Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c29.12

c29.12

The substantial architraves above these capitals are also highly decorated with figure compositions of an animated nature, but it is in the design and execution of the ceilings which they support that the sculptor has exercised the greatest ingenuity and artistic skill. Here it is that we come into contact with a portion of the temple structure, which in many of the regional developments, has been regarded as a subject for the most intricate plastic embellishment. In every part of the country it seems to have been imperative that the ceiling of each compartment in the temple should be elaborately patterned, and, as will be shown later, in certain circumstances to overlay its curved surfaces with scenes of imagery and allegory of timeless origin and profound meaning. And more often than not the interior of the temple is so lacking in light that these upper portions of the halls, although so exquisitely sculptured are in deep shade or even in complete darkness None the less it was the practice to include these richly carved ceilings in the temple interior, many of which by their character and technique seem to indicate that the preparation of these and the fixing of them in position were in the hands of a separate guild of craftsmen who specialised in this particular kind of work.