up of smaller repetitions of itself, which became at this age one of the favourite modes of decoration, and afterwards an essential feature of the style. Here it is managed with singular grace, giving great variety and play of light and shade, without unnecessarily breaking up the outline. The roof of the porch, as seen in front, is a little confused, but as seen on the flank it rises pleasingly step by step till it abuts against the tower, every part of the internal arrangement being appropriately distinguished on the exterior.
254. Plan of Kandarya Mahadeo, Khajurâho. (From a Plan by Gen. Cunningham.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
If we compare the design of the Jaina temple ([Woodcut No. 136]) with that of this building, we cannot but admit that the former is by far the most elegant, but on the other hand the richness and vigour of the Mahadeo temple redeem its want of elegance and fascinates in spite of its somewhat confused outline. The Jaina temple is the legitimate outcrop of the class of temples that originated in the Great Temple at Bhuvaneswar, while the Kandarya Mahadeo exhibits a complete development of that style of decoration which resulted in continued repetition of itself on a smaller scale to make up a complete whole. Both systems have their advantages, but on the whole the simpler seems to be preferable to the more complicated mode of design.
Udaipur.
The examples already given will perhaps have sufficed to render the general form of the Indo-Aryan temple familiar to the reader, but as no two are quite like one another, their variety is infinite. There is one form, however, which became very fashionable about the 11th century, and is so characteristic that it deserves to be illustrated. Fortunately a very perfect example exists at a place called Udaipur, near Bhilsa, in the Bhopal territory.
As will be seen from the Woodcut (No. [255]) the porch is covered with a low pyramidal roof, placed diagonally on the substructure, and rising in steps, each of which is ornamented with vases or urns of varying shapes. The tower is ornamented by four flat bands, of great beauty and elegance of design, between each of which are thirty-five little repetitions of itself, placed one above the other in five tiers, the whole surmounted by an amalaka, and an urn of very elegant design. As every part of this is carved with great precision and delicacy, and as the whole is quite perfect at the present day, there are few temples of its class which give a better idea of the style than this one. Fortunately, too, its date is perfectly well known. From an inscription copied by Lieutenant Burt, it appears it was erected by a king who was reigning at Malwa, in the year 1060 of our era.[466]
