Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/464

3 88 FURTHER INDIA. BOOK VIII. but if the Greeks were correct in their principle, so certainly were the Cambodians. Leaving these outer peristyles for the present, and entering by the west door, we found ourselves in an ante-naos measuring 1 80 ft. by 150 ft., supported by more than 100 piers, and lighted by four small courts open to the sky above. The whole of this part is arranged most artistically, so as to obtain the most varied and picturesque effects, and is as well worthy of study as any part of the temple. Beyond this, on either hand, is a detached temple, similar in plan to those that stand on either side of the causeway (Fig. 2, Woodcut No. 459), half-way between the entrance and the temple. Ascending from this we enter the middle court, in the centre of which stands what may be considered as the temple itself. It measures 200 ft. by 213 ft., and is crowned by five towers or spires, one on each angle, and one, taller than the others, in the centre, rising to a height of 180 ft. The central tower has four cells, one facing the central hall from each side. The general appearance of these towers may be gathered from the elevation (Woodcut No. 460), and from Woodcut No. 464. They are very Indian in character and outline, but, when looked closely into, are unlike anything known in that country. The building which resem- bles the inner temple most, so far as at present known, is that at Ranpur (Woodcut No. 288). Its dimensions 465. Pier of Porch, Angkor Vat. are nearly the same, 200 ft. by 225 ft. ; (From a Photograph by Mr. Hke thiSj t hag fiye sp j res simi l ar l y rfis- posed, and four open courts ; and at Ranpur, as here, there are a certain number of snake-figures, which might suggest a connection between the two. But there the similarity ceases. The extraordinary amount of richness and exuberance of detail in the Cambodian temple far surpasses that of the Indian example ; and the courts at Angkor Vat are not courts but water-tanks. How far the lower courts were also capable of being flooded is not clear, nor whether the whole