A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c8.3

c8.3

¹ During the early centuries of the Christian era the Hindus knew the principle of the true arch, and occasionally built one with brick voussoirs set end to end, not face to face. The best example of such arches is seen in the temple at Bhītarīgāon in the Cawnpore District, possibly of Gupta, or even Kushān age, but other instances are known (Cunningham, *A. S. Rep.*, xi. 43). An arch so constructed was very weak. As a rule, Indian builders preferred the false or corbelled arch, constructed with horizontal courses of brick or stone gradually meeting at the top. They evidently disliked facing the difficulty caused by the thrust of the true arch which 'never sleeps'.