The Rock-cut Temples of India/The Caves of Ajunta/The Oldest Vihara—Ajunta 2
THE OLDEST VIHARA.—AJUNTA.
THE only ornaments in this Cave are seven horse-shoe arches on the left-hand side and front, four over the doorways of the cells, and three over false doorways or niches between. On the right-hand side, however, where the residence of the abbot seems to have been, there are only three cells, it is much more richly ornamented, though in the same style. Just as the Romans used little frontons of temples, to adorn windows and niches, so the Buddhists employed little façades of Chaityas as ornaments, either over their doors or niches. The string course also, though this is not at first sight so obvious, is in reality of purely wooden construction. It is nothing more than wooden posts and rails repeated in stone, as may be seen at a glance at Sanchi, and other places where it is used on a larger scale. On this side of the hall, at the top is also seen the same form of battlement which is so frequently represented in the sculptures of Nineveh, but of which no ancient example exists (so far as is now known) in Hindostan.