And in Oxford only one central Apse.
It sometimes surrounds the Apse at the same height.
A rock- cut stupa, in the Apse portion, formed the object of worship.
The central nave vaulting was completed in 2000 and the main tasks
since then have been the construction of the transept vaults and Apse.
The inner wall of the rear Apse encloses the sanctum or the garbha-
griha enshrining the principal Vidyasankara linga with a narrow antarala in front.
There is so much to see in the church, such as the Holy Door,
Arnolfo di Cambio's tabernacle, Apse mosaic, that you will spend hours inside the church.
The three door- openings in the outer wall of the rear Apse, each come opposite the three affluent shrines of Brahma,
Vishnu and Siva on the south, west and north.
It is similar to the earlier type but
has a Buddha figure prominently standing out in front of the stupa in the Apse, under a nasika or arch projected from the drum of the stupa.
The other chaityas are mainly apsidal in plan, consisting of a long rectangular hall like a nave,
terminating at the farther end into an Apse with often two narrower aisles on either side,
each separated from the nave by a row of pillars and extended round the Apse as a circumambulatory passage round a stupa, also hewn out of rock and occupying the centre of the Apse.