History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1: Volume 1
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1
- Language
- English
Contents
- v1.c1 Front matter — 28 parts
- v1.c2 Author's Preface to the First Edition. — 11 parts
- v1.c3 Preface to Second Edition — 13 parts
- v1.c4 Note. — 7 parts
- v1.c5 Contents. — 15 parts
- v1.c6 List of Illustrations in Volume I. — 5 parts
- v1.c7 List of Plates to Vol. I. — 6 parts
- v1.c8 Introduction. — 40 parts
- v1.c9 Book I. Buddhist Architecture.
- v1.c10 Chapter I. Introduction and Classification. — 9 parts
- v1.c11 Chapter II. Stambhas or Lâts. — 30 parts
- v1.c12 Chapter III. Stûpas. — 27 parts
- v1.c13 Chapter IV. Rails. — 18 parts
- v1.c14 Chapter V. Chaitya Halls. — 35 parts
- v1.c15 Chapter VI. Vihâras, or Monasteries. — 11 parts
- v1.c16 Chapter VII. Gandhâra Monasteries. — 77 parts
- v1.c17 Chapter VIII. Ceylon. — 4 parts
- v1.c18 Book II. Architecture in the Himalayas. — 35 parts
- v1.c19 Book III. Dravidian Style. — 65 parts
- v1.c20 Book IV. Chalukyan Style. — 53 parts
Volume 1
Front matter
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INDIAN AND EASTERN
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Lieut. Colonel Spiller.
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Wm H Spiller Lieut Col.
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HISTORY
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THE MONUMENTS OF INDIA
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TEMPLES, MOSQUES, AND PALACES
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TOMBS OF THE PRINCES
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(FROM A CORRESPONDENT)
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Every one who thinks of travelling in India looks forward to a sight of the temples, mosques, tombs, and palaces in which much of her history is written; but though some of the best of these are to be found in the big cities, which are easily reached in a few weeks’ cold-weather tour, there are many others lying off the beaten track to which a special pilgrimage is necessary.
v1.c1.11
The buried cities which excavators’ spades are bringing to light in the Sind Valley have a special interest for the archæologist and race-historian, and may be expected to illuminate some region of the darkness in which the antiquity of India’s civilization is hidden. But of the standing monuments which primarily interest the tourist, none dates later than about 260 B.C., when the great King Asoka carved on rocks and pillars the main precepts of the Buddhist faith. Two of the Asoka pillars are to be seen at Delhi—one in the ruined palace of Feroz Shah, and one on the Ridge near Hindu Rao’s house. A better pillar, which also bears later Gupta and Moghul inscriptions, rises in the Fort at Allahabad.
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BUDDHIST STUPAS
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The finest specimens of Buddhist building, however, are the topes (*stupas*) which mark some spot sacred to Buddha, or were meant to contain some relics of his, the rails which surrounded these and other holy places, the *chaityas* or churches, and the *viharas* or monasteries. Far the most impressive group that survives is that at Sanchi in the Bhopal State, on the railway between Bombay and Agra. Topes, rails, monasteries, and some later temples are nobly set on a hill commanding wide and beautiful views, and the visitor will indeed be dull of imagination who does not feel the sanctity and grandeur of a place that is almost comparable with the Acropolis. Less impressive than Sanchi, but not less interesting, is the tope at Sarnath, near Benares, which marks the beginning of Buddha’s mission as teacher. The work of the Archæological Department, described by Mr. Hargreaves on this page, has made the purpose of the several buildings very clear, and an admirable little museum houses some famous pieces of Buddhist sculpture. Holier than either of these in Buddhist eyes is the temple at Buddh-Gaya, near by the bodhi-tree where Buddha attained enlightenment, a lofty pyramid-like building said to have been built by a Brahman in the days of religious tolerance about A.D. 500, before Buddhism was swept out of India by the Brahmanic revival. The later development of the characteristic Buddhist railing can be studied best at Amraoti and Bherhut, but the best specimens of *chaityas* are the rock-hewn caves of the Bombay Presidency, of which the most famous are those at Karli, Bedda, Nassik, Ajanta, and Ellora. Some of these in plan are curiously like an early Christian church, with nave, aisles, and apse. Karli is architecturally the finest, but the cave pictures of Ajanta have a nobility which the art of painting never again attained in India, and from them some of the best Indian artists of to-day draw inspiration.
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JAIN AND HINDU
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Buddhist architecture, as the rail conspicuously shows, was derived from building in timber. To the Jains belongs the credit for the introduction of the dome. It is characteristic of the Jains that they mass their temples together on hill-tops, as at Palitana in Gujarat, or Mount Abu in Rajputana, where the temple of Vimala Sah is one of the noblest examples of the style. There are notable groups also at Khajuraho in Central India, and at Deoghar in the Jhansi district. Later Jain work is to be seen at Sunagir, near Datia, but by this time the bulbous Moghul dome has mingled with the pyramidal spire of earlier days.
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Fergusson lays it down that all that is intellectually great in India pertains to the Aryas, and all that is artistically great belongs to other races, either aboriginal, or earlier or later immigrants than those from the north. The great Hindu temples are to be found in the Dravidian country of the south in amazing numbers and variety. They are remarkable less for their beauty than for their cathedral-like size, and for a profusion of ornament which to many Western observers is unpleasing. Often they are enclosed within high walls with towering doorways in each face. The general impression is one of colossal labour and effort which somehow fails. A journey from Madras through Tiruvallur, Conjeevarum, Vellore, Polur, and Chilambaram to Tanjore and Srirangam, and thence on to Madura and Rameswaram on its island, enables all the finest examples to be seen, even at the risk of satiety.
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Hindu temples in Northern India are generally smaller, simpler, and more scattered, except where they are multiplied to serve the pilgrims at a place of special sanctity. There are few pleasanter sights in the Northern plains than that of the flame-like spike of the *shivala* peeping over the village trees like some country church spire in England. But the pulse of Hindu worship at its strongest is to be felt at a few famous places along the holy rivers; notably at Hardwar (the gate of Hari), where the Ganges breaks into the plain through the outer hills; at Muttra, on the Jumna, where Rama sported with the milkmaids; and, above all, at most holy Benares, where, if he could, every Hindu would come to die.
