The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c13.41

c13.41

In the original, wherever it might have been, it is probable that the ground-floor of the monastery, here simulated in sculpture, was built of stone—all the upper floors being of brick and plaster, or wood, or a combination of these materials. The monastic cells which surrounded the shrine or hall of the Sangha, on the first floor, are shown in both types—*i.e.* there are four yogi cells at the corners and twelve oblong sleeping-compartments (three on each side), connected with them by lower covered corridors which may have been provided with benches. The Vedic rail which forms a plinth outside the whole range of cells, though still recognisable as such, has lost its triple bars. The ancient sun-windows are repeated as dormers in the roofs, but instead of the screen or lattice which they contain at Kârlê and Nâsik, they have become miniature shrines. The dome of the yogi cells has also become bell-shaped by the addition of outward curving eaves for throwing off the rain (fig. 37).