The whole palace was to have consisted of a rectangular enclosure twice the length of its breadth, surrounded with buildings, with a garden in the centre, divided into two parts by a broad terrace, intended to carry the central pavilion. Only one of these rectangles has been completed, measuring about 700 feet square,[480] crossed in the centre by ranges of the most beautiful fountains and parterres, laid out in the formal style of the East, and interspersed with architectural ornaments of the most elaborate finish.
271. Hall at Deeg.
(From a Plan by the Author.) Scale 100 ft. to 1 in.
The pavilion on the north side contains the great audience-hall, 76 ft. 8 in. by 54 ft. 7 in., divided in the centre by a noble range of arcades, behind which are the principal dwelling apartments, two, and in some parts three, storeys in height. Opposite this is a pavilion occupied principally by fountains. On one side stands a marble hall, attached to an older palace facing the principal pavilion, which was meant to occupy the centre of the garden. As will be seen by the plan ([Woodcut No. 271]), it is a parallelogram of 152 ft. by 87 ft., each end occupied by a small but very elegant range of apartments, in two storeys; the central hall (108 ft. by 87 ft.) is supported on four rows of columns, and open at both sides; at each end is a marble reservoir for fountains, and a similar one exists externally on each side. The whole is roofed with stone, except the central part, which, after being contracted by a bold cove, is roofed with a flat ceiling of timber exquisitely carved. This wooden ceiling seems to have been considered a defect, nothing but stone being used in any other part of the palace. The architect, therefore, attempted to roof the corresponding pavilion of the unfinished court with slabs of stone 34 ft. in length, and 18 in. square. Some of these still exist in their places, but their weight was too great for the arcades, which are only 18 in. thick, and not of solid stone, but of two facings 4 in. or 5 in. thick, and the intermediate spaces filled in with rubble. Besides this, though the form of the arch is literally copied from the Mahomedan style, neither here, nor elsewhere throughout the palace, is there a single true arch, the openings being virtually covered by two brackets meeting in the centre.
272. View from the Central Pavilion in the Palace at Deeg. (From a Photograph.)
The general appearance of the arcades of these buildings may be gathered from the annexed view ([Woodcut No. 272]), and may be characterised as more elegant than rich. The glory of Deeg, however, consists in the cornices, which are generally double, a peculiarity not seen elsewhere, and which for extent of shadow and richness of detail surpass any similar ornaments in India, either in ancient or modern buildings. The lower cornice is the usual sloping entablature, almost universal in such buildings. This was adopted apparently because it took the slope of the curtains, which almost invariably hang beneath its projecting shade, and which, when drawn out, seem almost a continuation of it. The upper cornice, which was horizontal, is peculiar to Deeg, and seems designed to furnish an extension of the flat roof, which in Eastern palaces is usually considered the best apartment of the house; but whether designed for this or any other purpose, it adds singularly to the richness of the effect, and by the double shadow affords a relief and character seldom exceeded even in the East.
Generally speaking, the bracket arcades of Deeg are neither so rich nor so appropriate as the bold bracket capitals of the older styles. That the bracket is almost exclusively an original Indian form of capital can, I think, scarcely be doubted; but the system was carried much further by the Moguls, especially during the reign of Akbar, than it had ever been carried by its original inventors, at least in the North. The Hindus, on receiving it back, luxuriated in its picturesque richness to an extent that astonishes every beholder; and half the effect of most of the modern buildings of India is owing to the bold projecting balconies and fanciful kiosks that diversify the otherwise plain walls.