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Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12.s1: The Stūpa

Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12.s1

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The Stūpa

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The Stūpa, literally a mound (Hindi thūhā, Pali thūbha), was a sepulchral monument generally made of earth on the site of the funeral pyre (citā) owing to which it was also known as caitya. The practice was to mark the spot of cremation raising a mound of earth or planting a Pipala tree both of which came to be termed caitya. The mound of earth was associated with a wooden post which was therefore termed as caitya-yūpa, the like of which are known in the burial mounds of Lauriā Nandangarh. The original mound of earth served as a core to be encased later by bricks and in the next stage by stone known as *śilā-kañchuka* or *śilā-āchchhadana*. The Stūpa of Bharhut was covered with bricks and plastered on the outside and that of Sanchi also encased with stone. Such enlargements of the original mounds of earth which were held to be specially sacred were a common feature of the bigger Stūpas of later times known as *Maheśākhya* brought about by the conversion of the smaller ones (*Alpe-śākhya*). The construction of the brick and stone Stūpas gave rise to complicated technical problems of architecture which were further elaborated by the building of railings and gateways. In no other Indian monument, excepting the temples, the architectural evolution is so regularly traceable from the simplest to the most complex form in each essential element as well as decorative features with successive belts of which the classical and medieval Stūpas were loaded. The antiquity of the Stūpa monument both on the religious and architectural side is a matter of great significance for the history of Indian art.

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EARLIER TRADITION AND SYMBOLISM : The Stūpa now associated primarily with Buddhism had a much earlier origin. It goes back to the Ṛigveda where the flaming pile of Agni's light is spoken of as a Stūpa (RV. 7. 2. 1)¹; the Stūpa is compared to the outspreading form of a tree standing erect (RV. 1. 24. 7)². We also find there the idea of a descendant of Aṅgiras (a name of Agni) called Hiraṇya-stūpa, the Golden Stūpa, who had invoked god Savitā as the supreme pile of splendour implying that both Agni on earth and Savitā in heaven are like the two golden Stūpa from which cosmic life emanates. In Vedic symbology Gold examplifies the Seed of Life (*Prāṇa*), and thus the Mound of Gold (*Hiraṇya-stūpa*) or the Pillar of Fire was regarded as the appropriate symbol of the life principle as it exists in the individual and the universal. In pre-Buddhist tradition the Stūpa had come to be accepted as the monument associated with the life of a *Mahāpurusha*, who was regarded as a "Mound of Gold" or "Pile of Light" (*Agni Skandha*). Verily, in nature Sūrya or Savitā is such a Pillar of Light or Mound of Gold, a vast conflagaration of Divine Resplendence. The Buddha who had obtained such perfection of knowledge and become the Enlightened One (*Bhagavān, Samyak-Sambuddha*), was truly the object of worship through the symbol of the Stūpa. As tradition says, his ashes were parcelled out into eight portions and each of them (*Śarīra-dhātu*) was deposited in a commemorative Stūpa. Of these eight, seven were

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१. जुषस्व नः समिधमग्ने अद्य शोचा बृहद्यजतं धूममृण्वन्। उप स्पृश दिव्यं सानु स्तूपैः सं रश्मिभिस्ततनः सूर्यस्य॥
२. अबुध्ने राजा वरुणो वनस्योर्ध्वं स्तूपं ददते पूतदक्ष। नीचीनाः स्थुरुपरि बुध्न एषामस्मे अन्तर्निहिताः केतवः स्युः॥
३. हिरण्यस्तूपः सवितर्यथा त्वाङ्गिरसो जुह्वे वाजे अस्मिन्। एवा त्वाचंज्ञवेस वन्दमानः सोमस्य वांशुं प्रति जागराहम्॥ raised by Kshatriyas, viz. temporal powers, and the eighth by a Brāhmaṇa representing the spiritual authority of the Buddha. It means that the original Stūpa symbolism associated with the Buddha represented completely the two essential elements of his nature, viz. the Buddha as Chakravartī and the Buddha as Yogī which later on played an important part in the formulating of the Buddha’s image, i. e. sovereign ruler with Chhatra and Chāmara and a Yogic teacher of universal Dharma seated on diamond seat of Padmāsana.

