History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c14.s8: Dhamnâr.
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c14.s8
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Dhamnâr.
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Near the village of Chandwâs, about half-way between Kotâ and Ujjain, and 48 miles south-west from Jhâlrapâthan, in Râjputâna, there exists a series of caves at a place called Dhamnâr which are of considerable extent, but the interest that might be felt in them is considerably diminished, by their being cut in a coarse laterite conglomerate, so coarse that all the finer architectural details had to be worked out in plaster, and that, having perished with time, only their plans and outlines can now be recognised. Among the sixty or seventy excavations here found, one in the principal group, which is entered from the east end of a broad terrace that still exists tolerably entire, has a dâgaba in front—9½ ft. in diameter and 14 ft. 3 in. high—standing in the centre of a small court, in the open air. Immediately behind it is the cell or sanctuary, in which is a large figure of Buddha seated cross-legged, and on each side of the entrance are two large dwârpâls, as at Aurangâbâd. The cell is isolated by a covered passage running round it, on the
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86. Caves at Dhamnâr. (Corrected from a Plan by Gen. Cunningham.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
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east side of which is a recumbent figure of the dying Buddha, about 15 ft. long; in the passage behind the cell are three seated figures of Buddhas with smaller standing figures between; and three more stand in the west passage with a sitting one (*Woodcut No.* 86).
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The next is an excavation 25 ft. wide with a curved inner-end—the whole length being 26½ ft.—and containing a circular dâgaba 8½ ft. in diameter and 16 ft. 3 in. high, which supports the roof. To the west of it is another chaitya cave of some extent, and presenting peculiarities of plan not found elsewhere. It is practically a chaitya cella situated in the midst of a vihâra. The cell in which the dâgaba is situated is only 31 ft. 8 in.
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by 13 ft. 6 in., but to this must be added the porch or ante-chapel that extended about 20 ft. further, making the whole about 52 ft. On two sides, and on half the third, it is surrounded by a verandah leading to cells. The third side never was finished, but in one of the side cells, measuring 15 ft. 8 in. by 10 ft. 10 in., is a smaller dâgaba; at the back are four cells—one of them, 17 ft. 4 in. by 11 ft. 9 in., with an arched and ribbed roof; and on the west side are six cells, of which the third measures 10½ ft. by 8 ft. 4 in., and has two statues on the back wall,—the whole making a confused mass of chambers and chaityas in which all the original parts are confounded, and all the primitive simplicity of design and arrangement is lost, to such an extent that, without previous knowledge, they would hardly be recognisable.¹
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¹ In Gen. Cunningham's 'Archæological Reports,' vol. ii. the plates 78-83, for Dhamnâr, and 84 for Kholvi, are on too small a scale to be of much use. There are errors also in the plan, as in representing nine cells on the west of the larger chaitya instead of six; the façade on plate 80 belongs, not to "Bhim's bazar," but to the "Great Kacheri," as on plate 79; the pillars of the verandah in No. 11 (p. 273) are not "3 ft." in height, but about 5 ft. 8 in.
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There are no exact data for determining the age of this cave, but like all of the series it is late, probably between A.D. 600 and 700, and its great interest is that, on comparing it with the chaitya and vihâra at Bhâjâ or Bedsâ (Woodcuts Nos. 58 and 63), we are enabled to realise the progress and changes that took place in designing these monuments during the eight or nine centuries that elapsed between them.²
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² A complete survey of the Dhamnâr and Kholvi excavations has not been published, and they present peculiarities that only a fully detailed survey would enable us to understand.