History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c19.s5.2

v1.c19.s5.2

Independently, however, of its historical or ethnographical value, the Kailâs is itself one of the most singular and interesting monuments of architectural art in India. Its beauty and singularity always excited the astonishment of travellers, and, in consequence, it is better known than almost any other structure in that country, from the numerous views and sketches of it that have been published. Unlike the Buddhist excavations we have hitherto been describing, it is not a mere interior chamber cut in the rock, but is a model of a complete temple, such as might have been erected on the plain. In other words, the rock has been cut away, externally as well as internally. The older caves are of a much more natural and rational design than this temple, because, in cutting away the rock around it to provide an exterior, the whole has necessarily been placed in a pit. In the cognate temples at Mâmallapuram (Woodcut No. 185) this difficulty has been escaped by the fact that the boulders of granite out of which they are hewn were found lying free on the shore; but at Elûrâ, no insulated rock being available, a pit was dug around the temple in the sloping side of the hill, about 106 ft. deep at its inmost side, and half that height at the entrance or gopuram, the floor of the pit being 160 ft. wide and 280 ft. in length. In the centre of this rectangular court stands the temple, as shown in the accompanying plan (Woodcut No. 199), consisting of a vimâna, 96 ft. in height, preceded by a large square porch, supported by sixteen columns (owing probably to the immense weight to be borne); before this stands a detached porch for the Bull Nandi, reached by a bridge; and in front of all stands the gateway, which is in like manner connected with the last porch by a bridge, the whole being cut out of the native rock. Besides these there are two pillars, or dhwajastambhas (literally banner staves) left standing on each side of the detached porch, and two elephants about the size of life. Round the court there is a peristylar cloister with cells, and above are some halls (not shown in the plan), which give to the whole a complexity, and at the same time a completeness, which never fail to strike the beholder with astonishment and awe.