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The Stūpa exercised its fascination on the minds of the people. The learned regarded it as a metaphysical symbol and the common man worshipped it as the visible symbol of the Great Light that once was and whose relics were still enshrined within the heart of the Stūpa. The spherical or cylindrical drum, sited on the ground and crowned by a harmikā, or Divine Mansion (Deva-sadana) was in itself a complete symbol of the Mahāpurusha, the Great Being.

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The Buddha was but a manifestation of the powers that inhere in that universal Purusha whose symbol is Sūrya. As a scion of the solar dynasty, viz. the race of the Ikshvāku kings whose descent from Sūrya was well known, he represented an individual ray of that light which is the Divine Supernal Sun. It was, therefore, a problem for the early metaphysicians in Buddhism to fix upon an appropriate symbol to commemorate the Enlightened One. The Chakra and the Stūpa were selected as two arch symbols by the early Buddhist teachers. The Wheel or Chakra became the symbol of Dharma, i. e. the World Order of which the Buddha was an exalted exponent. The Dhamma is the foundation and support of the cosmos, and is the perfect symbol of Time which is threefold as the Chakra is called Tryadhvā, i. e. the revolving wheel of the three times (Skt. Adhvan) i. e. "present, past and future". (Edgerton, BHSD. p. 260). The Stūpa as the second symbol represents the solar light or the Sun which is the source of the power that manifests in the Dharma Chakra.

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In Vedic symbology the Stūpa of Agni as the type of the cosmic Fire or the universal principle of creativity, becomes individuated at one centre in the Yajña as Yūpa, the Tiller. This association is evident in the funeral mounds of Lauriā Nandangarh where the Stūpa and the Yūpa were found together, and also best illustrated in the great Stūpa of Sanchi where Aśoka erected his pillar in front of the original Stūpa.

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The symbolism or the representational basis of the Yūpa was completely transferred to the Stūpa as we find it in Buddhism. The Yūpa was comprised of the following four parts :—

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1 The portion that is dug in the ground (nikhāta). This is sacred to the world of the fathers (pitṛi), the departed ancestors in whose memory the Stūpa is also raised.

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2 The portion above the dug-in-part, up to the girdled rope (ūrdhvaṃ nikhātā-dāraśanāyai). This is the portion sacred to the world of men (manushyaloka).

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3 The portion above the girdle up to the top-ring (yadūrdhvaṃ raśanāyā āchashālam). This is sacred to the world of gods (devaloka).

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4 The space of two or three fingers' breadth above the top-ring (ūrdhvaṃ chashālāt dvayaṅgulaṃ vā trayaṅgulaṃ vā). This uppermost portion is sacred to the world of the archetypal gods (Sādhyadeva).¹

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¹ Tasya yannikhātam. Tena pitṛilokaṃ jayatyatha yadūrdhvaṃ nikhātādārśanāyai tena manushyalokaṃ jayatyatha yadūrdhvaṃ raśanāyā ā chashālāt tena devatokaṃ jayatyatha yadūrdhvaṃ chashālāt dvayaṅgulaṃ vā trayaṅgulaṃ vā sādhya iti devastena teshāṃ lokaṃ jayati sa loko vai sādhyair devairbhavati. Ya evametadveda || Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, 3,7.1.25; see Eggeling, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXVI, pp. 173-4.

