Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c9.48
Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c9.48
- Language
- English
c9.48
A roof-apartment (*Siha-pañjara*, Lion-cage) is clear in some of the sculptures, for example, the one on Bodha-gaya railing (Fig. 55, Indian Palaces, Coomaraswamy). The word *Pañjara* should be taken in its natural sense of a cage for pet animals closed on four sides with lattice work. This corresponds to the subsequent *Gavāksha* window (Hindi *Jharokhā*) in which men and women took their seat to have a look at the world outside. In medieval architecture these were called *Ambāri* (oriel or bay-windows) or ledges with intricate *Jāli* work.