Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c17.19

c17.19

In any account of the art of the Gupta period, a strict adherence to chronological order would have placed the excavated chambers at Udaigiri¹ first, as one of them bears an inscription stating that it was produced in the reign of Chandragupta II, who ruled from A.D. 382 to 401, thus making these as early as the end of the fourth century. But as they are partly rock-cut and partly stone built they are not so typical as the structural examples described above. There are in all nine of these cells in a sandstone hill two miles from Besnagar, and five from Sanchi in the vicinity therefore of an art centre of notable historical reputation. Beginning with what is usually referred to as a "false cave" (No. 1), their numbering most probably follows the sequence in which they were excavated. With the exception of the last of the series known as the "Amrita cave" (No. 9), the rock-cut interiors of the shrines are of little consequence, as they are plain rectangular cells, similar to the structural examples. Their architectural value lies in the treatment of the rock facades, and particularly in the design of the pillared porticos that were built in front of them. As far as the combination of these two technical methods permitted, the general style of each is in the early Gupta tradition. The only one of the series with its frontage fully intact is the "False Cave", so called because it has been adapted out of a natural ledge of rock, which has been made to form both the roof of the cella and its portico. It is a primitive effort, but at the same time it carries out the conventions of the style, with its flat roof, massive string-course, and row of four pillars with the wider intercolumniation in the middle. There is character in the shaping of the pillars, with their capitals of the "vase and foliage" pattern, for, although heavily proportioned, they are in keeping with the rugged strength of the whole. The importance of this "False Cave" lies in the fact that it is probably the earliest Brahmanical sanctum that has survived. (Plate XLI, Fig. 1).