of some being to whom the temple may be supposed to be dedicated. One head faces the spectator, another looks to the right, the third to the left; a fourth may be imagined to be concealed behind. It may give some idea of its bulk to mention, that from the top of the cap of the middle figure to the bottom of the image is seventeen feet ten inches, while the horizontal curved line embracing the three heads at the height of the eyes is twenty-two feet nine inches in length.

"Travellers have entertained very different ideas of the degree of genius and art displayed in this temple, and the figures around it; some are disposed to rate them very high, and speak in rapturous terms of the execution and design of several of the compartments. To me it appears, that while the whole conception and plan of the temple is extremely grand and magnificent, and while the outline and disposition of the several figures indicate great talent and ingenuity, the execution and finishing of the figures in general (though some of them prove the sculptor to have great merit) fall below the original idea, and are often very defective. The figures have somewhat of rudeness and want of finish; the proportions are sometimes lost, the attitudes forced, and every thing indicates the infancy of the art, though a vigorous infancy.

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Nothing presents itself in these excavations which can lead to a satisfactory solution of the important and curious question, In what age or by what dynasty was this vast temple completed? One fact is worthy of notice, that a greater number of magnificent cave temples present themselves in a small space on this coast than are to be met with in any other part of India. The caves of Elephanta, those of Kenneri, Amboli, and some others on the island of Salsette, the fine cave of Carli, on the road by the Bor Ghaut to Poonah, the still more extensive and magnificent ranges at Ellora, not to mention some smaller cave-temples in the Concan and near the Adjanta pass, are all on Mahratta ground, and seem to show the existence of some great and powerful dynasty, which must have reigned many years to complete works of such labour and extent."*

Account of the Cave-temple of Elephanta, by W. Erskine, Esq. in Transactions of the Literary Society of Bombay, vol. i. p. 210, 249,

We have indulged in this copious extract from an article which is in itself extremely interesting, to enable the reader to compare the excavated temple of Elephanta with those of Ebsamboul. The general plan is the same in both,massy pillars, huge figures, emblematical devices, and mysterious ornaments. The serpent and the lotus tend still further to identify the ancient superstitions to the uses of which those stupendous works were undertaken. But no tradition on which we can rely connects the spacious temples of the Upper Nile with those of Western India, although there can be little doubt that, in remote ages, there was an intercourse more or less regular between their inhabitants. Gau holds the opinion that the monuments of Hindostan are later in their origin than those of Nubia; and we may remark, as in some degree confirmative of this notion, that one of the figures in the cave of Elephanta is described by Mr. Erskine as having thick lips, and bearing in other respects a resemblance to an African countenance. Conjecture on this subject, however, cannot possibly lead to any satisfactory result, because we do not yet possess such knowledge relative to the architecture, the sculpture, and mythology of the East as would justify a decided conclusion in regard to their precise objects.

But the works now mentioned, as well as those which have been found in the neighbouring island of Salsette, are greatly surpassed by the excavations of Ellora in the province of Hydrabad. Here we have a granite mountain in the form of an amphitheatre, completely chiselled out from top to bottom, and filled with innumerable temples. To describe the galleries and columns which support various chambers lying one above another, the stairs, porticoes, and bridges over canals, also hewn out of the solid rock, would be impossible. Suffice it to state, that the chief temple, called Kailasa, is entered under a balcony, after which we come to an antechamber 138 feet wide and 88 long, with many rows of pillars, and adjoining rooms which may have been apartments for pilgrims or the dwellings of the priests. From this chamber we pass through a great portico and over a bridge into an immense hall, 247 feet long and 150 broad, in the middle of which is the shrine, consisting of one mass of rock. This monolith itself measures 103 feet long and 56 wide, while it rises to the most surprising height of

100 feet in a pyramidal form. It is hollowed out to the height of 17 feet, and supported by four rows of pillars, with colossal elephants which seem to bear the enormous mass and give life and animation to the whole. From the roof of this stupendous sanctuary, which has a gallery of rock round it, bridges lead to other side arches which have not yet been explored. The whole mass besides is covered with sculptures.*

A more minute comparison of the cave-temples of India with those excavated by the ancient Ethiopians would lead us away from our proper subject. We may venture to remark, however, that there are many points of resemblance between the pagodas of the former country and the regular structures of Egypt, all the parts of which are above ground. For example, the pyramidal entrance to the one is analogous to the propylon of the other, while the large-pillared rooms which support a roof of stone are found frequently in the edifices of both regions. Among the numerous divisions of the cave at Ellora, there is an upper story of the Dasavatara, or the temple of Vishnu's incarnations, the roof of which is supported by sixty-four square-based pillars, eight in each row. This chamber is about a hundred feet wide, and somewhat deeper; and as to general design may be compared with the excavated chambers of Egypt, which are supported by square columns. The massy materials, the dark rooms, and the walls covered with highly-wrought sculptures; and the tanks near the temple, with their enclosures of stone, and the steps for the pilgrims, are also equally characteristic of a pagoda and an Egyptian temple. To this we may add the high thick wall, of a rectangular form, carried all round the sacred spot. There is a further resemblance worth noticing between some of the Hindoo temples and that of Phtha at Memphis. The latter had four chief entrances, or propyla, turned to the cardinal points of the compass; and this is also the case with the pagoda of Chillumbrum, and with another at Seringham. The first of these, according to Indian tradition, is one of the oldest in their country; which opinion is confirmed by the appearance of the principal temple contained within the walls; but other parts, such as the pyramidal gateways, the highly

* British Museum, p. 182.