Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c10.s1.2

c10.s1.2

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