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In the Hindu temple also, of which the architecture followed similar metaphysical principle, we find this fourfold division in the form of the basement (jagatī), the cubical portion (garbhagriha or maṇḍovara), the tower (śikhara), and the kalaśa placed on the āmalaka-śilā as its base and surmounted on the top by the dhvaja or the emblem of the deity corresponding to the yaṣṭi and chhatra in the centre of the harmikā. It is evident that the ancient Stūpa and the Prāsāda were developed from an identical religious consciousness and both were symbolic representations of the manifest cosmos and unmanifest divine. In one case the deity is the Buddha, in the other the Deva, both enshrining the great light. The Stūpa from this point of view, although raised on the relics of a Mahāpurusha when he had passed away, actually was not a mournful sign but an emblem of greatest festivity. That the Great Man had entered parinirvāṇa was no cause for sorrow. The idea behind it was one of universal joy and felicitation—a thanksgiving that the Mahāpurusha had appeared on earth and lighted a flame which was going to be perpetual, a light which would never be put out, a ray emanating from his forehead that would encompass all regions of space. Thus the Stūpa was verily the mound of gold (Hiraṇya-stūpa), standing as the dominant symbol of Wisdom, Dharma and Sovereign Spiritual Authority. This is shown in the numerous scenes of dance and music as well as the varied life of gods and men amongst the carved scenes on the railings and gatways of the Stūpa, and later on as at Amaravati and Nagarjunikonda even on the casing slabs.

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Thus it is clear that the Stūpa raised its monumental head as a complete example of the indigenous religious spirit rooted deep in the soil and in the hearts of the people. It was not an exotic innovation and did not depart from the belief universally held. It is, therefore, that we find the entire community of the people dedicating themselves, as shown by the donative epigraphs, to the building and the worship of the Stūpa. This is also the reason why the Stūpa did not from the outset remain exclusive but incorporated within its fold the popular cults of the Nāgas, Yakshas, Suparṇas, Kumbhāṇḍas, and the numerous rich worlds of gods and men. Just as the various streams mingle their waters in the ocean similarly the various cults whole-heartedly contributed to the planning, decoration, imagery and the overall embellishment of the Stūpa. The building of a Mahāstūpa like that of Bharhut and Sanchi could not have been an ordinary event. It was as if the multifold life of the whole people found ample and lofty expression in these Mahā-Chaityas. That it was no haphazard event either is also demonstrated by the all-out sanction which the Great Buddha himself had given in its favour as his last will to Ānanda.

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"How should we honour the body (relic-bones) of the Tathāgata ?" asked Ānanda.

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"O Ānanda, you need not engage yourself in worshipping the body of the Tathāgata. But you dedicate yourself to the right meaning (sadattha) expounded by the Tathāgata as so many Kshatriyas, Brāhmaṇas, and householders are doing."

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But Ānanda out of his overpowering devotion was impervious to this suggestion of the Teacher, and he repeated the question—"How should we honour the body of the Tathāgata ?" The Buddha knowing the devout heart of Ānanda, melted and replied: "As they do for the remains of a Chakravartin King, so Ānanda they should do for the remains of the Tathāgata. At the four cross-roads, similar to the Stūpa they raise for the Chakravartin, should they raise a Stūpa for the Tathāgata.¹

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¹ Ānanda—"Kathaṃ mayaṃ Bhante Tathāgatassa sarīre paṭipajjāmāti ?" Buddha—"Ayāvaṭā tumhe Ānanda hotha Tathāgatassa sarīrapūjāya. Iṅgha tumhe Ānanda sadattha ghaṭatha...." Ānanda—"Kathaṃ pana Bhante Tathāgatassa sarīre paṭipajjabbanti ?" Buddha—"Yatha kho Ānanda rañño chakkavattissa sarīre paṭipajjanti, evaṃ Tathāgatassa sarīra paṭipajjabbanti." Ānanda—"Kathaṃ panaṃ Bhante rañño chakkavattissa sarīre paṭipajjanti ti ?" Buddha—"...chātummahāpathe rañño chakkavattissa thūpaṃ karonti. Evaṃ......chātummahāpathe Tathāgatassa thūpo kātabbo...."

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According to this injunction a Stūpa commemorates a Chakravartin King and a Buddha. Amongst those deserving by their greatness or piety the honour of a Stūpa the Buddha also included the Pratyeka Buddhas, which denoted the honoured saints of other faiths also. This tradition of giving burial to the holy saints has been handed down to this day. It may be imagined that the Buddha was here giving his sanction to an ancient practice well known to the people and of wide acceptance by them.

