A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c12.s1.13

c12.s1.13

A temple at Dēogarh, in the Lalitpur subdivision of the Jhānsī District, U. P., is adorned with sculptures of exceptionally good quality in panels inserted in the plinth and walls, which may date from the first half of the sixth century. That region probably escaped the Hun troubles owing to its remote situation. A panel on the eastern façade, representing Siva in the garb of an ascetic (*mahāyogī*), attended by another *yogī* and various heavenly beings hovering in the air (Plate XXXIV), may claim a place among the best efforts of Indian sculpture. The principal image is so beautifully modelled and so tastefully posed that we almost forget the inartistic excrescence of the extra pair of arms. The flying figures are admirably designed so as to give the appearance of aerial flight. The modelling of the feet and hands deserves particular notice, and the decorative carvings are in good taste. The close-fitting garments of all the figures and the wigs of some of the attendants are characteristic of the period.