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The coincidence becomes even more striking when -we compare the pillars in this Plate - with one from the same Cave, represented in the an- ‘nexed woodcut (No. 19). The central circle and the two half-circles at top and bottom are as like as the difference of material would allow; and the lotus buds -used to fill up the angles in both examples are nearly identical. It seems to me impossible that the two can differ much in age; and if I am correct in assigning the beginning of the fourth century to the Cave, we cannot be faf wrong in assuming that the Rail was ‘erected within a few decades of it either way. _ Plates LIV. and LV. contain nine of the inter- mediate discs of the great Rail, as seen from the outer .side. The three upper ones in Plate LV. belong to the smaller Rail last described, and: fortunately have not been trimmed, like some of the larger: ones, so .that the flanges by. which they were inserted into the pillars can still be observed. The other six, with the six in the centre of the pillars just described, and the eight half discs on the pillar, are sufficient to exemplify the usual form of these ornaments. Every one is different, though all have a general resemblance, and display an exuberance of fancy for such details not probably to be found in any classical or medizeval NbE aml a monument of its class. . In one other point they are interesting as exhibiting . a classical tendency, more than any other details at 2 tL . Amravati. They forcibly recall the expression of Hiouen Z _ _ Thsang, “that the Sangh4rama was ornamented with all . i yy _ * the - of the ee of Bactria,”’—-an expression the Pruasrer mm Nasstox Cava. more remarkable because our traveller does not apply ies pas Bee Ne it to any other building he saw in India, and we do not ‘know any one in that country where so much classical feeling prevails.t The ornament is the water-leaf of the classical artists, and might be used now on the ceiling of any modern classical hall without anyone detecting that its details were borrowed from any building east of the Bosphorus, * * See Appendix E., Nos. IV. and XV. + Supra, p. 153, << rrn0 JO SEMEL TYNUELNE KO SUENOTEL as i aN a Ee ae | i CO Ay ie.. ge tes ee oe ete ee FE IN ld ‘IL ¥ AP EWY et vi 4 . = pa oe —_ ~ RMRAVATY ee . 7 See te , hii YY r “ A Ix VY Y Yves OF YY Yerrny A anaaannaran Oil cuaNdad OF OUTER) ENCLOSURE] sue SCALE 1 INCH TO 1 Foor. fea DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. 169 PLATES LVI. axnp LVI. THE upper external frieze of the great Rail,.Plate LVI., is in many respects one of the most pleasing parts of the design. Nothing can well be ‘better, as an-archi- ~ tectural ornament, than the wavy flow of the long roll, borne by animated figures, and interspersed with emblems appropriate to the dedication of the Tope. P The three fragments in thisPlate, it will be observed, are all of different depth though of the same design, and must therefore have belonged to different parts of the great Rail. Either it was that the deepest were used to eke out the height of the small Rail (Plate LIII.), and so make it range with those parts haying taller pillars, or there was one quadrant.or some part which had a Rail of a smaller proportion altogether. As we have no knowledge where each fragment was found, it is impossible to say which theory is the true one, either is equally pee such irregularities being’ very usual in all Hindu buildings. Like the last-deseribed features, it seems to be of Bactrian origin. Something at least, very like it oeeurs among the sculptures at JamAlgiri near .Peshawer,* and there so mixed with classical, details as to make it appear very ancient. Something yery like it is still used, T am told, in Burmah. On the occasion of the funeral of the late High Priest at Rangoon, long rolls, made as lightly as possible of paper, and bound round. with rags and coloured decorations, were borne by men on each side of the procession in precisely the same manner as here represented, and probably the same practice will be found elsewhere when looked for. At Amravati the roll is not only most elaborately, but also very tastefully; ornamented, and so interspersed with emblems as to give it all the variety requisite for architectural embellishment. These ~ are generally, of course, the emblems with which we are already familiar, such as the Tree, the Wheel, and the Dagoba, but in the centre of the upper left-hand frag- ment an ornament is ‘introduced which is new to me,in so far as India is concerned, but is found on the mystic representations of Diana of the Ephesians.