Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c12.26

c12.26

Of the next class of chaitya halls, judging mainly by the design and treatment of the facade, Ajanta (No. 9) and that known as Pandulena at Nasik are the two principal examples, as both have no wooden additions to their frontage, the whole having been carved out of the rock. The Ajanta facade is a singularly well-balanced design recalling in some respects of Gothic rood-screen, with a doorway in the centre and a window on either side, each opening being protected above by an elegant cornice thrown out on brackets like a shallow portico. Over this is what corresponds in the Gothic parallel to the rood-loft, a broad sill or ledge used as a minstrel's gallery, and rising above the whole is the sun-window within a chaitya arch of graceful curves. On the flat surface around the archway are carved as objects of decoration several small lattice windows, conventional renderings of the projecting casements copied so realistically from wooden originals as seen on the previous type at Bhaja and Kondane. As already mentioned the plan of this hall is a rectangle and moreover the ceiling of the side-aisles instead of being curved is flat, while its pillars are perpendicular. Originally the vault of the nave was braced with wooden ribs which, however, appear to have been regarded as superfluous and accordingly were removed at an early date. This left a broad surface of the wall above the colonnade similar to a triforium, which was seized upon by the sixth century painters of the famous Ajanta school as an appropriate space for their mural frescoes.