Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c10: Chapter III: Asoka, and the Beginnings of the Buddhist School (cir. B.C. 250)

Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c10

Language: English

c10.s1 Rock-Cut Cells in Bihar — 13 parts

Chapter III: Asoka, and the Beginnings of the Buddhist School (cir. B.C. 250)

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UP to the middle of the third century B.C. the course pursued by the building art in India has been only indistinctly visible, as it is obscured by the mists of time. So far therefore any account of its progress has been based very largely on evidences of a miscellaneous order such as certain structural remains and various investigations from which the foregoing conjectural impressions have been compiled. Now however, supposition hardens into fact and the picture hitherto ill-defined comes with an almost dramatic suddenness sharply into focus. This effect was brought about by the policy of the third Mauryan ruler of Magadha, the emperor Asoka who ascended the throne in B.C. 274. An early decisive step taken by this monarch was his acceptance of the teachings of the Buddha. Soon it had become apparent to him that the religious beliefs of his subjects were inclined to be indeterminate, and that a radical change in their spiritual outlook was desirable. That the country was ripe for some form of conversion was also obvious. The existing cults consisting mainly of visionary speculations and intangible abstractions were proving unsatisfying, and men's minds were in a receptive mood fully prepared for a doctrine founded on a more substantial basis. In other words there was at this period what may be described as a religious vacuum. And Buddhism redressed this void. Included in its precepts was a material object of veneration, such as the worship of sacred relics, which made a direct appeal to a people perplexed and disillusioned by unconvincing observances. Accordingly in B.C. 255 Asoka inaugurated Buddhism as the state religion of the country. The correctness of the royal reformers' precognition is proved by the whole-hearted manner in which the Buddhist faith was assimilated by his own people and furthermore by the astonishing rapidity with which its tenets were conveyed to and its ritual observed in most of the countries of Asia.

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With this change in the religious system of India also came a marked advance in the arts. Buddhism essentially a graphic creed, art became its handmaid, so that wherever it penetrated it was accompanied by forms and symbols expressive of its teaching. In India this early Buddhist art was of a special kind as it was the result of the Mauryan emperor's own personal predilections, and its productions have been referred to as those of the Asokan School. Its elements were due to the ruler's initiative, they were practised only during his reign, and they ceased when it ended; it was therefore essentially autocratic in its character. But although this first manifestation of Buddhist art was confined within such seemingly narrow limits, and its actual productions were relatively few in number, they were of such exceptional power that they influenced to a notable degree much of the art that followed. The significance of this school lies in the fact that it marks the beginning of an era when India through Buddhist thought was in a position to dictate to the rest of Asia its religion, its symbolism, and its art.

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The principal contributions made by this school to the art and architecture of the time were some six in number, consisting of the following: (1) a series of edicts inscribed on the rocks, (2) a number of tumuli or stupas, (3) certain monolithic pillars, (4) several monolithic accessories to shrines, (5) the remains of a vast palace, and (6) a group of rock-cut chambers. Among these productions that more directly affected the course of the art of building were the stupas on account of their structural significance, the monolithic pillars in view of their artistic qualities, the rock-cut chambers because of their technique, and the palace for its architectural associations.

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The order in which these manifestations took form, and the manner of their execution may be explained. Possessed of great ideals, as Asoka's policy throughout plainly indicates, one of this ruler's most earnest desires appears to have been to institute a permanent record of the establishment of the Buddhist faith within his now widely-spread dominions. A craving for a symbol of stability occurs in the early evolution of most nations, a need for some "substantial link which holds them to the soil" and is a stage in the development of racial self-consciousness. As a case in point the Pharoahs realised this when in their inscriptions they boasted of having erected "everlasting stone monuments," in honour of the gods. Some such reflection no doubt inspired the Emperor Asoka when as a beginning he carved his famous edicts on the living rocks, proclaiming as they do, in plain terms that his efforts should result in the "long endurance of the Good Law." These inscriptions, although many have survived, were not, however, sufficiently striking to suit his purpose; what was evidently in his progressive mind was the creation of a memorial of such a permanent nature that it would outlast time itself. With this in view he caused to be raised in many parts of his empire circular tumuli of brick, sacred mounds commemorative of the Buddha. These "stupas", as they have been called, from the Prakrit word *thupa*, were not unknown in India before this date, but their shape, like that of the pyramid, implies durability.

