A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c18.30

c18.30

The second characteristic of the style is the curvilinear cornice copied from bamboo structures (*ante*, p. 18). The best examples are to be seen among the extensive ruins of the cities Gaur and Pāndua in the Mālda District. The buildings are mostly in brick and possess little beauty. But one mosque, known as the Small Golden, or Eunuch's Mosque at Gaur, is built wholly of basalt with massive solidity. This elegant building, which has been called ‘the gem of Gaur’, was erected about A.D. 1500, and is covered inside and out with beautifully chiselled designs, including the Indian lotus. The gateway is shown in Fig. 235. There are fifteen domes.