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THE KUTB MINAR
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High above the crest of the Benares river-bank and on the site of an old Hindu temple soars the Mosque of Aurangzeb, a striking reminder that in later days a new race and a new religion had entered India. The main development of Muslim building in India can be observed at Delhi and Agra. Nearly 800 years ago Kutb-uddin proclaimed himself Emperor and built the Kutb Minar; "beyond comparison," says Sir Valentine Chirol, "the loftiest and noblest form in which the Musalman call to prayer has ever gone forth"; and with it the mosque known as the "Power of Islam," on the site of Hindu temples and constructed of materials torn from them. To this time belongs also the finely decorated tomb of Altamsh, Kutb’s successor. The Alai Darwaza close by pertains to the next dynasty. A few miles south are the titanic ruins of Tughlakabad, and the soldierly tomb of Tughlak Shah, the outstanding figure of the 14th century. Closer to New Delhi rise the tombs of the Lodi kings, with their low strong domes and buttressed octagonal walls. Akin to these is the severe and massive Black Mosque in Delhi City. But meanwhile under Moghul governors who had assumed independence as the Sharqi kings, were built the Jama Masjid and the Atala Masjid at Jampur, splendid virile creations with massive propylons screening small domes or barrel vaults and with no minarets. At Mandu, too, in Central India, Hushang, the founder of the Ghori kings, built himself a capital, which till to-day is majestic in ruin; and at Gujarat Ahmad Shah and his successors have left notable monuments, only surpassed by those of Bijapur when Vijianagar, the last Hindu kingdom in the south, had fallen before the Muslim conqueror.
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With the coming of the Moghuls the great age of Muslim building was reached. Baber certainly built, though no work of his has been identified. His son Humayun’s tomb stands out prominently south of Delhi; and to the usurper Sher Shah is attributed a beautiful mosque in the fort of Purana Kila. Akbar has left us not merely the great forts of Agra, Delhi, and Allahabad, but the old palace in the Agra Fort and the immortal city of Fathpur Sikri, and his own stately tomb at Sikandra. Less known than these, but still worthy of a visit, is his hall of audience in the Allahabad Fort. Jahangir built himself a mosque and tomb in Lahore, as well as a tomb for his minister Itimad-uddaula in a garden by the Jumna at Agra.
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THE TAJ
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But the greatest of builders was Shah Jahan, who has given us not only the unequalled Taj and the great mosques both at Delhi and Agra, but also the imperial palaces within the forts at both capitals, which, after suffering many evil things during a utilitarian usurpation, have been partly restored to their ancient beauty by the Archæological Department which India owes to Lord Curzon. Upon these world-famous creations there is here neither need nor space to dwell.
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Nor is it possible to enumerate the tombs of the princes and nobles of the Moghul Court which are to be found throughout the country. Worthy examples are those in the Khusru Bagh, at Allahabad, or the tomb of Safdar Jang, at Delhi. The decay of Moghul building is best exemplified in Lucknow, where, with the possible exception of the great Imambara, the sheer size and long horizontal lines of which redeem its other weaknesses, there is hardly a palace, tomb, or mosque that escapes banality, at least of a later date than the little mosque on the Lachmantila hillock by the Goomtee, with slim white minarets rising against a blue sky and wind-sown vegetation sprouting from its dome.
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OLD SOUTHERN TEMPLE AT MÂMALLAPURAM (SEVEN PAGODAS)
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HISTORY OF INDIAN AND EASTERN ARCHITECTURE
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By the late JAMES FERGUSSON C.I.E., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S., F.R.I.B.A. Member of the Society of Dilettanti, etc., etc.
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REVISED AND EDITED, WITH ADDITIONS
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INDIAN ARCHITECTURE
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By JAMES BURGESS, C.I.E., LL.D., F.R.S.E. Hon. A.R.I.B.A.; Hon. Member of the Imperial Russian Archæological Society; Corresponding Member Batavian Society;
Author's Preface to the First Edition.
v1.c2.1
DURING the nine years that have elapsed since I last wrote on this subject,¹ very considerable progress has been made in the elucidation of many of the problems that still perplex the student of the History of Indian Architecture. The publication of the five volumes of General Cunningham's 'Archæological Reports' has thrown new light on many obscure points, but generally from an archæological rather than from an architectural point of view; and Mr Burgess's researches among the western caves and the structural temples of the Bombay presidency have added greatly not only to our stores of information, but to the precision of our knowledge regarding them.
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¹ 'History of Architecture in all Countries.' 2nd ed. Murray, 1867. [Now 'History of Ancient and Medieval Architecture.' 3rd ed. 2 vols. Murray, 1893.]
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For the purpose of such a work as this, however, photography has probably done more than anything that has been written. There are now very few buildings in India—of any importance at least—which have not been photographed with more or less completeness; and for purposes of comparison such collections of photographs as are now available are simply invaluable. For detecting similarities, or distinguishing differences between specimens situated at distances from one another, photographs are almost equal to actual personal inspection, and, when sufficiently numerous, afford a picture of Indian art of the utmost importance to any one attempting to describe it.
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These new aids, added to our previous stock of knowledge, are probably sufficient to justify us in treating the architecture of India Proper in the quasi-exhaustive manner in which it is attempted, in the first 600 pages of this work. Its description might, of course, be easily extended even beyond these limits, but without plans and more accurate architectural details than we at present possess, any such additions would practically contribute very little that was valuable to the information the work already contains.
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The case is different when we turn to Further India. Instead of only 100 pages and 50 illustrations, both these figures ought at least to be doubled to bring that branch of the subject up to the same stage of completeness as that describing the architecture of India Proper. For this, however, the materials do not at present exist. Of Japan we know almost nothing except from photographs, without plans, dimensions, or dates; and, except as regards Pekin and the Treaty Ports, we know almost as little of China. We know a great deal about one or two buildings in Cambodia and Java, but our information regarding all the rest is so fragmentary and incomplete, that it is hardly available for the purposes of a general history, and the same may be said of Burma and Siam. Ten years hence this deficiency may be supplied, and it may then be possible to bring the whole into harmony. At present a slight sketch indicating the relative position of each, and their relation to the styles of India Proper, is all that can be well accomplished.
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Although appearing as the third volume of the second edition of the ‘General History of Architecture,’ the present may be considered as an independent and original work. In the last edition the Indian chapters extended only to about 300 pages, with 200 illustrations,¹ and though most of the woodcuts reappear in the present volume, more than half the original text has been cancelled, and consequently at least 600 pages of the present work are original matter, and 200 illustrations—
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¹ ‘History of Architecture’ (1867), vol. ii. pp. 445-756, Woodcuts 966-1163.
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and these by far the most important—have been added. These, with the new chronological and topographical details, present the subject to the English reader, in a more compact and complete form than has been attempted in any work on Indian architecture hitherto published. It does not, as I feel only too keenly, contain all the information that could be desired, but I am afraid it contains nearly all that the materials at present available will admit of being utilised, in a general history of the style.
v1.c2.9.1
When I published my first work on Indian architecture thirty years ago, I was reproached for making dogmatic assertions, and propounding theories which I did not even attempt to sustain. The defect was, I am afraid, inevitable. My conclusions were based upon the examination of the actual buildings throughout the three Presidencies of India and in China during ten years’ residence in the East, and to have placed before the world the multitudinous details which were the ground of my generalisations, would have required an additional amount of description and engravings which was not warranted by the interest felt in the subject at that time. The numerous engravings in the present volume, the extended letterpress, and the references to works of later labourers in the wide domain of Indian architecture, will greatly diminish, but cannot entirely remove, the old objection. No man can direct his mind for forty years to the earnest investigation of any department of knowledge, and not become acquainted with a host of particulars, and acquire a species of insight which neither time, nor space, nor perhaps the resources of language will permit him to reproduce in their fulness.
