are more
pleasing than the little temple at Amwa or Amvar, near Ajanta
(Woodcut No. 294). It is only a fragment. The sanctuary
with its spire are gone, only the portico remaining; and its roof
externally is so ruined, that its design can with difficulty be made
out. Yet it stands so well on its stylobate, and the thirty small
columns that support the roof externally are so well propor-
tioned and so artistically arranged, as to leave little to be desired.
The great feature of the interior is a dome 21 ft. in diameter,
supported on twelve richly carved pillars, with eight smaller
ones interspersed. Like all Indian domes, it is horizontal in
construction, and consequently also in ornamentation, but as
that is done here, it is as elegant or more so than the ribbed
domes of western art. This one is plain in the centre, having
no pendant—which, however, is one of the most marked and
pleasing features of such domes, as may be gathered from
the example in the temp'e of Vimala at Mount Abu (Wood-
cut No. 284 and Plate XIX.). A larger and perhaps better
example might be cited in the case of the great sun-temple at
Modhera in Gujarat, when entire, but only the lower courses of
its domes now remain.1
One of the most interesting Jaina monuments of the age
is the tower, formerly known as Art Allata’s,2 which still adorns
the head of Chitor (Woodcut No. 295, next page), and is one
probably of a great number of similar monuments that may at
one time have existed. From their form, however, they are frail,
and trees and human violence so easily overthrow them, that
we ought not to wonder that so few remain. This one is a
singularly elegant specimen of its class, about 75 ft. in height,
and adorned with sculpture and mouldings from the base to
the summit.3 It stands on a basement 20 ft. square and 9 ft.
high, with a stair on the south side, leading to the doorway,
which is 6 ft. 2 in. above the platform. The shaft of the tower
is 12 ft. 10 in. square below, and is four storeys high to the
open canopy of twelve pillars, the floor of which is 64 ft. 2 in.
from the ground. An inscription once existed lying near its
base, which is said to have given its date as A.D. 895,4 though
1 ‘ Archaeological Survey of Western
India,’ vol. ix. pp. 75ff. and plates 49, 50.
2 Allata, to whom the erection of this
tower was ascribed, ruled between 953
and 972, as we gather from inscriptions,
and is the 12th king, mentioned in
Tod’s Aitpur inscription. — ! Rajasthan,’
vol. i. p. 802, Madras ed. p. 706.
3 ‘ Picturesque Illustrations of Ancient
Architecture in Hindostan,’ by the
Author, plate 8, p. 38.
4 Tod, ‘ Rajasthan,’ vol. ii. p. 7^3-
(Madras ed. p. 699). This would be
before the time of Allata. The tower is
also locally known as Kaitan Rani’s—
but who she was is unknown.
AMWA.
57
Yet we must not forget that the Hindus also have shown
that they could, and did frequently employ the dome very
successfully. Among examples of their use of it few are more
pleasing than the little temple at Amwa or Amvar, near Ajanta
(Woodcut No. 294). It is only a fragment. The sanctuary
with its spire are gone, only the portico remaining; and its roof
externally is so ruined, that its design can with difficulty be made
out. Yet it stands so well on its stylobate, and the thirty small
columns that support the roof externally are so well propor-
tioned and so artistically arranged, as to leave little to be desired.
The great feature of the interior is a dome 21 ft. in diameter,
supported on twelve richly carved pillars, with eight smaller
ones interspersed. Like all Indian domes, it is horizontal in
construction, and consequently also in ornamentation, but as
that is done here, it is as elegant or more so than the ribbed
domes of western art. This one is plain in the centre, having
no pendant—which, however, is one of the most marked and
pleasing features of such domes, as may be gathered from
the example in the temp'e of Vimala at Mount Abu (Wood-
cut No. 284 and Plate XIX.). A larger and perhaps better
example might be cited in the case of the great sun-temple at
Modhera in Gujarat, when entire, but only the lower courses of
its domes now remain.1
One of the most interesting Jaina monuments of the age
is the tower, formerly known as Art Allata’s,2 which still adorns
the head of Chitor (Woodcut No. 295, next page), and is one
probably of a great number of similar monuments that may at
one time have existed. From their form, however, they are frail,
and trees and human violence so easily overthrow them, that
we ought not to wonder that so few remain. This one is a
singularly elegant specimen of its class, about 75 ft. in height,
and adorned with sculpture and mouldings from the base to
the summit.3 It stands on a basement 20 ft. square and 9 ft.
high, with a stair on the south side, leading to the doorway,
which is 6 ft. 2 in. above the platform. The shaft of the tower
is 12 ft. 10 in. square below, and is four storeys high to the
open canopy of twelve pillars, the floor of which is 64 ft. 2 in.
from the ground. An inscription once existed lying near its
base, which is said to have given its date as A.D. 895,4 though
1 ‘ Archaeological Survey of Western
India,’ vol. ix. pp. 75ff. and plates 49, 50.
2 Allata, to whom the erection of this
tower was ascribed, ruled between 953
and 972, as we gather from inscriptions,
and is the 12th king, mentioned in
Tod’s Aitpur inscription. — ! Rajasthan,’
vol. i. p. 802, Madras ed. p. 706.
3 ‘ Picturesque Illustrations of Ancient
Architecture in Hindostan,’ by the
Author, plate 8, p. 38.
4 Tod, ‘ Rajasthan,’ vol. ii. p. 7^3-
(Madras ed. p. 699). This would be
before the time of Allata. The tower is
also locally known as Kaitan Rani’s—
but who she was is unknown.