Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c31.43

c31.43

Examples of the civic architecture of this period may be seen in certain city gates, such as the Rampola at Ghumli in Kathiawar, and a complete series of four, each in the ancient towns of Jhinjuwada and Dabhoi in Gujarat. The walls and fortifications which adjoin these gates, although much ruined, indicate that the whole conception of these fortified towns with their bastions, battlements (*kanjuras*), corner towers, covered ways, and terrepleins was carried out in a thoroughly practical but at the same time in an exceedingly artistic manner. It was on the gateways however that the craftsman's art was mainly concentrated, some of which are remarkably elaborate and even romantic productions. These gates were all double structures, consisting of an inner and an outer curtain, the former being at right angles to the line of entrance of the outer, leaving a small open court between In most instances the inner gateway only has been preserved, in appearance an intricate and richly sculptured edifice, but the system on which these portals were constructed was comparatively simple. It is clear, they were derived from a wooden prototype, as timber is still actively employed in these parts to the present day. The archway itself, although all of stone, is composed of hammer-beams, struts, and curved braces, in much the same style and on the same principle as the wooden roofs were built in Gothic churches in the west. To attach this archway to the side-walls, six substantial pilasters were built on each side of the gateway, in groups of threes, with a wider space between each group in order to allow the leaves of the door to open back on to the walls. Each of these pilasters supported one of the bracketed archways, a sextuple arrangement of one archway behind the other, thus affording an attractive surface for sculpture, of which the designer took full advantage It is the nature of the plastic ornamentation which gives these gateways much of their character, as the stone-carver has not only elaborately moulded each constructional member but in the spaces between the beams, struts, and braces he has introduced figures of musicians, dancers, cavaliers and other fanciful creations all treated in a very spirited manner.