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I possess, to give a single instance, more than 3,000 photographs of Indian buildings, with which constant use has made me as familiar as with any other object that is perpetually before my eyes, and to recapitulate all the information they convey to long-continued scrutiny, would be an endless, if not indeed an impossible undertaking. The necessities of the case demand that broad results should often be given when the evidence for the statements must be merely indicated or greatly abridged, and if the conclusions sometimes go beyond the appended proofs, I can only ask my readers to believe that the assertions are not speculative fancies, but deductions from facts. My endeavour from the first has been to present a distinct view of the general principles which have governed the historical development of Indian architecture, and my hope is that those who pursue the subject beyond the pages of the present work, will find that the principles I have enunciated will reduce to order the multifarious details, and that the details in turn will confirm the principles. Though the vast amount of fresh knowledge which has gone on accumulating since I commenced my investigations has enabled me to correct, modify, and enlarge my views, yet the classification I adopted, and the historical sequences I pointed out thirty years since, have in their essential outlines been confirmed, and will continue, I trust, to stand good.
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Many subsidiary questions remain unsettled, but my impression is, that not a few of the discordant opinions that may be observed arise principally from the different courses which enquirers have pursued in their investigations. Some men of great eminence and learning, more conversant with books than buildings, have naturally drawn their knowledge and inferences from written authorities, none of which are contemporaneous with the events they relate, and all of which have been avowedly altered and falsified in later times. My authorities, on the contrary, have been mainly the imperishable records in the rocks, or on sculptures and carvings, which necessarily represented at the time the faith and feelings of those who executed them, and which retain their original impress to this day. In such a country as India, the chisels of her sculptors are, so far as I can judge, immeasurably more to be trusted than the pens of her authors. These secondary points, however, may well await the solution which time and further study will doubtless supply. In the meanwhile, I shall have realised a long-cherished dream if I have succeeded in popularising the subject by rendering its principles generally intelligible, and can thus give an impulse to its study, and assist in establishing Indian architecture on a stable basis, so that it may take its true position among the other great styles which have ennobled the arts of mankind.
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The publication of this volume completes the history of the 'Architecture in all countries, from the earliest times to the present day, in four volumes,' and there it must at present rest. As originally projected, it was intended to have added a fifth volume on 'Rude Stone Monuments,' which is still wanted to make the series quite complete; but, as explained in the preface to my work bearing that title, the subject was not, when it was written, ripe for a historical treatment, and the materials collected were consequently used in an argumentative essay. Since that work was published, in 1872, no serious examination of its arguments has been undertaken by any competent authority, while every new fact that has come to light—especially in India—has served to confirm me more and more in the correctness of the principles I then tried to establish.¹ Unless, however, the matter is taken up seriously, and re-examined by those who, from their position, have the ear of the public in these matters, no such progress will be made as would justify the publication of a second work on the same subject. I consequently see no chance of my ever having an opportunity of taking up the subject again, so as to be able to describe its objects in a more consecutive or more exhaustive manner than was done in the work just alluded to.
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¹ A distinguished German professor, Herr Kinkel of Zürich, in his 'Mosaik zur Kunstgeschichte, Berlin, 1876,' has lately adopted my views with regard to the age of Stonehenge without any reservation, though arriving at that conclusion by a very different chain of reasoning from that I was led to adopt.
Preface to Second Edition
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THE late Mr. Fergusson's 'History of Indian and Eastern Architecture' has now been before the public for more than thirty years, and was reprinted (without his consent) in America, before his death in 1886, and the publishers issued a reprint in 1891. His method of treating the subject he has thus described:—"What I have attempted to do during the last forty years has been to apply to Indian Architecture the same principles of archæological science which are universally adopted not only in England, but in every country in Europe. Since the publication of Rickman's 'Attempt to discriminate the Styles of Architecture in England' in 1817, style has been allowed to supersede all other evidences for the age of any building, not only in Mediæval, but in Byzantine, Classical, and, in fact, all other true styles. Any accomplished antiquary, looking at any archway or any moulding, can say at once, this is Norman, or Early English, or Decorated, or Tudor; and if familiar with the style, tell the date within a few years, whether it belongs to a cathedral or a parish church, a dwelling house or a grange, . . . is not of the smallest consequence, nor whether it belongs to the marvellously elaborate quasi-Byzantine style of the age of the Conqueror, or to the prosaic tameness of that of the age of Elizabeth. Owing to its perfect originality and freedom from all foreign admixture or influence, I believe these principles, so universally adopted in this country, are even more applicable to the Indian styles than to the European."
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The successful application of these principles to Indian architecture was entirely his own: no one had dreamed of it before. It was a stroke of genius to trace out logically the historical sequences of the Hindû monuments and make them tell their own story by means of those guiding principles which he was the first to apply to them, and to elucidate their applicability in a manner that has been borne out since without exception wherever they have been intelligently applied. Though descriptions of Indian monuments may be written in various ways, no one could pretend to take up the systematic study of Indian Architecture without the aid of this work, and no history of the architecture can be scientifically written without appropriating the principles Mr. Fergusson showed how to apply.
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My close intimacy with Mr. Fergusson for twenty years, and knowledge of his opinions, may have suggested that I might undertake the revisal of his work; but, when it was first proposed, I was engaged on the preparation of certain volumes of the Archæological Reports of the Indian Survey that had been entrusted to me and I could not then undertake it. On the appointment of a new director for the Surveys, at the close of 1901, the materials were taken out of my hands and my engagement terminated. I was then at liberty to undertake the revision of the work, and in doing so I naturally depended on the like help that had been afforded to Mr. Fergusson himself in 1875, when the resources of the Surveys were at his disposal. But obstruction was raised where it ought hardly to have been expected, and it was due to the good offices of the Right Honourable Lord Morley, Secretary of State for India, that this was largely overcome. The materials in the India Office were at once liberally placed at my disposal, and the Government of India requested to favour the work. This, however, caused delay, and subsequent severe illness has protracted the preparation of the work.
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It would have been easy to expand this history, but, if it was to answer its purpose as a handbook, it must obviously be restricted within moderate dimensions. My aim has been to condense where practicable and, whilst revising, to make only such additions from the accessible materials accumulated since 1876, as seemed requisite. The Archæological Surveys have collected vast stores of drawings only a fraction of which has yet been published. Travellers too, influenced partly perhaps by the interest that Mr. Fergusson's volume had created, have published works that have added to our information.
