Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c22.7

c22.7

The second type of excavated hall, the kind distinguished by a processional path around the shrine, is represented by two fine examples, the Ravana-ka-Khai (No. 14) and the Rameswara (No 21), but except that both have this corridor for ambulation, they have little else in common. The Ravana-ka-Khai is very simple in plan, the whole of it occupying a regular rectangle 52 feet wide by 87 feet deep, two-thirds of the space in front being taken up by the pillared hall, the remainder by the shrine. Around the pillared hall is a row of columns with a double row in front forming a sort of verandah, the capitals of the columns being all of the vase and foliage order The side aisles are continued so as to give access to the passage round the shrine This shrine is produced by leaving a rectangular mass of rock in the centre of the far end of the hall, and cutting a cubical chamber within it. On each side of the entrance to the cella are carved a number of figures including two *dwarapalas*, and within is a broken image of Bhavani or Durga the deity to whom the temple was dedicated. Within the walls of the pillared hall are recesses between pilasters in which are boldly carved figure-compositions, on the south side Saivite subjects, and on the north Vaishnavite