DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.611#0200
150 CHAPTER XI.
figure, seated on a lotus, and holding a lotus in each
hand. This ornamentation round the building shews
considerable variety. It is not complete, in parts it is
sketched out with a chisel, and it may be concluded that
the carving was partly, or wholly, done after the stones
had been hoisted into position.
This ornamentation represents Indian art at a high
level; the design is bold, and the execution exceedingly
fine. It bears most favourable comparison with most of
the work of more recent times.
The fact that the ornamentation of the lower part
of the tower was never completed suggests the possibility
that the upper part may also have been unfinished, and
that we have no means of ascertaining in what way the
brickwork was to have been faced.
2. The Main Shrine.—The remains of this so-called
"Main Shrine" are considerably to the west of the
Dhamek. The ruin is about eighteen feet in height,
and about ninety feet by ninety in extent. It is thought,
from the thickness of the walls, that they were intended
to support a " massive and probably lofty superstructure."
The building is composed partly of bricks and partly of
stones, the latter being apparently taken from older
buildings. It is conjectured that the building, as now
found, belongs to about the 11th century of our era, but
an inscription on one of the stones points to the 2nd
century B. C. as the date of one of the older buildings
from which the materials were obtained.
There is a central chamber, opening to the east, and
round this three other chambers, entered from the out-
side. In the one to the south is a most interesting four-
square stone railing, surrounding the base of a stupa.
Each side is eight and a half feet long, and about four
and three-quarters high. There are square uprights,
and rounded crossbars. The remarkable fact about this
figure, seated on a lotus, and holding a lotus in each
hand. This ornamentation round the building shews
considerable variety. It is not complete, in parts it is
sketched out with a chisel, and it may be concluded that
the carving was partly, or wholly, done after the stones
had been hoisted into position.
This ornamentation represents Indian art at a high
level; the design is bold, and the execution exceedingly
fine. It bears most favourable comparison with most of
the work of more recent times.
The fact that the ornamentation of the lower part
of the tower was never completed suggests the possibility
that the upper part may also have been unfinished, and
that we have no means of ascertaining in what way the
brickwork was to have been faced.
2. The Main Shrine.—The remains of this so-called
"Main Shrine" are considerably to the west of the
Dhamek. The ruin is about eighteen feet in height,
and about ninety feet by ninety in extent. It is thought,
from the thickness of the walls, that they were intended
to support a " massive and probably lofty superstructure."
The building is composed partly of bricks and partly of
stones, the latter being apparently taken from older
buildings. It is conjectured that the building, as now
found, belongs to about the 11th century of our era, but
an inscription on one of the stones points to the 2nd
century B. C. as the date of one of the older buildings
from which the materials were obtained.
There is a central chamber, opening to the east, and
round this three other chambers, entered from the out-
side. In the one to the south is a most interesting four-
square stone railing, surrounding the base of a stupa.
Each side is eight and a half feet long, and about four
and three-quarters high. There are square uprights,
and rounded crossbars. The remarkable fact about this