No. 62. — 1909.] stone architecture* 



331 



Slide 35. Ajanta cave, interior. The chaitya has become a 

 spire over a statue of Buddha. 



Let me now draw your attention to a different class of buildings, 

 namely, the stupendous stupas built by the ancient Indian 

 architects. A stupa (P. thupa), commonly called in Ceylon 

 ddgaba, was usually destined to enshrine the relics of a Buddha 

 or a saint, or to mark the scene of some important Buddhist 

 event. 



It was in Asoka's time a solid hemispherical mass of masonry, 

 springing from a plinth which formed a perambulating path for 

 worshippers, and supporting on its flattened top " a square 

 altar-shaped structure," surmounted by a series of stone umbrellas. 

 The base was usually surrounded by a stone railing, often richly 

 ornamented with elaborate sculptures in relief. 



Slide 36. The Sanchi Stupa. It measures 106 feet in diameter, 

 and its total height must have been more than 1 00 feet. The reliefs 

 covering the pillars and cross lintels which you have already seen, 

 represent scenes from the life of Buddha, such as the dream of his 

 mother Maya Devi, Buddha's trial of the bow as Prince Siddhartha, 

 his palace life, and love scenes, his visit to Kasyapa, and so on. 

 The railing here, which is highly decorated, is supposed to be 

 later than Asoka's time. But at Buddha Gaya remains of some 

 railings of Asoka's age have been found. Those discovered at 

 Patna may, according to Mr. Vincent Smith, be even earlier. 



Slide 37. The east gateway of Barahut Stupa, showing three 

 rail pillars with coping stone. 



In Ceylon also Buddhist railings have somewhat recently been 

 brought to light. 



Slide 38. This illustration shows one unearthed in Anuradha- 

 pura by the Archaeological Commissioner, Mr. H. C P. Bell, some 

 ten years ago, at one of the most ancient sites near Abhayagiri 

 Dagaba. The railing enclosed a rectangular piece of ground 

 about 140 feet by 110 feet. It is, as you see, quite un- 

 ornamented except at the four entrances, where stood guard 

 stones, or terminals, facing one another and morticed to the rails 

 at the back. These terminals rise only 18 inches above the coping, 

 their design displays a chaste simplicity unaffected by the elabora- 

 tion of a later age. 



The surface ornament is a tall lotus plant planted in a bowl- 

 shaped vase with single elongated, stalk, throwing off leaves on 

 either side and issuing either in a full-blown flower or a bud. The 

 lines are as sharp as though just cut. 



Slide 39. An idea of the importance of this site may be gathered 

 from the huge Abhayagiri Dagaba close by, which, according to the 

 Mahdwatysa, was about 405 feet high (i.e., 50 feet higher than 

 St. Paul's Cathedral) and 360 feet in diameter. The height is 

 now reduced, but the base still covers about 8 acres of ground. 



Such are some of the characteristic features of the stone archi- 

 tectural remains of the second and third century B.C. 



No building which can be ascribed to an earlier period has 

 yet been found. These facts have led students of Indian art to 