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The great advances made in Indian Epigraphy and Palæography during the same period have further enabled us to revise and fix more accurately the dates in the earlier chronology of India; but this has not materially affected the author's chronometric scale of arrangement of the monuments, for where the dates have been somewhat altered, the relative places of the monuments have not required to be changed,—only they have been better adjusted; and in many cases Mr. Fergusson, in his later years, had accepted these corrections.
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For much valued aid and information my thanks are due to Mr. Henry Cousens, Superintendent of the Western India Archæological Circle; and to Mr. Alexander Rea of the Madras Circle, from both of whom I have received ungrudging assistance, relative to the districts under their charge.
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For Ceylon I am greatly indebted to Lord Stanmore and the Colonial Office, whilst Mr. J. G. Smither, late Government architect, and Mr. H. C. P. Bell, C.C.S., Archæological Commissioner, very kindly have read the proofs and supplied important advice and material for the chapter on the architecture of the Island.
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I owe thanks also for valued help to Babû Monmohan Chakravarti, M.A., relative to Orissa; and among others to Mr. R. F. Chisholm, F.R.I.B.A.; Mr. H. C. Fanshawe, C.S.I.; Dr. J. F. Fleet, C.I.E.; Professor Dr. H. Kern, Utrecht; the Right Honble. Ameer 'Ali; Mr. G. F. Williams, State Engineer, Udaypur; Lieut. Fred. M. Bailey, Indian Army; Mr. F. H. Andrews; Dr. L. D. Barnett, and the Rev. Dr. Wm. Millar, C.I.E. To Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co., I am indebted for the use of a number of woodcuts.
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The history of Indian Architecture has been extended from The chapters on Further India, Java and China have been edited and partly rewritten by Mr. R. Phené Spiers, the editor of Mr. Fergusson's larger work, the 'History of Ancient and Medieval Architecture,' published in 1893. Mr. Spiers has recast these chapters, adding much fresh and important information to each, whilst he has also added a new chapter on the Architecture of Japan. For Burma, Mr. Spiers has had to depend largely upon the few works published during the last thirty years describing the buildings there found, on the photographs in the India Office and on the somewhat meagre notes contained in the 'Progress Reports' of the Archæological Survey.
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For Cambodia, Siam and Java, on the other hand, were available the excellent publications of the French Archæological Surveys carried out at first under the supervision of the École Française d’Extrême Orient, and now under the skilled direction of the Archæological Commission of Indo-China, and of the Java Surveys under the direction of the Dutch Government Archæological Commission.
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This section occupied 100 pages with 49 woodcuts in the former edition; now, with the addition of Japan, it has been extended to 163 pages, with 67 woodcuts and 31 plates.
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J. BURGESS.
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EDINBURGH, *February* 1910.
Note.
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ONE of the great difficulties that met every one attempting to write on Indian subjects forty years ago was to know how to spell Indian proper names. The Gilchristian mode of using double vowels, which was fashionable early last century, had then been done away with, as contrary to the spirit of Indian orthography, though it left a plentiful crop of discordant spellings. On the other hand, Sir William Jones and most scholars, by marking the long vowels and by dots to distinguish the palatal from the dental consonants, had formed from the Roman alphabet definite equivalents for each letter in the Indian alphabets—both Sanskritic and Persian. Lepsius, Lassen, and Max Muller in turn proposed various other systems, which have not found much acceptance; and of late continental scholars have put forward still another scheme, quite unsuited for English use. In this system such names as "Krishna," "Chach," "Rĭshi," are to be represented by Kṛṣṇa, Cac, Ṛṣi—so pedantic a system is impossible both for cartographer and ordinary reader and, like others, it may well cease to be.
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Meanwhile a notable advance towards official uniformity has been made in the spelling of Indian place-names. When the 'Imperial Gazetteer of India' was projected, Government judiciously instructed the editor to adopt the Jonesian system of transliteration as slightly modified by Professor H. H. Wilson, but devoid of the diacritical dots attached to certain consonants. The authorisation of this system in the new maps and Gazetteer, and its use in published works since, has established its claim to acceptance in a work intended for the general reader.
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In the following pages, consequently, this system has been used, as nearly as may be, avoiding diacritical marks on consonants, but indicating the long vowel sounds *â*, *î*, *û*, as in Lât, Halebîd, Stûpa, etc., whilst *e* and *o*, being almost always long, hardly require indication.
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Thus *a* ¹ sounds as in "rural"; *â* as in "tar";
*i* „ „ "fill"; *î* „ "police";
*u* „ „ "full"; *û* „ "rude";
*e* „ „ "there"; and *o* „ "stone".
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¹ The shut vowel, inherent in all consonants of the proper Indian alphabets, was formerly transliterated by almost any English vowel: in "Benares" (for "*Banâras*"), *e* is used twice for it.
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Only the palatal *s*, as in "sure," is distinguished from the dental, as in "hiss," by the italic form among Roman letters, as in "*sikhara*," "*Asoka*." A hundred years hence, when Sanskrit and Indian alphabets are taught in all schools in England, it may be otherwise, but in the present state of knowledge on the subject it seems expedient to use some such simple method of indicating, at least approximately, the Indian sounds. Strictly accurate transcription in all cases and of well-known names, however, has not been followed.
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In Burmese,—which lisps sounds like *s* and *ch*,—the spellings used in the Gazetteers of Burma have been generally adopted.
Contents.
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INTRODUCTION . . . . . Page 3
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BOOK I.
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BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE.
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| CHAP. | PAGE | CHAP. | PAGE |
| I. INTRODUCTION AND CLASSIFICATION . . . . . | 51 | VI. VIHÂRAS, OR MONASTERIES—Structural Vihâras — Bengal Caves—Western Vihâra Caves—Nâsik, Ajantâ, Bâgh, Dhamnâr and Kholvi, Elûrâ, Aurangâbâd and Kudâ Vihâras . | 170 |
| II. STAMBHAS OR LÂTS . . | 56 | | |
| III. STÛPAS — Relic Worship — Bhilsâ Topes—Topes at Sârnâth and in Bihâr—Amarâvatî Stûpa — Gandhâra Topes—Jalâlâbâd Topes—Mânikyâla Stûpa . . . . . | 62 | VII. GANDHÂRA MONASTERIES—Monasteries at Jamâlgarhî—Takht-i-Bahai and Shâh-Dherî—Greek influence . . . | 209 |
| IV. RAILS—Rails at Bharaut, Mathurâ, Sânchi, and Amarâvatî . | 102 | | |
| V. CHAITYA HALLS — Structural Chaityas — Bihâr Caves — Western Chaitya Halls, etc. . | 125 | VIII. CEYLON — Introductory — Anurâdhapura—Polonnaruwa | 224 |
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BOOK II.
