Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c46.4

c46.4

An interval then appears to have ensued, a break in the continuity of the style occurred, and when the pendulum came into action again it swung over to the eastern division of the country, where a new regime rose to political power, and a fresh development of the building art resulted. From East-Java, therefore, from the eleventh to the fifteenth centuries, the island was administered, and in the course of time a considerable number of buildings were erected, which although possessing certain architectural qualities, were not equal to those of the previous era, so that this eastern movement has been designated the Silver Age. (Plate CLXII). In the fifteenth century this period also came to an end owing to the acceptance by the people of Islamism, a condition which has prevailed to the present day. But merged with this new orientation, or more correctly parallel or co-existent with it, arose another movement on the part of the Indonesians, a reversion to a form of folk-art, with the *Wyang* or puppet shadow-play as its basic structure. Finally the occupation of the island by the Dutch in the eighteenth century, brought in European forms and these are becoming the main features in the modern style.