Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c12.21

c12.21

A reference to the diagrams on Plate XX, will indicate that the chaitya halls varied considerably in size, and although perhaps at a first glance, notably at Karli, the interior suggests a Norman nave, none of them approach the average dimensions of an ordinary abbey-church in the Gothic style. For purposes of comparison it may be noted that the size of that at Ajanta (No. 10), one of the largest, is appreciably less than that of the somewhat similarly shaped hall in Henry VII’s chapel, Westminster Abbey, London. Although the apsidal end of the chaitya hall is a characteristic feature of its composition, one of the series, namely Ajanta (No. 9), is square-ended but even in this instance the interior colonnade carries out the apsidal plan. The pillars forming the colonnades in all the earlier examples appear as copies of plain wooden posts, chamfered into an octagonal section, and without either capitals or bases. It was only towards the end of the style that it became the custom to elaborate each different member of the pillar and its entablature, thus forming it into some semblance of an “order.” From the first, however, the exterior and frontal aspect of these chaitya halls was regarded as of great architectural significance, and accordingly considerable ingenuity and artistic skill was expended on the design of the facade. In most instances the actual front was composed of a massive pillared portico or vestibule which in the earlier examples has disappeared. Behind this was the facade which consisted of a great horse-shoe archway above, with a wall or screen below, having one or more doorways giving access to the nave and aisles. But undoubtedly the most conspicuous feature of the front-age was the opening or window occupying the centre of the archway, and through which the light was admitted into the body of the hall. This chaitya or sun-window a form of rose-window and fan-light combined, was clearly an enlargement and elaboration of the dormer window of the Vedic hut, with its projecting cowl to keep off the sun and the rain. In shape it is a stilted semi-circular aperture divided into lunettes by means of curved wooden transoms held in place by braces, also of wood, and radiating like the spokes of a wheel. As an architectural conception, and at the same time as an artistic and effective method of introducing light, this very early form of a traceried window is a remarkable achievement.