} By far the most curious, howeyer, of the episodes introduced into this frieze is that on the right hand of the upper portion. It represents Garuda, the bird of Vishnu, the dreaded enemy of the Nagas in all ages, holding in ,his beak, evidently for the purpose of " destroying: it, a five-headed Naga. It is difficult to guess what this can mean in a temple where the Naga is honoured almost as the chief god, and where everything is at least so mixed up with the honour of aN many-headed divinity. — és It is ‘interesting, however, as it is just one of those icidntad allusions which, when a sufficient number of them are collected together, may enable us to trace * One slab of this frieze was destroyed in the fire at the.Crystal Palace in December 1866. A. yery imperfect. representation of it will be found, J. A. 8. B., XXI. 606. t There is a statue of the Ephesian Diana in the Museum at Naples, which has been frequently engraved, which is covered with figures like these, A representation of it will be found in Falkener’s Ephesus, p. 286. (4799.) Y 170 THE TOPE AT AMRAVATI. the affiliation of Indian religions, and to decide as to their affinities. In the present instance it is another of the indications of the connexion between Buddhism and Vishnuism so often alluded to in these pages. ‘The lower frieze, Plate LVII., is not remarkable in a mythological point of view, but curious as a piece of playful fancy, and in perfect keeping with the frolics of the Gana or dwarfs, which are next to it in position. The leading idea through- out the frieze is the humorous one of boys holding on by the tails of animals in a state of greater or less excitement, which they: are evidently incapable of controlling. - In the upper figure a boy has got hold of the tail of a bull, very fairly executed, but not so well as the galloping humped animal next below it in the Plate. The latter is as perfect a representation of a bull of purely Indian breed as can probably be found in any Indian sculpture, and the action also is free and animated in an unusual degree. The two-winged lions who follow are by no means so commendable as works of art, but they are curious as lineal descendants of those discovered by Botta and Layard at Nineveh. They are, however, ' considerably further’ removed from those prototypes than those which adorn the gates at Sanchi (Plate VII. or Plate XXXIX.), and which still retain many features in common with their Assyrian ancestors.* | - . The elephant in the last figure shows the same perfect appreciation of the . characteristic features of that animal as is done in all the representations of the elephant, both here and at Sanchi. The boy in this instance has got hold. of his tusk,—the comic element of the representation, as just remarked, consisting apparently in the absurdity of a boy controlling the largest of animals by such means, or of holding a lion or bull by their’ tails. * At the great Pagoda at Rangoon winged lions with human heads guard al] the portals leading to the enclosure in which it stands. .As may be supposed, from the distance of time and place, they are very different looking animals, from their prototypes, but I do not think it admits of a doubt but that they, and wa great deal of the architecture of Burmah, were derived from the banks of the Euphrates or Tigris.._See my History of Architecture, p. II. 518. AMBAYATI. s70 PLATE LVIll. — yer = eS a . - - - . . - : . < R MVY YOUR MV EY YN YIN EY YS ap yyya vu PRA hd ®) PY Y Yo Ye AYN Yay Harry PAKAKAKKRKRAK AY BR KAY KKABDAN KRALL KW AD jt) pe Sor | KRALL IAD Ox ~ AKAAKR KALA) MOST cade ScaLEe 1 INCH TO 1 Foor. DESCRIPTION OF PLATES. 171 PLATE LVIII. _ Or the two great pillars’ of the outer Rail qereeonted in this Plate, that on the left hand was considered as the most beautiful in the Elliot Collection. It was in consequence selected for the honour of being exhibited, and was attached to the outer wall of the India Museum at Fife House. The result has, however, been unfortunate. The frost of our winters has so destroyed the surface of the stone that it has in many places peeled off to such an extent that it is now difficult to trace the design, and the whole i@@m a degraded and perishing condition. Its sculptures are wholly devoted to Tree Worship. In ‘the ‘central circle some circular object is placed on the altar in front of the Tree, to which the attention of the bystanders seems to be especially directed. Two men. on either hand are making offerings to it, or adding offerings to one already made, and two kneeling figures in the foreground seem trying to catch what may overflow from the* right-hand man’s offering, which seems to be a liquid presented in a jar, Behind him is ‘a yoke of oxen, indicating that he is a stranger arrived for the purpose of worship. Below the altar are impressions of Buddha’s. feet. In the upper bas-relief the altar table is removed. The Tree rises simply behind the representation of the sacred feet, and in the central compartment a number of men are engaged in adoring it. In the teft-hand compartment seven men, in standing attitudes, are also paying respect to the sacred Tree.