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As the stupa from the nature of its structure was subject to disintegration owing to the rigours of the climate, it became necessary for the Mauryan Emperor to seek for some still more lasting method of achieving his purpose. Aware no doubt that other nations were using stone, he began therefore to "think in stone," and in the course of time an impressive monument symbolizing the creed was devised in the form of a pillar, a lofty free-standing monolithic column, erected on a site especially selected on account of its sacred associations. A number of these Asokan pillars were distributed over a wide area and a few bear ordinances inscribed in a manner similar to the edicts on the surfaces of the rocks. The effect of such columns, some of them as much as fifty feet in height, each carrying above its capital a magnificent Buddhist emblem, on the minds of a people hitherto living in a somewhat restricted wooden building tradition was no doubt very great. But these remarkable monuments were by no means the only sculptured stone objects wrought in this manner. With them were other monolithic productions, such as railings, stupa finials in the form of umbrellas, lion thrones, colossal figures, and the pillars of an immense hypostyle hall in the royal palace at Pataliputra, all of which show that the stonework of the Asokan school was of a highly diversified order. Added to these objects of a mobile character was another and more static development of the stone cutter's art in the form of a group of sanctuaries excavated in the rocks of the Barabar hills near Gaya in Bihar, obviously the work of the same skilled hands But, whatever form it took one unique quality marks all the stone productions of the Asokan period, one technical characteristic which is never omitted so that even a small fragment may be immediately identified, is the high lustrous polish resembling a fine enamel with which the surfaces, even of the rock-cut chambers, were invariably treated.

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Finding expression from wood in another and more lasting material such as dressed-stone is a decisive step in the cultural evolution of a people. But the manner in which this step was taken under Asoka's direction, and the results it produced are both of more than ordinary significance. Appearing as these sculptured forms do, fully matured, at a time when Indian art was still in its infancy, and without any previous preparation, is a phenomenon which needs some explanation. The stones themselves provide the answer. The unerring precision with which they were worked and chiselled show that those who quarried and carved them were no novices at their craft, as would have been Indian artificers, but had generations of experience behind them. The shapes and decorative forms employed are few of them indigenous, but on the other hand are obviously derived from the art repertory of another and more advanced people. Such exotic forms are not difficult to identify as some of them are clearly of Greek, others of Persian and a few perhaps of Egyptian extraction. This development of the art of working in stone, therefore, which Asoka introduced into the country represents an Indian offshoot of that forceful Graeco-Persian culture which flourished with such vigour in Western Asia some centuries before the Christian era.

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At this juncture a brief reference to the source of the culture from which Asoka drew his inspiration seems indicated. From *c* 500 B C. and the ensuing 170 years the pulse of Asiatic culture throbbed in what was then the fertile land of Persia, and as a result there developed in the capital cities of that great empire, the nearest to India, a classical art school composed of Pharoic-Hellenic-Iranian elements of a distinctly effective character. This school was probably partially dispersed by Alexander's conquest of Persia together with the downfall of the Achaemenid dynasty in 330 B.C., but the unsettled period which then ensued was rapidly followed by the extension of the Macedonian empire in the east by means of Greek colonies, such as that of Bactria, which brought the full force of Hellenism to the very borders of Mauryan India. What actually happened to the exponents of the original Achaemenid school under such conditions can only be a matter of conjecture but that they and their successors continued to flourish under the intelligent patronage of the Asiatic Greeks, producing works with still more marked Hellenistic features cannot be doubted It was at this stage of the movement that the Indian emperor Asoka conceived the project of erecting his imperishable and symbolic monuments to the Buddhist faith, and instinctively turned to the descendants of the workmen who had already shown such proficiency in their construction of the stately palaces of the Persian kings

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To attain his object the Mauryan monarch adopted the common practice of royal art patrons, and brought into his service a group of experienced foreign artists of a sufficiently adaptable nature to put into effect his progressive ideas. Historical instances of such a procedure are numerous, but some of those which account for the particular character of the Achaemenid art of Eastern Persia and in the course of time of that of the Asokan school, have a direct bearing on the style which afterwards appeared in Buddhist India For instance in the production of their magnificent palaces at Persepolis and Susa, the Persian kings made use of talent drawn from the leading art schools of the then known world Even without the recorded statement of Diodorus that Egyptian artists worked on these buildings, such attributions as the winged globe and the cavetto cornice are proofs of their employment in this enterprise. Side by side with the skilled craftsman from the Nile were stone carvers from Lonia¹ noted for the fineness of their workmanship and minuteness of detail, evidences of which may be recognised in the high quality of the reliefs on the palace walls. Masons' marks from the Greek alphabet on the Hall of a Thousand Columns which forms such an important part of the Persian palace indicate that artificers from Hellas took their share in the construction, while in the realm of the fine arts there is the testimony of Pliny (xxxiv, 68) that the Greek sculptor Telephanes of Phocaea was attached to the courts of both Darius and Xerxes.

