Historic buildings : $b as seen and described by great writers
History
Historic buildings : $b as seen and described by great writers
Architecture -- History; Art -- Study and teaching; Historic buildings
Between the third and fourth gate are some huge tanks, excavated out
of the solid rock, and fed by springs. The capitals of the pillars
which support the ceiling appear above the water, and one can scarcely
distinguish the bottom in the obscurity. Near these tanks the surface
of the rock, which has been made smooth and even, is covered with
numerous bas-reliefs; one of the largest of which, representing an
elephant and rider, still is easily distinguishable in spite of
considerable mutilation; and further on is a head of Siva.
Opposite the fourth gate is a small monolith of great antiquity,
supposed to date from the Fifteenth Century. It is a temple cut out of
a single block of stone, and consists of a small square room, entered
by a peristyle and crowned with a pyramidal spire. The upper portion
of the latter, having been destroyed, has been replaced by a small
dome in stonework; and a few sculptures surround the entrance to the
sanctuary and the altar.
On the summit of the hill stands King Pal, which springs from the
very brink of the precipice. It is supported by six towers, and
pierced by only a few large windows ornamented with balconies and
pilasters. Sculptured bands, Jaïn arches, and indented cordons relieve
the monotony of the massive exterior, and give it a peculiarly light
and graceful appearance. The spaces between the Jaïn arches of the
gallery are filled in and covered with mosaics in enamelled bricks,
representing palm-trees on a blue ground; and each tower is surmounted
by a lantern with a double row of columns. It is difficult to imagine a
grander or more harmonious effect than that produced by this gigantic
edifice, combining rampart and palace in one.
At the south angle of the palace is a gateway, which gives access to
the interior of the fortress, and through which you enter a narrow
street that overlooks the lateral frontage of the palace. This is built
on the same plan as the exterior, but here the stone is completely
hidden by enamel. Bands of mosaics, representing candelabra, Brahma
ducks, elephants and peacocks in blue, rose-colour, green and gold,
give this immense blank wall an incomparably beautiful appearance. The
bricks of which these mosaics are composed still retain their primitive
brilliancy of colour and delicacy of shading, though ten centuries have
passed over them. I know of no country in the world where an architect
has succeeded so well in giving a graceful appearance to a heavy blank
wall.
The exact date of the construction of these facings is unknown, though
it is certain that they were the work of a Rajpoot prince of the name
of Pal; but, as several Chandela and Kâchwa chiefs bore this name, it
is difficult to fix the date more precisely than between the Eighth and
Ninth Centuries.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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