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It may also be noted that in referring to the ancient tradition of the funeral mounds the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa has noted two architectural, viz. square (catuḥsrakti) and round (parimaṇḍala) forms for a burial mound, and it is especially recorded that the monuments of the easterners (prācyāḥ) were circular.¹

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¹ Catuḥ srakti. Devāśchāsurāśchobhaye prājāpatyā dikṣvaspardhanta te devā asurāntsapatnān bhrātṛvyāndigbhyonudanta te dikkaḥ parābhavamtasmidya daivyaḥ prajāśchatuḥsraktīni tāḥ śmaśānāni kurvate tha yā āsuryaḥ prācyāstvadye tvat parimaṇḍalāni.

Building of a Stūpa

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The building of a Stūpa was a stirring event involving dimensional planning and effort. This is evident in the description given by the Mahāvaṃsa (chapters 28-31). The great Stūpa was known as Mahā Thūpa (20. 4) or Mahā Chetiya (20. 4). Its construction was known Thūpa Kamma or Mahāthūpārambha, and the superintendent of work as Kammādhiṭṭhāyaka (30. 98). A stone Stūpa was called Śilāthūpa. The Mahāvaṃsa specifically tells us that at the site of the Stūpa (thūpaṭṭhāna) a pillar was erected and in accordance with the ancient terminology, pointed out above, this pillar continued to be called a Yūpa (hāretvā hi tahi yūpaṃ thūpaṭṭhānaṃ akhānayi). On the appointed day the priest and the people assembled at the chosen spot. A Full Vase (pūrṇaghaṭa) was installed in the centre. The king walked up to it and holding out to his minister a rod (paribhamaṇa daṇḍaka) which was secured with a string to a fixed golden post, asked him to measure the site for the Stūpa. When this was about to be done a wise and experienced Mahāthera, seeing the danger in planning a Mahāstūpa of that dimension, advised the king that he should desist from a plan of such colossal size which was difficult to achieve and restrict himself to building only a Majjima Chetiya instead of a Mahā Chetiya. The central Stūpa was called Chetiya and round it the paraphernalia of railing and gateways was called Chetiyāvaṭṭa (Skt. Chaityāvarta), i. e. the peripheral portion of the Stūpa.

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The laying of the foundation was the first act in the building. Soldiers were employed for transporting pieces of broken stone (guḍapasāṇaka, 9. 30) which were reduced to grit form (chuṇṇita) with sledge-hammer (kūṭa). It was further pulverised by moving elephants having their feet covered with leather hoses (chammāvanadhdha pādehi mahāhatthīhi maddayi, 29. 4). The building expert thus accomplished consolidation of the ground (bhūmiyā thirabhāvattha, 29. 4). Then the foundation of this stony material (pāsāṇakoṭṭima) was laid over with a kind of specially prepared plaster called Navanīta Mattikā, which was given this name from its thin consistency like that of butter (*sushamā navanīta mattikā*). This ancient name was replaced later on in the Gupta period by the word *Mashaka* as found in the Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa (40. 3; 41. 14) in connection with the plaster used in preparing the surface for painting. This is called *Maskā* in the present day terminology which is literally the same as *Navanīta* (Skt. *Mrakṣaṇa*; Pahlvi: *Masakā*; Skt. back-formation: *Mashakam*—Hindi, Guj. *Maskā*). This plaster clay was prepared by mixing lime-plaster (*kharasudhā*), murum-sand (*marumba*), brick-powder (*iṭṭhakā chuṇṇa*), clay (*mattikā*), realgar (red arsenic, *manaḥśilā*) mixed with *til* oil (*tila taila*), molasses (*rasodaka*), pulp of the *Kapittha* fruit, *Kruvinda* powder and some insense (*sugandhaka*). This formula for preparing the *vajralepa* plaster also occurs in the Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa, which prescribes the *Bilva* (Aegle Marmelos) fruit for *Kapittha* and names the insence as *Guggula* (Viṣṇudharmottara, 40. 1-3). Such foundation floor of stone grit and plaster was actually found at Bharhut by Cunningham.

