The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

GARGOYLES

87

(or,halloftheSangha, if

the

building

was occupiedbyBuddh-

ists),

surrounded

on

all sides

byaverandah roofed with

the

curved

Bengali

chhaja. On the side of the entrance of

the

shrine theverandah breaks forward slightly,

soasto form a

porch.

At each corner of the verandah

there was a square

cell, either

foraliving yogi or for a

sculptured symbol of a

deity. Butoneof the corners might have been used,as in a

storied Bengali temple, for the staircase leading to the first

floor;

orthismight have been placed inthe thickness ofthe

wallsof the

shrine, orhallofthe Sangha.

Theminiature

sun-windows,with which

Karl^

andNasik

have made us familiar, are sculptured as ornaments at close

W' IlltlU

Fig.36.—GargoylesoftheDharmarijaRath.

intervals along the whole length of

the chhaja, and carved

"

Gothic

"

gargoyles throwoff therain fromthepradakshini,

orprocession-path, onthenext storey(fig.

36).

The half-finished sculptured pillars and pilastersinfront

of

theverandahand

porchpresenttheancientmotifofVishnu's

pillar, with theamalaka

capital, the

architectural use of which

we havealreadytraced back to the time ofAsoka. For the

bases,

instead of

Lakshmi's nectar-jar, thesculptorshaveused

thesymboliclion-guardians

—Ddrgi'semblems—whichusually

standdetachedinfrontoftheentrances,astheydoatElephanta.

Thereason forthis

innovationwasthatthe dimensionsofthe

rock were not sufficient for carving

them in their traditional

placeson eachsideof

the steps.