The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c17.53

c17.53

The entrances to a house, temple, or shrine are always in India consecrated places, only second in importance to the sacred image itself; it is therefore here that the highest art of the master-craftsman is shown. Volumes might be filled with examples of Indian doorways of the classic age which reveal the fountain-head of the inspiration of Chârtres, Rheims, and Bourges. Ajantâ has some of them, but other parts of India can show more perfect door-sculpture. Plates L and LI are superb examples from Vishnu temples in Central India, probably contemporary with the latest period of Ajantâ. There one can see that Gothic art of India which in the three centuries of its zenith in India (A.D. 400–700) was the parent tree from which all its Eastern and Western grafts were taken.