Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c34.3

c34.3

That a form of roof constructed on the laminated or "clinker-built" system of overlapping planks and possibly in tiers, was employed in early Indian building seems fairly clear; for something of the kind, reproduced in stone, appears in the roofs and sikharas of the temples in the Indo-Aryan style, specially noticeable in those of Orissa. Rathas, or temple cars, in parts of the country are still fashioned of timber in this manner, each horizontal section taking the form of a wooden frame, with blocks fitted between to keep each layer apart, as is still simulated in stone in the temple roof (Plate CXVIII, Fig. 6). In the architecture of certain parts of the Himalayas, as for instance in the countries of Nepal and Kashmir, reminiscences of the gabled and multiple type of structure still prevail, reproduced in wood, metal, tiles and stone. But it is significant that a somewhat similar manifestation of this Himalayan style of building also occurs in two distant and relatively remote localities in the south and west of the Indian peninsula. One of these developments is found in Kathiawar and repeats certain characteristics of the Kashmir type, while the other, which is as far south as in Malabar, appertains more to the Nepal style.