Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c39.31

c39.31

A further interesting feature in the Kashmir temples is the constructional principle applied in the production of the ceiling. In one of the earliest examples, that of the Rudresa in the village of Ludov, there are the remains of a semicircular dome of no mean dimensions formed of oversailing courses of stone, while there are other instances in which a similar system of roofing is discernible Any attempt at doming at such an early date is a matter of note, and that at Ludov, although not of the true variety in its technique, displays evidence of no little experience in dome construction. On the other hand most of the shrines are roofed by means of stone beams and slabs, seemingly the outcome of a wooden prototype But the appearance of the two systems of covering a space, that of the dome and of the cross-beam, the former evidently being relinquished in order to make way for the latter, introduces another minor problem into the origins of the building art of Kashmir.