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¹ H Brunn, Griechische Kunstgeschichte (Munich 1893-97)

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In these circumstances it is not difficult to account for the form and character that the giant pillar and the other lithic productions of the Asokan period assumed. From the columned halls reared under the orders of the Achaemenid kings, from their sculptured reliefs and their inscriptions on the rocks as at Behistun, the Indian monarch obtained some of his inspiration, and from the ranks of those who produced them he secured the skilled artificers to aid him in his projects. In short it may be presumed with some degree of certainty that, attracted by the emperor's assured patronage, there was eventually gathered in a quarry workshop near Chunar in Bihar a small group of imported workmen trained in the Graeco-Persian traditions and engaged to collaborate with a number of selected Indian craftsmen to fashion these the first dressed stone objects to be produced on Indian soil.

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Of the achievements of this composite school established by Asoka, the free-standing pillars are unquestionably the most notable. Originally there appear to have been about thirty of these monoliths, of which the remains of some ten are in existence. Two of them, with lion capitals, are still standing in situ, and in fairly good condition, one at Kolhua (Bakhra) and the other at Laurya Nandangarh, both in the Champaran district of Bihar. Of the remainder, those of which the capitals have survived are now preserved in the Indian Museum. In selecting an appropriate standpoint for the pillars, several appear to have been erected on sites sanctified by the Buddha, while others marked the course of a Pilgrim's Way to the holy places. The line of pillars in the Champaran and Muzaffarpur districts—at Rampurva, Laurya Araraj, Laurya Nandangarh, and Kolhua were evidently placed at intervals along the ancient royal route from Pataliputra to the sacred land of Buddhism on the borders of Nepal. It is possible that the one at Sanchi belonged to a series which lay on a more western line of approach. In no instance do the pillars appear merely as Fig 1 Lomas Rishi, facade

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Fig 2

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Fig. 3

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Fig 1

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Fig 2 Sudama Rock-cut imitation of planking in interior

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Fig 3 Sudama Rock-cut eave of interior

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Barabar Hills, Bihar Rock-cut Cells, 3rd cent B C

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[Figure: TYPES OF EARLY CAPITALS KARNAK EGYPT MAURYAN CAPITAL 250 B C. PERSEPOLIS PERSIA ASOKA PILLAR C 250 B C. KABUL, AFGANISTAN 415 A.D. IRON PILLAR, DELHI BESNAGAR 150 B C. SANCHI 425 A D. TIGAWA 450 A D. UDAIGIRI 400 A.D. CARVED BAND ON ABACUS, ASOKAN PILLAR CIR 250 BC ALLAHABAD]

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accordance with the most approved classical models, but any deviation from the original pattern is no doubt due to their long journey from the Aegean starting point.)

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isolated monuments, as in the vicinity of each of them are the remains of stūpas and other buildings showing that they formed part of the structural accompaniments of an extensive Buddhist settlement. Each pillar consisted of a plain unornamented shaft, circular in section, from thirty to forty feet in height, and arising straight out of the ground without any suggestion of a base, tapering like the trunk of a tall palm tree. At the top of this shaft which is two feet in diameter is a campaniform capital its abacus acting as a support for a large sculptured Buddhist symbol, the whole combination attaining a height of nearly fifty feet. Apart from their Buddhistic significance the Asokan pillars are expressive of a very ancient and widespread belief, and were in the first instance inspired by man worshipping among the groves and great trees of the forest. A suggestion of this tree worship may be seen on the bas-reliefs of the Barhut railing (cir. 150 B.C.) where tall palm trees reminiscent of pillars are conventionally placed at the sides of some of the scenes, while about the same date are the devotional columns with palm leaf capitals at Videsa (Besnagar). With the reverence for trees came a veneration for huge stones and boulders, the sacred and mystical character given them being but a prelude to shaping them into upright forms. Columns were gods in early days and the forerunner of the temple, "and this stone which I have set up for a pillar shall be God's house" (Gen. 28, v. 22.)