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ARCHITECTURE IN THE HIMALAYAS.
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| I. KASHMÎR—Temples — Mârtând—Avantipur — Bûniâr — Pandrethan—Malot . . . | 251 | II. NEPÂL AND TIBET—Stûpas or Chaityas — Wooden Temples—Tibet—Temples in Kângrâ | 273 |
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BOOK III.
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DRAVIDIAN STYLE.
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| CHAP. | PAGE | CHAP. | PAGE |
| I. INTRODUCTORY . . . . | 302 | — Conjivaram — Tanjor — Tiru-vâlûr — Srîrangam — Chidamba-ram — Râmesvaram — Madurâ — Tinnevelly — Kumbakonam — Vellor and Perûr — Vijayanagar | 350 |
| II. HINDÛ CONSTRUCTION — Arches — Domes — Plans — Sikharas . . . . | 310 | V. CIVIL ARCHITECTURE — Palaces at Madurâ and Tanjor — Garden Pavilion at Vijayanagar — Palace at Chandragiri . | 411 |
| III. DRAVIDIAN ROCK-CUT TEMPLES — Mâmallapuram — Kâilâs, Elûrâ . . . . | 327 | | |
| IV. DRAVIDIAN TEMPLES — Pattadakal and Dhârwâr Temples | | | |
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BOOK IV.
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CHALUKYAN STYLE.
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| I. INTRODUCTORY — Chalukyan Architecture — Dhârwâr temples — Ittagi — Gadag — Kuruvatti — Dambal — Hanamkonda | | — Kirtti-Stambhas at Worangal — Mysore — Temples at Somnâthpûr and Bêlûr — Temples at Halebîd . . . . | 420 |
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DIRECTIONS TO BINDER
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| MAP OF INDIA, SHOWING THE PRINCIPAL BUDDHIST LOCALITIES | *To face page* 51 |
| MAP OF THE PRINCIPAL INDO-ARYAN, CHALUKYAN, AND DRAVIDIAN LOCALITIES . . . . . | „ 251 |
List of Illustrations in Volume I.
v1.c6.1
| No. | | Page | No. | | Page |
| 1. | Hindû Temple, at Bahulârâ, near Bânkurâ | 15 | 27. | Elevation and Section of portion of Basement of Stûpa at Mânikyâla | 98 |
| 2. | Nâga people worshipping the Triratna emblem of Buddha, on a fiery pillar | 49 | 28. | Relic Casket, Mânikyâla | 99 |
| | | | 29. | Parinirvâna of Buddha, from Cave No. 26 at Ajantâ | 101 |
| 3. | Srî or Gaja Lakshmî seated on a Lotus, with two Elephants pouring water over her | 50 | 30. | Tree Worship : Bodh-Gayâ Rail | 105 |
| | | | 31. | Relic Casket : Bodh-Gayâ Rail | 105 |
| 4. | Lât at Allahâbâd | 57 | 32. | Portion of Rail at Bharaut, as first uncovered | 106 |
| 5. | Assyrian honeysuckle ornament from capital of Lât, at Allahâbâd | 57 | 33. | Tree and Serpent Worship at Bharaut | 108 |
| 6. | Capital at Sankîsâ | 58 | 34. | Rail at Sânchi | 111 |
| 7. | Capital of Lât in Tirhût | 58 | 35. | Rail, of No. 2 Tope, Sânchi | 112 |
| 8. | Capital of the Lion-pillar at Kârlê | 60 | 36. | Representation of Rail, from Amarâvatî | 112 |
| 9. | Minâr Chakri, Kâbul | 61 | 37. | Rail in Gautamîputra Cave, Nâsik | 113 |
| 10. | Relic Casket of Moggalâna | 68 | 38. | Northern Gateway of Tope at Sânchi | 115 |
| 11. | Relic Casket of Sâriputra | 68 | 39. | Bas-relief on left-hand Pillar, Northern Gateway, Sânchi | 117 |
| 12. | View of the great Tope at Sânchi | 69 | 40. | Ornament on right-hand Pillar, Northern Gateway, Sânchi | 117 |
| 13. | Plan of great Tope at Sânchi | 69 | 41. | External Elevation of Great Rail at Amarâvatî | 120 |
| 14. | Section of great Tope at Sânchi | 69 | 42. | Angle pillar at Amarâvatî | 121 |
| 15. | 'Tee' (Htî) cut in the rock on a Dâgaba at Ajantâ | 70 | 43. | Slab from Base of the Stûpa, Amarâvatî | 121 |
| 16. | Tope at Sârnâth, near Benares | 72 | 44. | Dâgaba (from a Slab), Amarâvatî | 122 |
| 17. | Panel on the Tope at Sârnâth | 74 | 45. | Triratna Emblem. (From a sculpture at Amarâvatî) | 124 |
| 18. | View and Plan of Jarâsandha-ka-baithak | 76 | 46. | Triratna Symbol from Sânchi | 124 |
| 19. | Temple at Bodh-Gayâ with Bo-tree | 78 | 47. | Plan of Chaitya Hall, Sânchi | 126 |
| 20. | Representation of a Stûpa from the Rail at Amarâvatî | 81 | 48. | Ancient Buddhist Chaitya at Têr | 126 |
| 21. | Tope at Bimaran | 91 | 49. | Plan of Ancient Buddhist Chaitya at Têr | 126 |
| 22. | Tope at Sultânpur | 91 | 50. | Plan of an Ancient Chaitya at Chezarla | 127 |
| 23. | Stûpa at Chakpat | 92 | | | |
| 24. | Relic Casket from a Tope at Mânikyâla | 95 | | | |
| 25. | View of Mânikyâla Tope | 96 | | | |
| 26. | Restored Elevation of the Tope at Mânikyâla | 97 | | | |
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| No. | | Page | No. | | Page |
| 51. | Elevation of Chezarla Chaitya Temple | 127 | 83. | Façade of the Viswakarma Cave at Elûrâ | 161 |
| 52. | Section of Chezarla Chaitya Temple | 127 | 84. | Rail in front of the Chaitya Cave at Kanheri | 163 |
| 53. | Sudâma Cave, Plan and Section, Sât-Garbha group | 130 | 85. | Capital of a Pillar from the Chaitya Cave at Kanheri | 164 |
| 54. | Kondivtê Cave, Salsette | 131 | 86. | Caves at Dhamnâr | 165 |
| 55. | Façade of Lomas Rishi Cave | 131 | 87. | Façade of Chaitya Cave at Guntupalle | 168 |
| 56. | Lomas Rishi Cave, Plan | 132 | 88. | Sphinxes from Buddhist Vihâra at Pitalkhorâ | 169 |
| 57. | Plan and Section of Sitâ-marhi Cave | 133 | 89. | Dharmarâja Rath at Mâmallapuram | 172 |
