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

88 THE DHARMARAJA RATH

Inthe original,whereveritmight

havebeen,itisprobable

thattheground-floorofthemonastery,here

simulatedinsculp-

ture,wasbuiltofstone—all the

upperfloorsbeingofbrickand

plaster, or wood, ora combination of

these materials. The

monastic cells which surrounded the

shrine or hall of the

Sangha,onthe first floor, are shown in bothtypes

—

i.e. there

are four yogi cellsatthecorners andtwelveoblongsleeping-

compartments (three on each side), connectedwith them by

lower covered corridors

which

may

have been provided with

benches.

The Vedic rail which forms

a

plinth outside the

whole

rangeofcells,though stillrecognisable assuch,haslost

its triple bars. The ancient sun-windows

are repeated as dormers in the roofs, but

instead of thescreen or latticewhichthey

contain at Karl6 and Nasik, theyhave be-

come miniature shrines. Thedomeofthe

yogi cells has also become bell-shaped by

the

addition of outward curving eaves for

L. 37.-Diagram of

throwiug

offtheralu(fig.

37).

Dome,showingEaves

added

In frout of the cclls was thc usual

forthrowingoffRain..

, 1 ,

1

1

• 1
  
  
  • 
    
  
  
  
  

procession-pathroundtheshrmeorchaitya-

hall, which probablyhad

a pillared verandah outsidelike

the

temple at Aihole (PI. XIV),

in which a staircase leading

to

the next

storeymight havebeen

placed. Fig.

38

shows

the

plan

as I assumeittohavebeen.

Itdiffersconsiderably

from

that

suggested by Mr. Chisholm,

whichFergusson

adopted.

The

planofthesecondfloor,

orthirdstorey, was

similar,

except that

there was accommodation

for eight

monks only.

Thehighest

storyprovidedfor

anequal number

ofyogiseats

butonly four

sleeping-cells.

The shrine herewas

octagonal,

instead of

square, and this

slight difference

from the

usual

northernplan

(whichFergusson,

curiously

enough,overlooked)

isthe only
distinctionwhich
justifies the
name

"

Dravidian

"