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It is however in the massive Buddhist composition poised above the abacus that the greatest imagination has been shown, and symbolism utilized to its utmost extent. Most of the superstructures consist of figures of animals, each of which has a mythological meaning. Together they symbolise the four quarters of the universe, the elephant being the guardian of the east, the horse of the south, the bull, as at Rampurva, of the west, and the lion, as in the Nandangarh example, of the north. All four animals are carved in relief on the abacus at Sarnath, by far the finest of the entire group, evidently signifying that, although this pillar was primarily associated with the north by its position and the conventional group of lions above, it was also intended to commemorate by the addition of the great wheel which these beasts support, the proclamation of the Good Law of the Church of the Four Quarters.¹ Such were the Buddhist interpretations, but not a little of this animal symbolism was drawn, in the first instance, from Vedic sources. The Rig Veda gives the place of honour among all wild beasts to the lion, which roamed the jungles of India until comparatively recent times, while a swift or galloping horse represented the sun, and the bull Dyaus or Indra the sky-god, all of which are illustrated on the abacus of the Sarnath capital. From this and other evidences it is clear that much of the primitive Buddhist symbolism as expressed in its art was a continuation of the Vedic mythology, (Plate VII).

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¹ V. Smith, *History of Fine Art in India*, p. 60.

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(The aesthetic properties of the pillars are concentrated in the design and execution of the capitals and superstructure. These portions of the monuments which together average seven feet in height are in one piece of stone, while the shaft of the column consists of another separate piece, the two being joined by a copper bolt accurately fitted into the tenons made for it without the use of cement. The bolt in one of the Rampurva pillars has been preserved, and is a barrel-shaped piece of metal over two feet in length, showing that those who employed this copper dowel were quite aware of the destructive action of iron and other metals in such circumstances. The capitals themselves, which are some three feet in diameter, are campaniform in shape consisting of a series of fluted petals elongated and which, falling together, take the form of a bell. In most instances the capitals are cut to one specified pattern, the exception being that at Nandangarh, which appears slightly stunted in its proportions, while the abacus and other features are somewhat different, so that it is possible this particular example was an early and experimental effort. There may be some symbolic connexion between the campaniform capital and the bell (*ghanta*), as this in a conventional form, was used early in Indian decoration, and it also figures prominently in the temple ritual. But the boldly marked fluting the section of which is unmistakable, has an undoubted foreign origin, exactly similar fluting being not uncommon on Persian and Greek pillars, as may be seen on the bases of those at the palace of Artaxerxes II (B.C. 404-358) at Susa, and on the capitals of the Ionic temples of Apollo at Naukratis and Diana at Ephesus, both of which were built about 560 B.C. Above the Asokan capital is a circular abacus having its broad edge carved with ornamental borders of a special character. On some of these are repetitions of Buddhist emblems, as for example the goose (*hamsa*), but on others, as in the case of the bull capital at Rampurva, there are such well-known conventional motifs as the honeysuckle and palmette, the bead and fillet, and the cable moulding, each one of direct Hellenic extraction. These motifs may not be in exact

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As works of art the Asokan pillars hold a high place. (They are boldly designed, finely proportioned, and well-balanced conceptions, fulfilling admirably the purpose for which they were intended.) This purpose was solely monumental, as they are free-standing pillars, not part of an architectural composition, an object which has been kept in view throughout. The animals, which are the main features in the scheme, are noble conventional representations, spirited yet dignified, ideal examples of their kind. Few works of this nature could be more arresting than the broad sculptural treatment of the bull on the column from Rampurva, a superb creation, simply and truthfully rendered. Even this excellent specimen, however, has its equal in the group of four addorsed lions surmounting the Sarnath capital, who unfortunately lose some of their effect by being deprived of the massive wheel of metal they were meant to support, that "Wheel of Order" which the Rig Veda tells us "rolls around the Heavens": but the pose of their limbs and the tense muscular anatomy are the work of an accomplished hand. These lions are manifestly a Hellenic attribution, their masks (originally provided with metal eyes) and flowing manes recalling the lion-headed spouts on Greek and also Roman buildings, (Plate VII, Fig. 2.) For the quality of the workmanship in their production there can be nothing but praise, the bold contours of the figures in the round, the subtle modelling of the relief, and the unerring confidence of the chiselling being remarkable.