| 58. | Chaitya and Vihâra Caves, at Bhâjâ | 134 | 90. | Diagram explanatory of the arrangement of a Buddhist Vihâra of Four Storeys in height | 172 |
| 59. | Front of a Chaitya Hall | 134 | 91. | Square Cell from a bas-relief at Bharaut | 173 |
| 60. | Façade of the Chaitya Cave at Bhâjâ | 135 | 92. | Oblong Cell from a bas-relief at Bharaut | 173 |
| 61. | Triratna. Shield. Chakra. Triratna, etc. | 136 | 93. | Plan of Son-bhandar Caves | 176 |
| 62. | Capital of a rock-cut Dâgaba at Bhâjâ | 137 | 94. | Section of Son-bhandar Cave | 176 |
| 63. | Plan of Caves at Bedsâ | 138 | 95. | Front of Son-bhandar Cave | 176 |
| 64. | Capital of Pillar in front of Cave at Bedsâ | 139 | 96. | Plan of small Vihâra at Bhâjâ | 177 |
| 65. | View in Verandah of Chaitya at Bedsâ | 140 | 97. | Capital of Pilaster at Bhâjâ | 178 |
| 66. | View of Chaitya Cave at Nâsik | 141 | 98. | Plan of Cave No. 11 at Ajantâ | 181 |
| 67. | Section of Chaitya Cave at Kârlê | 143 | 99. | Plan of Cave No. 2 at Ajantâ | 181 |
| 68. | Plan of Chaitya Cave at Kârlê | 143 | 100. | Plan of Cave No. 3 at Bâgh | 182 |
| 69. | View of Chaitya Cave at Kârlê | 144 | 101. | Plan of Darbâr Cave, Kanheri | 182 |
| 70. | View of Interior of Cave at Kârlê | 146 | 102. | Plan of Nahapâna Vihâra, Nâsik | 184 |
| 71. | Interior of Chaitya Cave No. 10 at Ajantâ | 149 | 103. | Pillar in Nahapâna Cave, Nâsik | 185 |
| 72. | Cross-section of Cave No. 10 at Ajantâ | 149 | 104. | Pillar in Gautamîputra Cave, Nâsik | 185 |
| 73. | Plan of Chaitya Cave No. 19 at Ajantâ | 151 | 105. | Plan of Srî Yajna Cave, No. 15, at Nâsik | 187 |
| 74. | View of Façade, Chaitya Cave No. 19 at Ajantâ | 152 | 106. | Pillar in Srî Yajna Cave | 188 |
| 75. | Rock-cut Dâgaba at Ajantâ | 153 | 107. | Plan of Cave No. 16, at Ajantâ | 189 |
| 76. | Small Model found in the Tope at Sultânpur | 153 | 108. | View of Interior of Vihâra, No. 16, at Ajantâ | 190 |
| 77. | Pillars on the left side of the Nave, in Cave No. 26 at Ajantâ | 154 | 109. | View in Cave No. 17, at Ajantâ | 191 |
| 78. | View of Mânmoda Chaitya Cave at Junnar | 157 | 110. | Pillar in Vihâra Cave No. 17 at Ajantâ | 192 |
| 79. | Plan of Circular Cave, Junnar | 158 | 111. | Capital from Verandah of Cave 24, Ajantâ | 194 |
| 80. | Section of Circular Cave, Junnar | 158 | 112. | Pillar in the Verandah of Cave 1, Ajantâ | 195 |
| 81. | Round Temple and part of Palace or Monastery. (From a bas-relief at Bharaut) | 159 | 113. | Plan of Great Vihâra Cave at Bâgh | 198 |
| 82. | Interior of Viswakarma Buddhist Cave at Elûrâ | 160 | 114. | Buddhist Vihâras at the south end of the Elûrâ group | 201 |
| | | | 115. | Plan of Mahârwârâ Cave, Elûrâ | 202 |
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| No. | | Page | No. | | Page |
| 116. | Ancient Buddhist Tower at Negapattam | 206 | 145. | Temple of Mârtând, Plan | 259 |
| 117. | Ancient capital found at Patna | 207 | 146. | View of Temple at Mârtând | 260 |
| 118. | Capital in Side Chapel of Cave No. 19, Ajantâ | 208 | 147. | View of Central Cell of Court at Mârtând | 261 |
| 119. | Plan of Monastery at Jamâlgarhî | 212 | 148. | Niche with Figure at Mârtând | 263 |
| 120. | Plan of Monastery at Takht-i-Bahai | 212 | 149. | Soffit of Arch at Mârtând | 264 |
| 121. | Corinthian Capital from Jamâlgarhî | 214 | 150. | Pillar at Avantipur | 265 |
| 122. | Corinthian Capital from Jamâlgarhî | 214 | 151. | View of Court of Temple at Bûniâr | 266 |
| 123. | Conventional Elevation of the Façade of a Cell from Jamâlgarhî | 216 | 152. | View of Temple at Pândrethan | 268 |
| 124. | Plan of Ionic Monastery, Shâh-Dherî | 218 | 153. | View of Temple at Pâyer | 269 |
| 125. | Ionic Pillar, Shâh-Dherî | 218 | 154. | View of Temple at Malot, in the Salt Range | 271 |
| 126. | Footprints of Buddha (From a bas-relief at Amarâvatî) | 223 | 155. | View of Temple of Swayambhûnâth, Nepâl | 278 |
| 127. | View of the north side of west chapel, Ruwanveli Dâgaba | 231 | 156. | Nepalese Kosthakar | 280 |
| 128. | Part Elevation (restored) of front of south chapel, Ruwanveli Dâgaba | 232 | 157. | View of Devî Bhawânî Temple, Bhâtgâon | 281 |
| 129. | Stelæ at east end of north chapel, Abhayagiri Dâgaba | 233 | 158. | View of Temples of Mahâdeva and Krishna, Patân | 283 |
| 130. | Thûpârâma Dâgaba, Anurâdhapura | 234 | 159. | Pasupati—General view of the temples and burning ghât | 284 |
| 131. | Capital from outer circle at Thûpârâma Dâgaba | 235 | 160. | Doorway of Darbâr, Bhâtgâon | 285 |
| 132. | Lankârâma Dâgaba, Anurâdhapura | 236 | 161. | View of Hindû Temple at Chergâon in Chambâ | 287 |
| 133. | Capital of Lankârâma Dâgaba Pillars, inner circles | 236 | 162. | Monoliths at Dimâpur | 288 |
| 134. | Pavilion with Steps west of Ruwanveli Dâgaba | 240 | 163. | Doorway in the Temple at Tashiding | 295 |
| 135. | Moonstone at the Steps of the Bo-tree platform | 240 | 164. | Interior of Temple at Pemiongchi | 296 |
| 136. | View of the Sacred Bo-tree vihâra, Anurâdhapura | 243 | 165. | View of Temples at Kiragrâma, Kângrâ District | 299 |
| 137. | Sât Mahal Prâsâda and Galpota | 246 | 166. | Pillar in Porch of a Vaishnava Temple at Eran | 301 |
| 138. | Capital of a Pilaster, Pitalkhorâ | 250 | 167. | Capital of Half Column from a Temple in Orissa | 301 |
