the intention of the builder, and correlate stūpa, temple, monastery, palace, mosque, and tomb with the thought and life of the period to which they belong, rather than to classify them in a dry academic manner which makes the builder's intention as unintelligible as the historian's explanation. Only when the craftsman's idea is realised will Indian architecture become a subject of living interest, an open book in which the thought and life of India are written from Vedic times down to the present day. The architecture of India will not then appear as a bewildering museum of marvels belonging to a bygone age, but as a still living tradition of practical craftsmanship constantly readapting itself to the spiritual and material needs of the age, and bearing witness to the wonderful constructive work of our Aryan predecessors, who three thousand years ago, occupying the same position in the East as their successors do to-day, laid the whole foundation of Indian civilisation upon which we are attempting to build. The spirit of the ancient Aryan empire builders will be our best guide in this great task.
The section devoted to sculpture explains the leading ideas which underlie the Buddhist and Hindu conceptions of the Deity and of divine worship, as they are expressed in the finest works of different periods. Apart from the extraordinary artistic interest of these achievements of the temple-sculptor, the study of them will assist those who wish to penetrate deeper into the religious thought of modern India.
A point of much importance for the correct classification of Indian temples is the relation of the image to its shrine or temple, as every Buddhist or Hindu image has an architectural framework appropriate for it. The indications I have given may lead the way to a more systematic treatment of a subject hitherto neg-
