Manasara Series (I. A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture; II. Indian Architecture according to Manasara-Shilpashastra; III. Manasara on Architecture and Sculpture: Sanskrit Text; IV. Architecture of Manasara: Translation; V. Architecture of Manasara: Illustrations; VI. Hindu Architecture in India and Abroad; VII. An Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture) v7.c47.5805

v7.c47.5805

(3) ‘ Throughout this work the term vihāra is applied only to monasteries, the abodes of monks or hermits. It was not, however, used in that restricted sense only, in former times, though it has been so by all modern writers. Hiouen Thsang, for instance, calls the great tower at Buddh-Gaya a vihāra, and describes similar towers at Nalanda, 200 and 300 feet high, as vihāras. The Mahawanso also applies the term indiscriminately to temples of a certain class, and to residences. My *impression* is that all buildings designed in storeys were called vihāras (?), whether used for the abode of priests or to enshrine relics or images. The name was used to distinguish them from stupas or towers, which were relic shrines, or erected as memorials of places or events, and never were residences or simulated to be such, or contained images, till the last gasp of the style, as at Kholvi At present this is only a theory.’