Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/161

CHAP. III. BRAHMANICAL ROCK-CUT TEMPLES. than most examples of its class. The temple itself is a simple pillared hall, with eight pillars in front, and possibly had originally a structural .rikhara built on the upper plateau to mark the position of the sanctuary (Woodcut No. 334). The most original part of it, however, is the Nandi pavilion, which stands in the courtyard in front of the temple (Woodcut No. 333). 1 It is circular in plan, and its roof which is a great slab of rock was supported by sixteen square pillars of very simple form four within and twelve in the circumference, of which four have now crumbled and fallen. Altogether it is as appropriate a bit of design as is to be found in Hindu cave architecture. It has, however, the defect only too common in those Hindu excavations that, being 334- Temple of Panchai- , . . , , & e-yvara near Poona. in a pit, it can be looked down upon ; which is a test very few buildings can stand, arid to which none ought to be exposed. 2 Scale 100 ft. to i in. 1 There is a similar temple at Amba near Mominabad, in the Haidarabad State. ' Archaeological Survey of Western India,' vol. iii. p. 50, and plates 33, 34. 2 'Cave Temples of India,' p. 426 and plate 69.