| 139. | Tomb of Zainu-l-’Abidîn. Elevation of Arches | 253 | 168. | View of City Gateway, Vijayanagar | 311 |
| 140. | Takht-i-Sulaimân—Elevation of Arches | 254 | 169. | Gateway Jhinjhuwâdâ | 312 |
| 141. | Model of Temple in Kashmîr | 256 | 170. | Radiating Arch | 313 |
| 142. | Pillar at Srînagar | 257 | 171. | Horizontal Arch | 313 |
| 143. | Capital from Shâdipur | 257 | 172. | Diagram of Roofing | 314 |
| 144. | Restoration of Vihâra Cells, at Takht-i-Bahai | 258 | 173-174. | Diagrams of Roofing | 314 |
| | | | 175. | Diagram of Roofing | 315 |
| | | | 176. | Diagram of Indian Construction | 315 |
| | | | 177. | Diagram of the arrangement of the pillars of a Jaina Dome | 317 |
| | | | 178. | Diagram Plan of Jaina Porch | 317 |
| | | | 179. | Diagram of Jaina Porch | 318 |
| | | | 180. | Old Temple at Aihole, Plan | 320 |
| | | | 181. | View of Old Temple at Aihole | 321 |
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| No. | | PAGE | No. | | PAGE |
| 182. | Plan of Pâpanâtha Temple at Pattadakal | 322 | 213. | View of the Great Temple at Tanjor . | 364 |
| 183. | Restored Elevation of the Sun Temple at Kanârak | 323 | 214. | View of Temple of Subrahmanya, Tanjor | 365 |
| 184. | Diagram Plan and Section of the Temple at Kanârak | 324 | 215. | Pier in Subrahmanya Temple . | 366 |
| 185. | View of the Raths, Mâmallapuram . | 329 | 216. | Plan of Inner Temple at Tiruvâlûr . | 367 |
| 186. | View of Draupadî's Rath | 330 | 217. | Bird's-eye view of Temple at Tiruvâlûr | 367 |
| 187. | Plan of Bhîma's Rath | 331 | 218. | Plan of Srîrangam Temple—the four inner courts | 369 |
| 188. | Pillar in Bhîma's Rath | 332 | 219. | View of the eastern half of the Great Temple at Srîrangam . | 371 |
| 189. | Plan of Dharmarâja Rath | 333 | 220. | Plan of Temple of Chidambaram | 375 |
| 190. | Elevation of Dharmarâja Rath . | 334 | 221. | View of Porch of Chidambaram | 376 |
| 191. | Section of Dharmarâja Rath, with suggested internal arrangements . | 335 | 222. | Section of Porch of Temple at Chidambaram | 377 |
| 192. | Plan of Sahadeva's Rath . | 336 | 223. | View of Ruined Temple at Chidambaram | 378 |
| 193. | View of Sahadeva's Rath | 337 | 224. | Plan of Great Temple at Râmesvaram, before 1905 | 381 |
| 194. | View of Ganesa Rath | 338 | 225. | Central Corridor, Râmesvaram | 383 |
| 195. | View of Perumâl Temple at Madurâ | 339 | 226. | Plan of Tirumalai Nâyyak's Chaultrî, Madurâ . | 387 |
| 196. | Entrance to a Hindû Temple, Colombo | 340 | 227. | Pillar in Tirumalai Nâyyak's Chaultrî | 387 |
| 197. | Head of the Nâga figure, at Mâmallapuram . | 341 | 228. | View in Tirumalai Nâyyak's Chaultrî | 389 |
| 198. | View of Cave Temple, Sâluvankuppam | 341 | 229. | Plan of Madurâ Temple . | 391 |
| 199. | Plan of Kailâs Temple, at Elûrâ | 343 | 230. | Half-plan of Temple at Tinnevelly | 393 |
| 200. | View of Kailâs Elûrâ | 344 | 231. | Gopuram at Kumbakonam | 395 |
| 201. | Shrine of the River Goddesses, Elûrâ . | 345 | 232. | Portico of Temple at Vellor | 397 |
| 202. | Dhwajastambha at Kailâs, Elûrâ | 346 | 233. | Compound Pillar at Vellor | 399 |
| 203. | Dîpdân in Dhârwâr | 347 | 234. | Compound Pillar at Perûr | 399 |
| 204. | Plan of Great Temple at Pattadakal . | 353 | 235. | Plan of Vitthalaswâmin Temple at Vijayanagar | 402 |
| 205. | South elevation of Virûpâksha Temple at Pattadakal | 354 | 236. | View of Porch of Temple of Vitthalasvâmin | 403 |
| 206. | Plan of Sangamesvar Temple at Pattadakal | 355 | 237. | Entrance through Gopuram at Tâdpatri | 405 |
| 207. | Plan of Mâlegitti Temple, at Bâdâmi | 356 | 238. | Portion of Gopuram at Tâdpatri | 406 |
| 208. | Plan of Meguti Jaina Temple at Aihole | 356 | 239. | Plan of Temples at Srî-Sailam . | 409 |
| 209. | Plan of Kailâsanâtha Temple, Conjivaram | 358 | 240. | Plan of Tirumalai Nâyyak's Palace at Madurâ . | 413 |
| 210. | Section of Vaikuntha Perumâl Temple, Conjivaram | 359 | 241. | Hall in Palace, Madurâ | 414 |
| 211. | Plan of the Shore Temple at Mâmallapuram | 361 | 242. | Court in Palace, Tanjor | 415 |
| 212. | Diagram Plan of Tanjor Temple | 363 | 243. | Garden Pavilion at Vijayanagar | 417 |
| | | | 244. | South Elevation of Chandragiri Palace . | 418 |
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| No. | | PAGE | No. | | PAGE |
| 245. | Plan of the ground floor of Chandragiri Palace | 418 | 255. | Plan of Kesava Temple at Somnâthpur | 437 |
| 246. | Plan of Ittagi Temples | 425 | 256. | Temple at Somnâthpur | 438 |
| 247. | Plan of Temples at Kukkanûr | 426 | 257. | Plan of Chenna Kesava Temple at Bêlûr | 439 |
| 248. | Plan of Somesvar Temple, Gadag | 427 | 258. | View of part of Porch at Bêlûr | 440 |
| 249. | Plan of Kuruvatti Temple | 430 | 259. | Pavilion at Bêlûr | 441 |
| 250. | Kuruvatti Temple—south elevation | 430 | 260. | View of Kedârêsvara Temple, Halebîd | 443 |
| 251. | Plan of Dambal Temple of Dodda Basavanna | 431 | 261. | Plan of Hoysalesvara Temple at Halebîd | 444 |
| 252. | Doorway of Great Temple at Hanamkonda | 433 | 262. | Restored view of Temple at Halebîd | 445 |
| 253. | Kîrtti-Stambha at Worangal | 434 | 263. | Central Pavilion, Halebîd, East Front | 447 |
| 254. | Temple at Buchhanapalli | 436 | | | |
List of Plates to Vol. I.
