Karla Cave: Exteriors, upper portion

On the upper storey of the back wall of the portal, containing this large chaitya window, we can see the type of wood ribbing and trellis work employed in the fronton, The large sun-window was originally an opening provided to allow the cut rock fragments to be thrown out during the excavation of the interior and later became the main aperture for light, From the interior, one is amazed to see the amount of light this window allows inside and that an excellent illusionary effect is produced by the flood of light through the columns of the aisles and on the sculpture within, The only wood portion of the window preserved is the lattice work of the trellis (which has been restored from time to time) while the ribbed arch above the window is stone carved to represent wood, [formerly IA-484, number crossed out and replaced with IA-475(6)