colonnade of considerable length we pass into a court,
250 feet by 150, containing in the centre the sacred
temple, or “ Vimana,” surrounded by columns and
figures of Gods in human and animal forms of colossal
dimensions. This temple consists of an oblong mass
of black granite richly carved, one hundred feet long
and half as broad, by seventeen feet high, held aloft
by four rows of pillars resting upon a deep tablature,
which again is supported by a number of enormous
elephants ; the entire edifice forming a pyramid nearly
a hundred feet high, and of a most striking and magnificent
character.
There are other temples, some of similar construction,
though very much smaller, besides some cave
chambers, more or less ornamented by sculpture. Of
course, they have all been much injured by the lapse
of time, and are now little more than ruins; still there
is no difficulty in recognizing their general plan and
many details, filling up in one’s own mind such gaps
as may here and there occur.
Before leaving the subject I cannot resist making
one or two remarks on the artistic value of these rock
temples, which have been produced by so much patient
and prolonged labour, combined with a most marvellous
skill. Taking the Kyl&s for our model, through-
D 2