v1.c7.1
| PLATE | | |
| X. | old dravidian temple at mâmallapuram (page 362) | *Frontispiece to Volume I.* |
| | james fergusson | *To face page* 1 |
| I. | alî masjid—stûpa no 5 | „ 92 |
| II. | thûpârâma dâgaba (as restored) | „ 234 |
| III. | the wata-dâ-ge at polonnaruwa | „ 246 |
| IV. | the thûpârâma temple, polonnaruwa | „ 247 |
| V. | saiva temple at polonnaruwa | „ 248 |
| VI. | the potala at lhâsa from the w.s.w. | „ 292 |
| VII. | golden temple at gyan-tsê | „ 294 |
| VIII. | mâlegitti saiva temple at bâdâmi | „ 356 |
| IX. | view of main shrine, kailâsanâtha temple, kânchîpuram | „ 359 |
| XI. | stone car, at the temple of vitthala, vijayanagar, 1881 (now destroyed) | „ 403 |
| XII. | great temple at ittagi, from s.w. | „ 424 |
| XIII. | temple of somesvar at gadag, from n.e. | „ 427 |
| XIV. | doorway of the shrine in kâsîvisvesvar temple at lakkundi | „ 428 |
| XV. | chaudadâmpur temple of muktesvara | „ 429 |
| XVI. | galaganâth temple from n.w. | „ 432 |
| XVII. | temple of kedâresvara at balagâmi | „ 441 |
v1.c7.2
Buddha preaching. (From a fresco painting at Ajantâ.)
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JAMES FERGUSSON.
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@[To face page 1, Volume I.
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An empty page (blank page).
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INDIAN ARCHITECTURE.
Introduction.
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IT is in vain, perhaps, to expect that the literature or the Arts of any other people can be so interesting to even the best educated Europeans as those of their own country. Until it is forced on their attention, few are aware how much education does to concentrate attention within a very narrow field of observation. We become familiar in the nursery with the names of the heroes of Greek and Roman history. In every school their history and their arts are taught, memorials of their greatness meet us at every turn through life, and their thoughts and aspirations become, as it were, part of ourselves. So, too, with the Middle Ages: their religion is our religion; their architecture our architecture; and their history fades so insensibly into our own, that we can draw no line of demarcation that would separate us from them. How different is the state of feeling, when from this familiar home we turn to such a country as India! Its geography is hardly taught in schools, and seldom mastered perfectly; its history is a puzzle;¹ its literature a mythic dream; its arts a quaint perplexity. But, above all, the names of its heroes and great men are so unfamiliar that, except a few of those who go to India, scarcely any ever become so acquainted with them, that they call up any memories which are either pleasing or worth dwelling upon.
v1.c8.2
¹ The last thirty years have added greatly to the number and quality of the text-books on Indian history, and the general reader has no longer a valid excuse for ignorance of it.
v1.c8.3
Were it not for this, there is probably no country—out of Europe at least—that would so well repay attention as India: none, where all the problems of natural science or of art are presented to us in so distinct and so pleasing a form. Nowhere does nature show herself in such grand and such luxurious features, and nowhere does humanity exist in more varied and more pleasing conditions. Side by side with the intellectual Brâhman caste, and the chivalrous Râjput, are found the wild Bhîl and the naked Gond, not antagonistic and warring one against the other, as elsewhere, but living now as they have done for thousands of years, each content with his own lot, and prepared to follow, without repining, in the footsteps of his forefathers.
v1.c8.4
It cannot, of course, be for one moment contended that India ever reached the intellectual supremacy of Greece, or the moral greatness of Rome; but, though on a lower step of the ladder, her arts are more original and more varied, and her forms of civilisation present an ever-changing variety, such as are nowhere else to be found. What, however, really renders India so interesting as an object of study is that it is now a living entity. Greece and Rome are dead and have passed away, and we are living so completely in the midst of modern Europe, that we cannot get outside to contemplate it as a whole. But India is a complete cosmos in itself; bounded on the north by the Himâlayas, on the south by the sea, on the east by jungles inhabited by rude tribes, and only on the west having one door of communication, across the Indus, open to the outer world. Across that stream, nation after nation have poured their myriads into her coveted domain, but no reflex waves ever mixed her people with those beyond her boundaries.
v1.c8.5
In consequence of all this, every problem of anthropology or ethnography can be studied here more easily than anywhere else; every art has its living representative, and often of the most pleasing form; every science has its illustration, and many on a scale not easily matched elsewhere. But, notwithstanding all this, in nine cases out of ten, India and Indian matters fail to interest, because they are to most people new and unfamiliar. The rudiments have not been mastered when young, and, when grown up, few men have the leisure or the inclination to set to work to learn the forms of a new world, demanding both care and study; and till this is attained, it can hardly be hoped that the arts and the architecture of India will interest many European readers to the same extent as those styles treated of in the volumes on ancient and mediæval architecture.¹
First 92 of 2,128 passages. Read on
Linked texts (31)
- Rājataraṅgiṇī — Kalhaṇa, Sanskrit
- Matsyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Dīpavaṃsa — Pāli
- Mudrārākṣasa — Viśākhadatta, Sanskrit
- Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
- Veda — Sanskrit
- Mahāvaṃsa — Pāli
- Ṛgvedasaṃhitā — Sanskrit
- Brāhmaṇa — Sanskrit
- Purāṇa — Sanskrit
- Upaniṣad — Sanskrit
- Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit
- Bodh Gayā
- Sāñcī
- Bharhut
- Nāsik
- Somanātha (Semenat)
- Bhitari
- Bhattiprolu
- Ghantasala
- Mamallapuram
- Valabhi
- Barâbar
- Chezarla
- Junâgaḍh
- Gudivada
- Badami
- Ajanta
- Guntupalle
- Jaggayyapeta
- Kailasanatha Temple