Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12.s1.14

c12.s1.14

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.