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Ten crores of bricks were ordered to be stacked at different points of the compass marked by a platform for offering flowers (*puṣpādhāna*, 30.56 i.e. *puṣpagrahaṇī vedikā*, BHSD. p. 218; cf. Smith Mathura Jain Stūpa, pl. XX). The *Chaitya* or *Dhātugarbha* was to be built by those bricks (*iṭṭhakā dasakoṭiyo*, 30.56). The actual form of the dome is compared to a water bubble (*mahābubbula*, 30.13). On the day when the construction was to begin the king ordered stores of clothes, garlands and food, barbers and toilet-men serving the whole people (*porājānapadā cheva*) who had come to participate in the great festival with music and dance. With large retinue, including forty thousand well-dressed persons, the king proceeded to the spot. Theras from many lands had gathered, what to say of the priests of the island itself (*nānādesā'pi āgañchehhu bahavo bhikkhavo idha*, 29.29). Monks from Rājagṛiha, Śrāvastī, Vaiśālī, Kauśāmbī, Ujjayinī, Pāṭaliputra, Kashmir, Vindhyāṭavī, Bodhagayā and the Greek city Alasanda, were invited and assembled in large numbers to witness the foundation ceremony. After completion the brick Stūpa was covered with slabs of marrow-colour stone (*medavaṇṇaka pāsāṇa*, 20.51). The decorative motif on the various parts of the Stūpa comprised the following *Aṣṭa-maṅgalika* symbols, *pupphalatā* (flower garland), *chatuppada pantī* (row of animals), *haṃsa pantī* (row of geese), *muktā kiṅkiṇikajālakā* (festoons of pearls and small tinglers), *suvarṇa ghaṇṭā pantī* (row of golden bells), *dāmāni* (garlands), *muktādāmalapāka* (clustered pearl pendents), *ravichanda-tāra-rūpa-padumaka* (full lotus medallions, crescent shaped rosettes, stellar rosettes), *puṇṇaghaṭa pantī* (row of Full Vases), *añjali paggahā devā* (gods holding their hands in adoration), *nachehakā devatā* (*sadāmattaka* of Divyāvadāna, groups of dancing gods), *turiyavādaka devatā* (gods playing on musical instruments), *ādāsa gāhakā devā* (gods holding mirrors), *puppha sakhādhārā devā* (divine figures with flowering sticks), *padumādika gāhakā devā* (figures holding lotuses), ratanagghiya pantī (row of jewels), Dhammachakka pantī (row of Dharmachakras), khaggadharā (row of figures holding daggers), pātidharā devapantī (row of figures holding bowls, karoṭapāṇi devāḥ of Divyāvadāna), and many other kinds of divine figures (aññe devā cha'nekadhā 30.65-68, 90-93). Jātaka scenes were carved in the meanders of golden creepers and numerous scenes from the life of the Buddha (a list of about thirtyfive scenes is being recounted) were carved on the body of the Stūpa. Figures of Mahābrahmā, Śakra, Pañchaśikha holding a Viṇā, Māra with a thousand arms along with his female retinue, the four Mahārājika gods, the thirty-three gods (tettiṃsa devaputtā), thirty-two divine princesses (dvāttiṃsā cha kumāriyo), twenty-eight Yaksha kings (yakkhasenāpati aṭṭhavīṃsati), were represented. All the life-scenes of the Buddha beginning from his decision in the Tushita heaven and up to his sitting on the Bodhimaṇḍa were depicted. The Vessantara Jātaka specially was rendered in great detail (Vessantara jātakaṃ tu vitthārena akārayi, 30.88). Other Jātaka scenes were also carved on the railings and slabs of the Stūpa (ye bhuyyena akāresi Jātakāni, 30. 87).

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The above description of a Mahāstūpa shows the extraordinary importance of these monuments in the Buddhist world. It holds good in a large measure in the case of such Mahāstūpas as those of Bharhut and Sanchi both from the point of view of architecture and decoration although it is of particular application to the Stūpas of the Andra country, viz. those of Amaravati and Nagarajunikonda. Those latter had decorative casing slabs which in the case of Bharhut and Sanchi were plain (rūpakāne'tya sablāni dhātugabbhe manorame, 30.97). The second architectural feature in the case of the Stūpas in the Andra region consisted in the box-like projections on the four sides joined to the main Garbha and each supporting five Āyaka Kambhas (chatupassamhi chaturo mañjūsaṃ viya yojiya, 30.60). Lastly the white colour of the stone (medavaṇṇa pāsāṇa) mentioned several times (30.57, 59, 96) gives a true pointer in the direction of the Andhra Stūpas and not those of Central India which are built of red stone.

