History of Indian and Eastern ArchitectureFergusson, James
History
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture
Fergusson, James
Architecture -- India; Architecture, Asian
The next chaitya (No. 10) is situated very near to the last, a little
higher up in the rock, however, and of nearly twice its dimensions. It
is 94 ft. 6 in. in depth by 41 ft. 3 in. in width internally. As may be
seen from the annexed view (Woodcut No. 57), the nave is separated from
the aisles by a range of plain octagonal shafts, perfectly upright, but
without capitals or bases. The triforium belt is of unusual height, and
was originally plastered and painted. Traces of this can still be seen,
though the design cannot be made out (Woodcut No. 58). One of the most
remarkable characteristics of the cave is that it shows signs of
transition from wood to stone in its architectural details. The ribs of
the aisle are in stone cut in rock, but copied from the wooden forms of
previous examples. The vault of the nave was adorned with wooden ribs,
the mortices for which are still there, and their marks can still be
traced in the roof, but the wood itself is gone.
[Illustration: 58. Cross-Section of Cave No. 10 at Ajunta. No scale.]
There are two inscriptions in this cave which seem to be integral, but
unfortunately neither of them contain names that can be identified; but
from the form of their characters a palæographist would almost
certainly place them anterior to the Christian Era.[147] Taking,
however, all the circumstances of the case into consideration, and so as
to avoid stretching any point too far, it would, perhaps, be better to
assume for the present that the cave belongs to the 1st century of our
era.
The façades of both these caves are so much ruined by the rock falling
away that it is impossible to assert that there was no sculpture on the
lower parts. None, certainly, exists in the interior, where everything
depends on painting; and it is, to say the least of it, very improbable
that any figure-sculpture ever adorned the oldest, while it seems likely
that even No. 10 depended wholly on conventional architectural forms for
its adornment.
[Illustration: 59. Chaitya No. 19 at Ajunta. Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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