The Early History of the Deccan (Parts I–XI) v2.c16.s1.31

v2.c16.s1.31

Kailāsa has several adjuncts some of which may have been excavated at a later date. But the galleries running round the court are coeval with the central shrine, and their architectural effect when the visitor looks at the long rows of columns and the continuous series of sculptured panels from one end of them, is most fascinating (Plate XIV *a*). The eastern gallery is particularly striking; it is 189 ft. in length and has nineteen panels in its back wall adorned with figures of deities of more than human size. Fergusson has compared Kailāsa with the Śaiva temple of Paṭṭadakal, a comparison which may be valid in regard to the close resemblance between the structural features of the two temples, but the very fact that Kailāsa is hewn out of solid rock suggests an idea of solidity and everlastingness which, combined with the impression which it gives of patient industry and continuous devotion to the service of the gods, makes the temple rank in sublimity and grandeur with the great temples of Egypt, like those at Karnak and Edfu.