Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c35.10

c35.10

Taken as a whole the architectural character of the buildings comprising these "holy cities" of the Jains is not of a particularly high order Yet consisting of such a large number, and their production extending over a very considerable space of time, they cannot fail to be instructive. But the information they convey is not inspiring, their cold systematic compositions making little appeal. There is a falling away of power in these structures, some of it undoubtedly due to the relatively late period in which many of them were erected, when the first vigour of the style had passed Compare any of the temples of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries pulsating with a fresh vitality, with those of the later style, and it will at once become apparent that the art was growing nerveless and mannered, the dynamic movement of the one being in strong contrast with the static condition of the other. That something happened to divide the two phases is obvious, and that circumstance was the full force of the Islamic aggression which was experienced at this juncture. For some time the mind of the people was stunned by these subversive influences, and the buildings reflect not only the effect of the religious impact but also the socio-political conditions that then ensued. From this state the country partially recovered, but it was never the same. The old arts continued to be practised, but the spirit of them passed very largely and almost imperceptibly into the more vigorous conceptions of the new power.