Chai'. II.

INDIAN. 27
TIic most cclcl)iated excavated temple is tliat of Elejilianta
{Jig.
.OS.), near Bombay,
of whose interior composition
the reader may obtain a faint
idea from the subjoined re-
l)resentation
{Ji(j.
;59.). It is
l:]0 ft. long, lit) ft. wide, and
14M"t. high. The ceiling is
flat, and is ajjparently sn))-
])orted by four ranks of co-
lumns, about 9 ft. high, and
of a balustral form. Tliese
stand on i)tdestals, al)out
one third of the height of the
coliuims themselves. A great
portion of the walls is co-
vered with colossal human figures, forty to fifty in number, in high relief, and distin-
guished by a variety of symbols, jirobably re])resenting the attributes o\' the deities
iliat were worshipped, or the actions of the heroes whom they represented. At vhe end
of the cavern there is a dark recess, about 20 ft. square, entered by four doors, each
flanked by gigantic figures.
"
'I'hese stupendous works,'" says Robertson, '"are of such hii;li
antiquity, that, as the natives cannot, either from history or tradition, give any information
concernuig the time in which they were executed, they universally ascribe the formation of
them to the power of superior beings. From the extent and grandeur of these sub-
terraneous mansions, which intelligent travellers comjiare to the most celebrated monu-
ments of human power and art in any part of the earth, it is manifest that they could not
have been formed in that stage of social life where men continue divided into small tribes,
unaccustomed to the efforts of persevering industry." Excavations similar to tliose we
have named are found at Canarah, in the Island of Salsette, near Bombay. In these there
are four stories of galleries, leading in all to three hundred apartments. 'J'he front is
formed by cutting away one olde of the rock. The lirincijjal teinple, iS4 ft. long, and 40 ft.
broad, is entered by a portico of columns. The roof is of tne form of a vault, 40 ft. from
the ground to its crown, and has the appearance of being supjiorted by thirty ])illars,
octagonal in plan, whose capitals and bases are formed of elephants, tigers, and horses.
The walls contain cavities for lamps, and are covered with sculptures of human figures of
both sexes, elephants, horses, and lions. An altar, 27 ft. high and 20 fl. in diameter,
stands at the further end, and over it is a dome shaped out of the rock. Though the
sculptures in these caves are low in rank com])ared with the orks of Greek and Ktrurian
artists, yet they are certainly in a style superior to the works of the Egyiitians; and we
infer from them a favourable ojiinion of the state of the arts in India at the ])eriod of their
formation.
"
It is worthy of notice," observes the historian we have just quoted, "that
although several of the figures in the caverns at Elephanta be so diflerent from those
now exhibited in the jjagodas as objects of veneration, that some learned Europeans