As you walk around any of the square levels of the structure, the walls on either side are carved like this.
Many of these portray incidents in the life a Buddha.
As each level is smaller than the one below, there is nothing overhead. You are out in the sun, and you can see the scenery around you as well.
Its incredible how much work went into all these carvings. Not something we can afford to achieve today both financially and timewise. Apart from less craftsmen available.
Stunning. It must have taken years to build and carve.
Generations, actually, passed down the family…
Thanks for the great pictures and posts. That last statue is a Makara – a mythological composite animal that is half-elephant and half fish.
Thanks for that info noelbynature, I was wondering what it was.
Thanks Noel, I didn’t know that. In fact I was trying to make head or tail – or trunk? – of it…