The Stūpa Architecture

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The Stūpa was built on the foundation of stone blocks called pāṣāṇa-kuṭṭima. On this foundation a hemispherical dome called aṇḍa was raised. In the earlier period the ratio between the diameter and the height of the Stūpa was less than in the case of the Stūpas of the later period. The drum of the earlier Stūpas resembled a bell (ghaṇṭākāra). In the later Stūpas the drum became more elevated and elongated becoming cylindrical in form described as Mahā-bubbula shape, i. e. a giant water bubble. The top of the hemisphere was truncated and on its flat surface a modest plat-form enclosed by a railing was added known as *harmikā*, literally, mansion of the gods which exactly corresponded to Vedic *deva-sadana*, of which the position was on the third ridge above the earth. In the centre of the *harmikā* was fixed a post, *Yaṣṭi*, surmounted by a series of three parasols (*trichhatra* or *Chhatrāvalī*) of which the number was later on raised to seven. [Fig. 54].

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In course of time a natural development in the architecture of Stūpa was the desire to enclose it on all sides and this enclosure was called *vedikā* a term taken from the architecture of the Vedic *Yajña*. It was derived from the sacrificial altars called *Vedi* and seems to have originally signified the structure erected round the fire altar. The same form was later extended to an enclosure round any sacred object of worship; e. g. the word is used in the Rāmāyaṇa for a railing round a *chaitya-vriksha*. In the Rummindei Inscription of Aśoka a stone enclosure was erected round the stone-pillar by Aśoka under the name of *silā-vigaḍa-bhicha*. In the Ghosuṇḍī Inscription of Nārāyaṇa Vāṭaka the enclosure is called *prākāra*, i. e. a wall-like railing round the tablet of worship (*pūjā-śilā*). The same architectural feature was adopted for the Stūpas. In the case of the Bharhut and other Stūpas the *Vedikā* consisted of a series of upright pillars (*stambha, thambha*); each pillar was fixed to the ground by inserting its lower part in the socket of a stone basement (*ālambanapiṇḍikā*), buried under the earth to serve as the foundation. Between each pair of upright posts were fixed three transverse bars (*sūchī*) of which the ends were inserted in the sockets cut into the narrower sides of the pillars. The sokets were lenticular in shape and the cross-bars were of the form of flat pillows on account of which they were later on known as *takia*. The top of the pillars was bonded together by a series of coping stones (*uṣṇīśa*) which had on the bottom sidesocket holes (*chullī*) to receive the tenons (*chūḍā*) of the upright poles. The copings were round on the top and provided enough space on the two vertical sides for carving of decorative motifs and narrative scenes which became a very pleasing feature of Stūpa sculpture. Thus the four constituent parts, viz. the basement, upright pillar, cross-bar and the coping were bonded together into stable structure. [Fig. 55]. The great railing, *mahāvedikā* at Bharhut was profusely carved but the one at Sanchi was plain without any decoration. The railing was provided on four sides with four gateways called *toraṇa* facing the four cardinal points. [Fig. 56]. This was an important architectural feature of which the roots lay in the traditional philosophical conception of the fourfold pattern of creation symbolised in the four regions of space round a central fixed point or mount of gold called *Meru*. This became a religious cult of wide-spread popular belief known as *Diśamaha*. The Stūpa with its gateways and railings was a complete symbol of the tetradic pattern of the cosmos as evolved in Buddhist religious tradition.

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The path of circumambulation (*pradakshiṇā-patha*) ran round the Stūpa on its ground level inside the railing. Besides the ground railing another *pradakshiṇā-patha* was provided about the middle of the dome by erecting a raised platform round the Stūpa which was known as *medhi*, a terrace. This high terrace for the second *pradakshiṇā-patha* was also provided with a railing of smaller pillars. The third railing of which the pillars were even smaller was built at the top round the *harmikā*.

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