The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c17.28

c17.28

The capital consists of the traditional amalaka, the water-lily fruit (Fergusson’s “pudding”). This, as at Kârlê, supports a Vedic altar with four legs, only the succession of thin slabs is reduced to a plain square abacus, and the legs which enclose the amalaka are carved with the greatest skill into little fat men—Indian trolls—or *pisâchas*. Ushas, the Dawn-maiden, Indra, and other Vedic deities are no longer seated on the altar. Their place is taken by images of the Buddha, attended by Devas, carved upon the massive bracket capital.