Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c19.25

c19.25

An architectural feature which emerges about this time, is a type of pillar and capital thoroughly distinctive of the rock-cut technique. Of massive proportions, the lower half, which corresponds to the shaft is a plain square prism, while the upper portion is round in section, vertically fluted, and elaborated into a capital consisting of the compressed "cushion" forms. This became the dominating type of capital and pillar and together with the other type already referred to as the "vase and foliage", constituted the two "orders" in all subsequent rock-cut architecture. So different in every aspect are these two capitals—the "cushion" and the "vase",—that it is clear they are the outcome of two entirely different but parallel traditions.