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

SYMBOLISM

OF THE

ARCH

121

bohsmtothe

sloping

wooden roof

of

the locaHty

as

shown in

fig. 44d,

a type of

temple building

which

passed into

China

with

the Buddhist

religion.^

Similar

roofs

were

used on the

west coast of

India, where

similar

meteorological

conditions

prevail

(PI. XXX). In

Bengal

the local

form

of roof

with

convex

curvature was

adapted

for the

same

purpose.

When

will the

practical British

architect

in

India

begin

to learn

wisdom fromthe

Indian

master-builder

?

fe-.^-^—

-^-

IHM'lllMllMlillL...Jl'*^''^^'^

^)

*™Sfe**|>V

y^'fm,

J~Z,

'

i5^

.

>^:^.

-^

Fig.45-—SculpturedShrines,Ellora.

It will now become clearer why Indian builders before

Muhammadantimes usedthearch,as aconstructiveprinciple,

so

seldom.

Thearch,as I have

explained elsewhere,"symbol-

isedtheaura of the sacred image, and every possible

variety

of the arch was constantly used for constructing the shrines

or niches inwhich images were placed

(fig.

45).

For larger

structural purposes it was also used occasionally,

as in the

sikhara at Bodh-Gayi

(PI. XXV); but the trabeate

system

ofbuildingwaspreferredbecause

it suggested a

philosophical

^

Thedottedlinesinthediagramsindicate

theroofing.

^

"

IndianArchitecture: itsPsychology,Structure,and

History,"Chap.VI.