Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c10.31

c10.31

Remarkable though these interiors are, the facade which surrounds the doorway of Lomas Rishi is the *chef-d'oeuvre* of the group, as it is an accurate reproduction of the gable end of a wooden structure chiselled in the rock-face (Plate IX, Fig. 1). The stone-cutter has copied in every detail the handiwork of the carpenter. Two stout uprights inclined slightly inward and some 13 ft. in height form the main support while into the upper ends of these are jointed the two principal rafters, other subsidiary rafters lying parallel. On the rafters is fixed the curved roof composed of three laminated planks, the lower extremities of which are kept in place by short tie-rods, circular in section and obviously turned on a lathe. The doorway, some 7½ feet high, is recessed within a semi-circular archway above which are two lunettes forming a kind of fanlight. In the lower lunette is carved a procession of elephants, while the upper is filled with a diaper pattern of lattice-work both designs evidently being copies of perforated wood. The elephants are exquisitely modelled, and are performing an obeisance before stupas which are introduced into the lunette as solid supports to the openwork. Surmounting the gable is a finial which by its shape is derived from a terra cotta original; every detail of the facade is sharply chiselled and each part still retains its high polish, the whole except for a few fractures looking as if it had been cut but yesterday.