Of the many ruins without the city of Athens, the tourist notices with peculiar interest those of the temple of Jupiter Olympius, as it was the first conceived and the last executed of all the sacred monuments of Athens. It was begun by Pisistratus, but was not finished till the time of the Roman emperor Adrian, which was some seven hundred years afterward. All that remains of this once magnificent building, is seen in the cut on the previous page. Originally there were one hundred and twenty columns supporting this noble temple; but of all these, only some sixteen remain; standing in their silent and solitary grandeur to testify of the triumphs of ancient art, and to the power of Time the destroyer.
TEMPLES OF ELEPHANTA.
The island of Elephanta, distant about two leagues from Bombay, has a circumference of about three miles, and consists of two rocky mountains, covered with trees and brushwood. Near the landing-place is the figure of an elephant, as large as life, shaped out of a rock, and supposed to have given its name to the island. Having ascended the mountain by a narrow path, the visitor reaches the excavation which has so long excited the attention of the curious, and afforded such ample scope for the discussion of antiquarians. With the strongest emotions of surprise and admiration, he beholds four rows of massive columns cut out of the solid rock, uniform in their order, and placed at regular distances, so as to form three magnificent avenues from the principal entrance to the grand idol which terminates the middle vista; the general effect being hightened by the blueness of the light, or rather gloom, peculiar to the situation. The central image is composed of three colossal heads, reaching nearly from the floor to the roof, a hight of fifteen feet. It represents the triad deity in the Hindoo mythology, Brama, Vishnu, and Siva, in the characters of the creator, preserver, and destroyer. The middle face displays regular features, and a mild and serene character; the towering head-dress is much ornamented, as are those on each side, which appear in profile, lofty, and richly adorned with jewels. The countenance of Vishnu has the same mild aspect as that of Brama; but the visage of Siva is very different: severity and revenge, characteristic of his destroying attribute, are strongly depicted; one of the hands embraces a large cobra de capello; while the others contain fruit, flowers, and blessings for mankind, among which the lotus and pomegranate are readily distinguishable. The former of these, the lotus, so often introduced into the Hindoo mythology, forms a principal object in the sculpture and paintings of their temples, is the ornament of their sacred lakes, and the most conspicuous beauty in their flowery sacrifices.
On either side of the Elephanta triad, is a gigantic figure leaning on a dwarf, an object frequently introduced in these excavations. The giants guard the triple deity, and separate it from a large recess filled with a variety of figures, male and female, in different attitudes: they are in tolerable proportion, but do not express any particular character of countenance: one conspicuous female, like the Amazons, is single-breasted; the rest, whether intended for goddesses or mortals, are generally adorned, like the modern Hindoo women, with bracelets and rings for the ankles; the men have bracelets only. The intervening space between these figures is occupied by small aerial beings, hovering about them in infinite variety. The larger images in these groups are in alto-relievo, and most of the smaller in basso-relievo, brought sufficiently forward from the rock to produce a good effect. The sides of the temple are adorned with similar compositions, placed at regular distances, and terminating the avenues formed by the colonnades, so that only one group is seen at a time, except on a near approach; and the regularity and proportion of the whole are remarkably striking. The figures are in general in graceful attitudes; but those of herculean stature do not indicate any extraordinary muscular strength. Among many thousands of them, few of the countenances express any particular passion, or mark a decided character: they have generally a sleepy aspect, and bear a greater resemblance to the tame sculpture of Egypt than to the animated works of the Grecian chisel. From the right and left avenues of the principal temple are passages to smaller excavations on each side: that on the right is much decayed, and very little of the sculpture remains entire. A pool of water penetrates from it into a dark cavern far under the rock; but whether natural or artificial, has not been decided. A small corresponding temple on the left side, contains two baths, one of them elegantly finished: the front is open, and the roof supported by pillars of a different order from those in the large temple; the sides are adorned with sculpture, and the roof and cornice painted in mosaic patterns; some of the colors are still bright. The opposite bath, of the same proportions, is less ornamented; and between them is a room detached from the rock, containing a colossal representation of the lingam, or symbol of Siva. Several small caves branch out from the grand excavations.