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(In sharing the credit for these masterpieces, it is felt that the symbolism and imagination, their spiritual message so to speak, was supplied by the Indian mind while most of the technical skill, together with certain decorative elements, were the work of the imported craftsmen. But the brilliant polish which gives such a finality to the work was the result of Indian thought and labour, as there is evidence of an indigenous aptitude in this aspect of the stone-cutters' art. As a proof, few objects could be more delicately wrought or highly polished than the crystal reliquary¹ from the Piprahwa stupa, which has been assigned to this epoch, and was the handiwork of a *pasana-kottaka* or hereditary stone-cutter. The lustrous finish of the crystal was obtained by the laborious application of an agate burnisher, and somewhat the same process was adopted in the pillars and other sandstone objects. In completing their handiwork with this glazed effect the Asokan artificers were following the procedure of all early stone-workers, as the aim for instance of the 12th dynasty Egyptian masons was a "glassy surface," while the ideal stonework of the Greeks is described in the Homeric poems as "polished shining-glistening." It is doubtful, however, whether the creations of any of these great building nations could compare in this particular respect with the brilliant enamel-like finish obtained by the Mauryan craftsmen. So striking is its appearance that in the fifth century it excited the admiration of that observant Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien, accustomed as he must have been to the famous polished lapidary of his own countrymen, for he writes that it was "shining bright as glass." And even inspite of over two thousand years of the most destructive climatic conditions these monuments retain much of their highly glazed surface at the present day.

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¹ Indian Museum, Calcutta.

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The efforts of the Asokan sculptors were not, however, directed entirely to the production of religious monuments, as these craftsmen were also employed in the preparation of some of the most important parts of the Mauryan emperor's palace. This appears to have been a very remarkable conception so much so that it had the legendary reputation of being not the work of man but having been magically raised by Yakshas or supernatural beings. As late as the visit of Fa-hien this traveller was so impressed that he states it was "made by spirits who piled up the stones, reared the walls and gates, and executed the elegant carving and inlaid sculpture work in a way which no human hands of this world could accomplish" Shortly after the pilgrim's visit, having been in existence for over six hundred years it seems to have been almost entirely destroyed by fire, so that the only material records of its design and character have been obtained by excavation, where in the silt of Kumrahar, a site to the south of the present city of Patna, its ashes have remained for fifteen hundred years From these investigations the palace appears to have been an aggregation of structures enclosed within a high brick wall, the most important of which was an immense pillared hall in three stories on a high stylobate and covering a square of two hundred and fifty feet side. The columns which supported the roof were probably in rows of fifteen with fifteen pillars in each row, set at distances of fifteen feet from each other, centre to centre, making a total of two hundred and twenty-five pillars in all. The ceiling of one of the stories may have been supported by colossal stone caryatid figures as traces of these have been discovered within the bays formed by the pillars. Little more than fragments remain of the stonework used in the palace but the polish on most of them indicates that a good deal of this was used in its construction, and for a variety of purposes It is fairly certain that all the pillars of the hypostyle hall were of stone as the numerous broken portions testify, while one example has been discovered almost complete, a highly polished cylindrical shaft tapering like a pine trunk some twenty inches in diameter at its base, and when entire about twenty feet in height without any signs of a base or capital. On this pillar was inscribed a mason's-mark similar in many respects to a symbol used in the rock-carving at Behistun in Persia. The wide intercolumniation of the pillars shows that they must have supported wooden beams and in fact much of the building appears to have consisted of wood, hence its destruction by fire

