Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c39.57

c39.57

The shrines at Bilot (*b*), while recalling some of the features of the previous group are more ample in their proportions, with decidedly more graceful plastic embellishment A high vaulted porch projects on the entrance side of the square plan, and the whole is surmounted, not by a pyramidal roof, but by a sikhara or tower. The Kashmir attribution may appear in the cusped or cinquefoil arches of the entrance porch, which are repeated in the niches on the exterior sides, but the direct influence, if any, of the parent style in these examples is remote. Exteriorly they are richly decorated with tiers of carved pilasters, dentil cornices, foliated medallions, and "horse-shoe" and *amalaka* motifs, all of which denote a closer association with the Gupta style than with that of Kashmir. The use of a remarkably hard grade of mortar to bind the stone masonry has been brought forward as evidence in favour of a late date. Slightly more classical in their appearance are the shrines of Kafir Kot (*c*), owing mainly to the presence of a range of tall low-relief pilaster around their outer walls. In general character and intention, however, they are little more than a variation of those at Bilot, as their square sanctuary, projecting porch, and tapering sikhara, suggest a similar source.