A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c11.s3.7

c11.s3.7

The slabs forming the casing of the lower part of the *stūpa*, 162½ feet in diameter, were carved more richly even than the inner face of the railing, if that be possible. Apparently there were twelve in each quadrant, the principal object depicted on each slab being a highly decorated *stūpa* with its railing, the rest of the surface being covered with an infinite variety of sculptures. Study of Plate XXXIII, reproducing the best preserved of such slabs, will dispense with the necessity for detailed description, and at the same time give a good notion of what the appearance of the Amarāvatī *stūpa* must have been in the days of its glory. When fresh and perfect the structure must have produced an effect unrivalled in the world. However much severe taste may condemn the characteristic Indian lavishness of decoration which scorned to leave an inch of plain surface, the vast expanse of sculpture in white marble gleaming in the brilliant sunshine of India by day, or the light of myriads of lamps fixed on the surface of the dome by night, cannot have failed to exhibit a scene of unequalled splendour.