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From these remains it has been deduced that the arrangements of Asoka's palace at Pataliputra were inspired to some extent by those of the Achaemenids and that the grouping of the buildings within a walled enclosure corresponds in some respects to the complex of palaces at Persepolis, the pillared hall being in close agreement with the Hall of a Hundred Columns built by Xerxes. The mason's mark on the pillar seems to confirm the fact that Persians or Medes were employed in some of the work, and that the idea of the colossal supporting figures, or atlantes, bears some relation to the bas-reliefs representing figures supporting upper stories on their upraised arms in the tomb of Darius at Nakshi-i Rustam and the Throne Room at Persepolis Although only a few pieces of figures presumed to be atlantean have been recovered at Pataliputra, that the Mauryan craftsmen knew how to produce statues of heroic size is proved by several of these having been found in various parts of the country, including two large and sculpturesque Yakshas or *chauri* (fly-whisk) bearers excavated near Patna. It was probably figures of this kind that supported the wooden roof of Asoka's palace, for one of the upright bars of the Barhut gateway, executed at a slightly later date, displays a small model of a figure-pillar which has every appearance of having been copied from some traditional type. Atlantes and caryatid supports, as for instance the dwarf capital on the Sanchi gateway, and the pillar of the *chankrama* or sacred promenade at Budh Gaya, besides many later examples, all show that pillars of a similar nature were a favourite architectural device with the Indian builder. As to the facade of Asoka's palace some idea of this may be gained from a carved stone in the Mathura Museum, possibly dating from the first century A D. It depicts the frontage of an important building in two or more stories, each storey formed of a continuous arcade of horse-shoe archways with bays between. Each bay contains a hanging balcony supported on a pillar and the central doorway of the whole is evidently part of a large projecting portico.

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Differing widely in intention from the foregoing, but, as the technical treatment of the carving and the enamel-like polish of all the surfaces testifies, evidently belonging to the same school, are the rock-cut sanctuaries in the hills about nineteen miles north of Gaya In all there are seven of these chambers, four on the Barabar hill and three on the Nagarjuni hill half a mile north-east. In addition there is another example called the Sitamarhi situated some thirteen miles south of Rajgriha and twenty-five miles east of Gaya The two first-named groups have been quarried with infinite labour out of the large boulder-like masses of quartzose gneiss which form this range, a site evidently selected as an ideal retreat amidst pleasant, although wild surroundings They contain several inscriptions from which it is seen that they were prepared to the order of the Emperor Asoka for the use of certain Ajivika ascetics, followers of a sect which was not Buddhistic but related to the Jaina religion These chambers have two special interests as on the one hand they are the earliest examples in India of the rock-cut method, and on the other some of them are exact copies in the rock of existing structures in wood and thatch. On Plate VIII the interiors of some of the cells have been extracted so to speak, from their rock-bed and reconstructed in order to illustrate the kind of building they were supposed to imitate. The two most notable, the Lomas Rishi and the Sudama have been cut adjacent to one another on the Barabar hill, and their interiors are very similar, while the former is exceptional as it is the only one which has an ornamental facade. From the sectional drawing of the Sudama (Figs. 1 & 2) the interior arrangements may be understood. The doorways, notable for their sloping jambs, of both Sudama and Lomas Rishi are in the long side of the chamber, clearly an expedient due to the configuration of the whale-backed hill which prevented the excavation being made axially. Inside is a barrel-vaulted hall 32 ft. 9 ins by 19 ft. 6 ins. and 12 ft. 3 ins. in height. At the end of the ante-chamber and entered by a central interior doorway is a separate circular cell 19 ft in diameter with a hemispherical domed roof 12 ft. 3 ins. high at its centre. Exteriorly this cell has an overhanging eave like a thatch and, most singular of all, its walls have irregular perpendicular grooves in imitation of upright battens of wood or bamboo. In a word it is an exact lithic copy of a beehive hut, and almost every part of the surface has been burnished until it resembles glass.

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Remarkable though these interiors are, the facade which surrounds the doorway of Lomas Rishi is the *chef-d'oeuvre* of the group, as it is an accurate reproduction of the gable end of a wooden structure chiselled in the rock-face (Plate IX, Fig. 1). The stone-cutter has copied in every detail the handiwork of the carpenter. Two stout uprights inclined slightly inward and some 13 ft. in height form the main support while into the upper ends of these are jointed the two principal rafters, other subsidiary rafters lying parallel. On the rafters is fixed the curved roof composed of three laminated planks, the lower extremities of which are kept in place by short tie-rods, circular in section and obviously turned on a lathe. The doorway, some 7½ feet high, is recessed within a semi-circular archway above which are two lunettes forming a kind of fanlight. In the lower lunette is carved a procession of elephants, while the upper is filled with a diaper pattern of lattice-work both designs evidently being copies of perforated wood. The elephants are exquisitely modelled, and are performing an obeisance before stupas which are introduced into the lunette as solid supports to the openwork. Surmounting the gable is a finial which by its shape is derived from a terra cotta original; every detail of the facade is sharply chiselled and each part still retains its high polish, the whole except for a few fractures looking as if it had been cut but yesterday.

