The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c16.s2.136.2

v2.c16.s2.136.2

He must, like the sculptor making a statue, have the perfect model before him, and must provide for every prominence, every protuberance and every detail, before he commences to work; for the smallest mistake is apt to vitiate the whole. One single protuberance unprovided for will upset the entire scheme of ornamentation originally thought of ⁵⁷. Now, as all the pillars' pilasters, mouldings, bas-reliefs and statues of every cave at Udayagiri are cut out of one soiid mass without a single superimposition, it must follow that their architect did conceive the whole plan, and make models and drawings, before he employed his masons to cut the rock. And as no man can conceive anything absolutely new, and even the most imaginative can only develop new forms by new associations of those forms with which he is familiar, it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that the builders of the caves were familiar with masonry houses whose counterparts they attempted to produce in stone. Had the models been wooden houses or huts, their [ 46 ] peculiarities would for certain have been imitated in stone; but they are all entirely wanting. The ceilings, instead of being sloping as they should have been if copied from huts, are flat, or so slightly arched that they may be called flat. The beams and rafters which form such prominent features in huts, are entirely wanting in the caves. The walls of the interiors are perfectly smooth and perpendicular without any indication of posts.