History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s3.11

v2.c33.s3.11

The principal variations made in the design of the *Zedi* are those of the relative proportion of the bell to the rest of the structure, the outline of the same and its superstructure, and the decoration employed. Thus in the Lokânanda pagoda in Pagân, built by Anaurahtâ in 1059, the bell is of immense size, being three-sevenths of the total height of the structure, including the triple base and finial, and that is generally the characteristic of the earlier examples, but, where occasionally employed to crown the *sikharas* of the square temple, as in the Abhayadâna temple, it is so small as to be scarcely recognisable. In the older pagodas of Pagân the several mouldings are all more or less convex in outline, but in later examples, and especially in those cases where the pagoda has from time to time been built over and enclosed, as in the Shwe-Hmaudau and Shwe-Dagôn, the converse outlines are alternated with concave silhouettes which, whilst it lessens the vigour and boldness of the design, gives it at times a certain elegance; so far has that been carried that it is sometimes possible to determine the date of the structure by its attenuation. This is shown in the Shwe-Dagôn (Plate XXXVII.), where in the last rebuilding in 1768 the lower part of the bell was widely spread out, and the finial or spire, originally conical with straight side, has been given a concave outline.