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Of the remaining examples of the group, that now called the *Gopi* or Milk-maid's cave on the Nagarjuna hill is the largest. It is a plain tunnel-like excavation rounded in plan at each end, measuring 44 ft. long by 19 ft. wide and it is 10 ft. high to the apex of its vaulted roof. Over the doorway is an inscription stating that it was excavated to the order of the emperor Dasaratha on his accession to the Mauryan throne. This and two other inscriptions elsewhere are evidence that the school established by Asoka was still in existence at the time of his grandson towards the end of the third century B C. but after then it appears to have abruptly ceased. Extending over a period of less than fifty years, this movement had no growth and no decline, so that it emerges not so much as a school but as an outstanding episode in the early history of Indian art. One and all of its productions are of surpassing interest, and some of them are of a significance which has been rarely excelled. It also had far-reaching implications as some of its motifs and forms of expression are to be seen wherever Buddhism found a foothold. For instance the bell-shaped capital of the monolithic pillars was frequently reproduced under varying conditions but always identifiable as of the "Persepolitan" order. It was, however, the excavated chapels that were destined to have the most remarkable effect as the examples in Bihar were the beginnings of that magnificent development of rock-architecture which has no equal in any other country. But even more potential than these material manifestations was the factor of technique, for it put a new power into the hands of the Indian artizans, teaching them how to win stone from the quarry, how to dress and chisel it, and even to apply it to building construction in the form of pillars. But there, strangely enough, it ended. Of the working and setting of stones, of joining them in courses, in a word of the art of stone masonry it conveyed nothing The country was apparently not yet prepared for such an innovation. Building in wood had been so perfected that the Indian workman saw no reason for a change. Evolution does not always proceed by imperceptible gradations but sometimes advances according to a kind of cultural quantum theory, progress being restrained by the very excellence of previous experience. Some circumstance of a like nature may account for the tardy appearance of stone construction in the building art of India

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Such an expressive architectural feature as the capital appearing in so significant a form as that devised by Asoka, brings into view the various patterns of capital which figure in the building art of this and the subsequent period. A series of examples is illustrated in Plate X having been selected to show certain sources, influences and affinities connected with the Mauryan types.

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In the upper compartment of Plate XI an attempt has been made by means of diagrams to explain the origin of a motif appearing in a variety of forms, and with marked persistence in all the earlier developments of Indian architecture. This shape, which owing to its fluted treatment is unmistakable, in most frequently found in the capital, but it also occupies a prominent place as a finial, as well as a decorative element repeated in the quoins of the *sikharas*, or spires, of the later temples. It is a melon-shaped feature ordinarily referred to as the *amalaka*, and popularly supposed to be derived from a common fruit of that name, otherwise known as the *emblic myrobalan*. There is more probability however, that it has reference to the *amalasila* or "pure stone", an object which appears early in Indian art, and is of very remote origin. This again brings it into association with the ring or "cogged" stone, those mystical perforated stones which are found among the remains of many primitive people, while its connection with the *norbu* or "precious jewel" in the Lamaism of Tibet is also clear. That it is a relic of some sacred and very ancient ritual is shown by the fact that it is usually represented enshrined in a specially shaped casket. The difficulty experienced by the sculptor in expressing the presence of the precious symbol in the casket was overcome in two ways, by placing it above the receptacle as in the illustration from Besnagar (Fig. 4), or depicting it within a box reduced to a mere framework as at Bedsa (Fig. 3 and 5). Later, the fluted treatment of this motif may be identified in many architectural features of the *chaitya*, *vihara*, and temple, and it is not unlikely that, blended with the fluted bell-shape, it eventually emerged as the *kalasa* or vase of the Gupta period, as at Udaigiri and Tigawa (Plate X). But there are few elements in early Indian architecture which have more remote, sacred, or mystical origins than the *amalaka*.

