Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v3.c12.35

v3.c12.35

The hall is 66 ft. 3 in. long, 65 ft. 3 in. deep, and 15 ft. 3 in. high. It is flanked by twenty columns, sixteen of which are of plain octagonal form, but the two middle ones in each of the front and back rows have square bases, and change first to eight and then to sixteen sides on the shafts with square heads and bracket capitals. The various lotus designs carved at the places where these shafts change their form are extremely pleasing, particularly the thin stalks of the lotus plant running along the octagonal sides with half-opened flowers at their tops (Plate XLIV *a*).