The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c11.17

c11.17

of these decorative elements. On the whole, in every point where we were ready to criticize him, we must now, on the contrary, recognize the ingenuity with which he has turned to advantage the ready-made formula which he had inherited from the ancient religious tradition of India, and to which from the very beginning he was bound as far as possible to conform. We cannot render him responsible for the mediocre architectural effect which his monument must always have had, even at a time before the uneven ruin of the decorations, the subsidence of the summit, and the crumbling of the corners had broken and distorted the lines. Let us add that his first plan, by at once raising the level of the first gallery almost six metres above the pavement, indicated much better and in an incomparably more elegant manner, the form of the edifice. But for the heavy terrace in which he very soon had to bury the original foundation of Boro-Budur, and which still to-day gives the structure an awkward look, we flatter ourselves that we should have made fewer mistakes and felt less hesitation concerning the real intentions of its author.