Studies in Indian Art c13.s3.20

c13.s3.20

The large window or opening with which the hollowing out of the rock started and which remained as the most conspicuous part of the whole operation, was naturally called *Kirtimukha*, i.e., the opening to the interior *chaityamandapa* or *selaghara*. This *kirtimukha* design was employed as a decorative motif on the facade of the earlier *chaitya*-halls. Later on it was used to enclose or frame beautiful human faces in the frieze of Gupta buildings, and in the third stage the human faces were replaced by lion-faces, when the word *Kirtimukha* became synonymous with the lion-face motif:³ कीतिवक्त्रं हरेर्वक्त्रं चोक्तवत् कारयेत् सुधीः । (*Mānasāra*, 18.151)