ircumference,
with a height of 22 ft. 6 in. The date of these erections is
frequently very difficult to determine, but the chief authorities
generally concur in the opinion that none are found dating earlier
than about 250 B.C., nor later than 500 A.D., so that it is pretty
certain they must have been appropriated to some form of Buddhist
worship.

[Illustration: FIG. 43.--VIMANA FROM MANASARA.]

All the buildings that we have mentioned were devoted to the worship
of Buddha, but the Jain schism, Brahmanism, and other cults had their
representative temples and buildings, a full description of which
would require a volume many times larger than the present one. Many of
the late detached buildings display rich ornamentation and elaborate
workmanship. They are generally of a pyramidal shape, several storeys
in height, covered with intricately cut mouldings and other fantastic
embellishments.

Columns are of all shapes and sizes, brackets frequently take the
place of capitals, and where capitals exist almost every variety of
fantastic form is found. It has been stated that no fixed laws govern
the plan or details of Indian buildings, but there exists an essay on
Indian Architecture by Ram Raz--himself a Hindoo--which tends to show
that such a statement is erroneous, as he quotes original works of
considerable antiquity which lay down stringent rules as to the
planning of buildings, their height, and the details of the columns.
It is probable that a more extended acquaintance with Hindu literature
will throw further light on these rules.

Of the various invasions which have occurred some have left traces in
the architecture of India. None of these are more interesting than
certain semi-Greek forms which are met with in the Northern Provinces,
and which without doubt are referable to the influence of the invasion
under Alexander the Great. A far more conspicuous and widespread
series of changes followed in the wake of the Mohammedan invasions. We
shall have an opportunity later on of recurring to this subject,[8]
but it is one to which attention should be called at this early stage,
lest it should be thought that a large and splendid part of Indian
architecture had been overlooked.

[Illustration: FIG. 44.--BRACKET CAPITAL.]

[Illustration: FIG. 45.--COLUMN FROM AJUNTA.]

[Illustration: FIG. 46.--COLUMN FROM ELLORA.]

[Illustration: FIG. 47.--COLUMN FROM AJUNTA.]

_Chinese and Japanese Architecture._