The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c8.45

v1.c8.45

The constructive peculiarity of the roof will be best understood by a reference to the annexed plates. On the outside it is formed of courses of receding stones, broken at intervals by projecting ledges so placed as to balance the materials, and throw the weight of the roof on the sustaining walls. These ledges are arranged into one, two, or three groups, according to the size of the building, each comprehending four tiers. Sometimes the ledges are wanting as shewn in the woodcut No. 19. The outer borders of the ledges, where they exist, are richly ornamented with floral bands, or groups of animals in low relief. The inner face, or ceiling, is built on the same principle, but it is not of a piece with the outer face. It is formed of three independent series of parallel projecting courses with the tops closed in by single slabs, or spanned by iron beams, and covered over by several flags of stone. Probably the ceilings were built first and the outer structure afterwards and independently of it, for the ceilings have dropped down in several ruined porches, leaving the outer shell entire. In small porches, where no pillars are used, triangular slabs placed in the corners, sufficed to support the pyramidal superstructure.