Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c13.s2.5

c13.s2.5

As already indicated the architectural significance of the excavated monasteries of the Hinayana sect lies in the fact that they are facsimiles, in the rock, of structural buildings devised to meet a similar demand, and which undoubtedly existed in considerable numbers. All these rock-cut viharas were by no means alike in their design, they took a variety of forms, but a representative example of the earlier or Hinayana type may be distinguished from that of the later or Mahayana, by several well-defined characteristics Chief among their typical features was the open simplicity of the central hall, for, with one or two exceptions, this assembly beams with bridging joists and other structural details, all faithful imitations of a timber original An instructive motif carved on the end wall of the portico is a conventional representation of a chaitya hall facade, from which it is possible to gain no little information as to the final appearance of these frontages. The other Hinayana monastery with pillars in its central hall is that at Pitalkhora, but of this example all that remains are a few of the cells These cells, however, are not plain square rooms as in all the other viharas, but small vaulted chambers with ribbed roofs and lattice windows, reproductions in miniature of the work of the carpenter (Plate VIII, Fig. 8) The exteriors are as ornate as the interiors, as between the overarch of each doorway is a Persepolitan pilaster surmounted by addorsed animals or gryphons.