Many of the Vaishnava temples all over India are disfigured by obscenities, and those in the temples of the Lingaet sect, between the Turn budra and the Godavery, are unexampled ; but the Saiva shrines are generally free from all such, though at Khajuraho in Bundelkhand is one with gross obscenities.
General A. Cunningham believes that the Buddhist sculptures of the Indo-Scythic period, found in the Eastern Panjab at Shahbazgarhi, show traces of Grecian art. In all Indo-Greek sculptures, whenever a face is partly turned to one side, that side is invariably cut away to nearly flatness, so as to give a deeper shadow to it and a greater prominence to the unaverted side. There are also fine specimens of Indo Corinthian pillars. He thinks the great mass of them belong to the most flonrishing period of Indo-Scythic rule under Kanishka and his imme diate successors, or from n.c. 40 to A.D. 100. The beauty of some specimens is great. Athene with spear and helmet, now in the Lahore museum, may date AS early AS B.C. 80.
The Indo-Persran style prevailed over the whole of Northern India, both before and after the Christian era. Its prototype is to be found in the famous pillars of the Achtemenian palaces at Persepolis and Susa. In the N.W. of India, it was supplanted by the three different styles of Greek architecture, by the Indo-Corinthian in the Kabul valley, by the Indo-Ionic in Taxila, and by the Indo-Doric in Kashmir. I3ut DO specimens of these styles have been found to the east of the Sutlej, whereas the Indo-Persian style was spread over the whole of Northern India, from Kabul to Orissa, and from the banks of the Ganges to the source of the Godavery. Numerous specimens of it may be seen in the sculptures of Biterhut, Gay a, and Sanchi, and in the actual pillars of Mathura, Na.sik, Bedsa, and Orissa.
The Hoisala I3ellala temple at Somnathpur is triple, tho cells with their sikras being attached to a square pillared hall ; elegance of outline and marvellous elaboration of detail characterize these shrines. The great temple at BaiIlur has a very solid vimana, with an anterala or porch, and stands on a terrace about 3 feet high and 10 to 15 feet wide. It waa erected by Vishnu Verddhana, to commemorate his conversion by Ramanuja from the Jain to the Hindu faith.
At Hullabid is the small shrine of Keit Eswara, covered with sculptures of the very best class of Indian art. The great double temple there rises
25 feet from the terrace, but was left uncompleted. It is built of indurated potstone, erected in a block, and sculptured afterwards. On the terrace stands a frieze of elephants, above it a frieze of the Sher&la conventional elephants, the emblems of the Boisela Bellala ; then comes a scroll of infinite beauty, and over it a frieze of horsemen and another scroll, over which is a bas-relief about 700 feet in length, of scenes from the Ramayana, representing the conquest of Ceylon, and all the varied incidents of that epic. At another part are figures of all the IIindu Pantheon ; Brahma occurs three or four times, Siva with Parvati on his knee is repeated fourteen times, Vishnu and his avatars still oftener. All that is wild in human fancy, or warm in human feeling, is found portrayed on these walls.
In the architecture of Southern India, a sculp ture of frequent occurrence are groups of the Yell ; a monster of the lion type ia represented trampling on an elephant, or a warrior sitting on a rearing horse, his feet on the shields of foot soldiers, sometimes slaying men, sometime tigers, —both of them barbarons monstrosities.
Paliya stones over the graves of those who have fallen in battle, and Sati stonen, are common in Gujerat and Cute'', and the Paduka or foot sculptures on tbe monuments of Sadhus, are very numerous. The older Paliya are sculptures showing the style of dress and warlike accoutre ments of olden times,—chain armour, horses in mail, bows and arrows, swords of various shapes, shields, javelins, etc. etc., and not unfrequently the names of tbe re4,:ning princes with dates, as that of Lakha Phulant Adkot.
The sculptures Kashmir, at Sanchi, &flares, Antraoti, 31adura, Trichinopoly, Tanjore, and Mahaballipuram have attracted much notice, Ag also have those in the cave temple& at Ellora, Ajunta, Elephanta, and the edicta of Asoka Girnar and other place& The Amraoti sculptures belong to a period of 300 yeara later than those of Sanclii, and the topes illustrate the faith at their date. In the Amraoti sculptures are numerous priests and other signs of a clerical order aegregated from the laity and of an established ritual. Sanchi is illustrative of the Hinayana Buddhist philosophy, 500 years before the oldest Buddhist book ; and Amraoti illustrates the 3fahayana philosophy, 800 years after its promulgation.