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the Tulja Lena group at Junnar (Fergusson, History of Indian Architecture, Vol I p. 158). Plate VI shows a conjectural reconstruction, from the existing remains, illustrating this significant early phase in the evolution of the Buddhist Chaitya hall ¹

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¹ Daya Ram Sahni *Archaeological Remains and Excavations at Bairat*, Jaipur State 1937

Rock-Cut Cells in Bihar

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Additional light has been thrown on the early form of the stupa hall by the excavations carried out at the ancient site of Bairat in Jaipur State. Here have been discovered the remains of a Buddhist temple, not rock-cut, but constructed of brick and wood, probably the only one of its kind so far unearthed. Of its early date there can be little doubt, as relics of a typical Asokan character were found in its vicinity, so that it is presumed to have been erected about B C. 250 Circular in plan and formed of panels made of large wedge-shape bricks it is contained within a peripteral range of twenty-six octagonal wooden pillars Around is a circumambulatory path with a wide entrance on the east leading to the stupa in the interior. That the primitive stupa hall was probably a circular cell has already been referred to, illustrations of which are shown in Plate VIII, and there is actually a rock-cut example of the first century B.C in

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REFERENCES

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Cunningham, A *The Ancient Geography of India Buddhist Period*. London, 1871 Foucher, A *The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and other Essays* Paris and London, 1917 Longhurst, A H *The Story of the Stupa* Colombo, 1936 Smith, Vincent A. *Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India* Oxford, 1909

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① ② ③ ④ ⑤ ⑥ ⑦ ⑧ ⑨ ⑩ ⑪ EVOLUTION OF DRAVIDIAN CAPITAL ⑦ KARLI 150 BC ⑧ LADH KHAN, AIHOLE 5TH CENT A D. ⑨ MAMALLAPURAM 7TH CENT. ⑩ KAILASA 9TH CENT ⑪ KORVANGULA EARLY 10TH CENT. ⑫ PLAN OF DUMBAL TEMPLE OF DODABASAVANNA 12TH CENT STELLATE PLAN SCALE OF FEET

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[Figure: DIAGRAM OF GREAT STUPA AT SANCHI B.C. AND A.D. PLAN UMBRELLA STICK (CHHATRAYASHTI) TRIPLE UMBRELLA (CHHATRAVALI) WHEEL (CHAKRA) LION PILLAR (SINHA STAMBHA) (CIR. 250 B C) GATEWAY (TORANA) (CIR 50 B C) HARMIKA ANDA OR EGG (STONE CASING 150 B C) BERM COPING (USHNISHA) STAIRWAY (SOPANA) RAILING (VEDIKA) (150 B C) CROSS BAR (SUCHI) UPRIGHT (THABHA) INSIDE RAILING IS PROCESSIONAL PATH (PRADAKSHINA PATHA) 1]

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[Figure: CONJECTURAL RESTORATION OF TEMPLE NO 18 AT SANCHI CIR 650 A.D.

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Fig 1. Barabar Hills, Bihar Lomas Rishi (c 250 B.C )

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Fig 2 Budh Gaya Railing (c 75 BC)

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Fig 3 Barhut Stupa Upper part of Gateway (c 150 BC)

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Fig 4 Budh Gaya • Architectural details on Railing Pillar (c 1st Cent AD)

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VARIOUS FORMS OF STUPA

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[Figure: ① MANIKYĀLĀ, PUNJAB c. 2ND CENT A D ② SĀNCHĪ 1ST CENT B C. ③ AMARĀVATĪ, C 3RD CENT A D ④ KĀRLĪ C 2ND CENT BC ⑤ AJANTA c 6TH CENT A D. ⑥ MĪRPUR-KHĀS, SIND c 6TH CENT ⑦ TOP-DARRA, SWAT, N W FRONTIER ? 2ND CENT. A.D. ⑧ SĀRNĀTH (RESTORED) 6TH CENT A D ⑨ THUPARAMA AT ANURADHAPURA, CEYLON c 240 B.C. ⑩ BOROBUDUR, JAVA c 700 A D ⑪ BODHNATH, NEPAL ⑫ CHORTEN, TIBET ⑬ SHWESANDAW, PAGAN, BURMA c 12TH/13TH CENT ⑭ CHA HENG, NAN, SIAM c 14TH CENT]

Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c10: Chapter III: Asoka, and the Beginnings of the Buddhist School (cir. B.C. 250)

Contents

Chapter III: Asoka, and the Beginnings of the Buddhist School (cir. B.C. 250)

Rock-Cut Cells in Bihar

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