An anecdote is related by Mr. Forbes, in his “Oriental Memoirs,” relative to these sculptured monuments. He accompanied an eminent English artist on his first visit to the Elephanta. “After the glare of a tropical sun, during the walk from the landing-place, it was some time before the eye had accommodated itself to the gloom of these subterraneous chambers, sufficiently to discriminate objects in that somber light. We remained for several minutes without speaking, or looking particularly at each other: at length, when more familiarized to the cavern, my companion still remaining silent, I expressed some fear of having been too warm in my description, and that like most other objects, the reality fell short of the anticipated pleasure. He soon relieved my anxiety by declaring, that however highly I had raised his imagination, he was so absorbed in astonishment and delight, on entering this stupendous scene, as to forget where he was. He had seen the most striking objects of art in Italy and Greece; but never anything which filled his mind with such extraordinary sensations.” So enraptured was this artist with the spot, that after staying until a late hour, he quitted it most reluctantly. The caves of the isle of Elephanta can not be sufficiently admired, when the immensity of such an undertaking, the number of artificers employed, and the extraordinary genius of its projector, are considered, in a country until lately accounted rude and barbarous by the now enlightened nations of Europe. Had this work been raised from a foundation, like other structures, it would have excited the admiration of the curious; but when the reflection is made, that it is hewn inch by inch in the hard and solid rock, how great must the astonishment be at the conception and completion of the enterprise!
TEMPLES OF SALSETTE.
The excavations of the island of Salsette, also contiguous to Bombay, are hewn in the central mountains. The great temple is excavated at some distance from the summit of a steep mountain, in a commanding situation. This stupendous work is upward of ninety feet long, thirty-eight wide, and of a proportionate hight, hewn out of the solid rock, and forming an oblong square, with a fluted concave roof. The area is divided into three aisles by regular colonnades, similar to the ancient basilic, a pile of building twice as long as it was wide, and one of the extremities of which terminated in a hemicycle, two rows of columns forming a spacious area in the center, and leaving a narrow walk between the columns and the wall. In these basilici the Roman emperors of the east frequently administered justice. This magnificent excavation at Salsette appears to be on the same plan, although, doubtless, intended for a place of worship. Toward the termination of the temple, fronting the entrance, is a circular pile of solid rock, nineteen feet high, and forty-eight in circumference, most probably a representation of the lingam, the symbol already alluded to in the description of the temples of Elephanta. In this temple there are not any images, nor any kind of sculpture, except on the capitals of the pillars, which are in general finished in a very masterly style, and are little impaired by time. Several have been left in an unfinished state; and on the summit of others is something like a bell, between elephants, horses, lions, and animals of different kinds.
The lofty pillars and concave roof of the principal temple at Salsette present a much grander appearance than the largest excavation at the Elephanta, although that is much richer in statues and bass-reliefs. The portico at Salsette, of the same hight and breadth as the temple, is richly decorated: on each side a large niche contains a colossal statue, well executed; and facing the entrance are small single figures, with groups in various attitudes, all of them in good preservation. The outer front of the portico, and the area before it, corresponding in grandeur with the interior, are now injured by time, and the moldering sculpture intermingled with a variety of rock-plants. On the square pillars at the entrance are long inscriptions, the characters of which are obsolete, and which modern ingenuity has not as yet succeeded in deciphering. Further up the mountain, a flight of steps, hewn in the rock, and continued to the summit, leads, by various intricate paths, to smaller excavations, most of which consist of two rooms, a portico and benches, cut in the rock. To each is annexed a cistern of about three cubic feet, also hewn in the rock, for the preservation of rain-water. Some of these excavations are larger and better finished than others; and a few, although inferior in size and decoration, in their general effect resemble the principal temple.
The whole appearance of this excavated mountain indicates it to have had a city hewn in its rocky sides, capable of containing many thousand inhabitants. The largest temple was, doubtless, their principal place of worship; and the smaller, on the same plan, inferior ones. The rest were appropriated as dwellings for the inhabitants, differing in size and accommodation according to their respective ranks in society; or, as it is still more probable, these habitations were the abode of religious Bramins, and of their pupils, when India was the nursery of art and science, and the nations of Europe were involved in ignorance and barbarism.