Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c13.11

c13.11

A *Chaitya* hall is really a temple of the Buddhist religion, both in form and use. It is very much similar to a Christian Church consisting of a nave, apse, and aisle. The aisle is separated from the nave by a row of pillars. The apse contains the object of worship, which is almost invariably a solid *Stūpa*. The whole is excavated in the living rock or built of wood and brick (if structural). Instead of tracing its similarity, it would be more relevant to compare a *Chaitya* hall with the several parts of a Hindu temple. The apse, which is at the extreme end of the *Chaitya* hall, corresponds to the *garbhagriha* of a temple exactly placed in a similar position; the nave corresponds to a *mandapa* and the aisle on the two sides and round the apse to the *pradakshināpatha* of a Brahmanical temple. Of course, with the lapse of time, there was increasing elaboration of the temple architecture, but the basic elements were exactly those comprised in a *Chaitya* hall. [Figs. 110, 112]. Except at Bhaja, there is very little sculpture carved in the earliest Vihāras and *Chaitya* halls.