Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c11.4

c11.4

Of the many places in his dominions that the Mauryan Emperor had consecrated by the erection of stupas, a certain number from various causes had been invested with special sanctity and importance. Although the imposing monolithic pillars raised in the vicinity of several of these shrines their sacred character was appreciably augmented, it was to the stupa, as the symbol of the Buddha, that the pious pilgrims paid their most fervent devotions. At this early date it is fairly clear that these tumuli of brick, endowed as they were with great spiritual significance, were in appearance somewhat uninspiring. They consisted of a masonry hemisphere some 70 feet in diameter and about 35 feet high, solidly constructed of large unburnt bricks each of which averaged the large size of 16 ins. x 10 ins. x 3 ins. In the centre of this domical mound or *anda* (egg) a small space was usually left for a receptacle containing a relic of the Buddha and on the summit as a mark of dignity was raised a wooden parasol (*chhattrayashli*). This honorific umbrella was in some instances, as in the stupas at Sarnath and Sanchi, made of polished stone fashioned by the sculptors of the Asokan School, as fragments of these have been preserved. The brickwork surface of the dome was finished off with a thick layer of plaster, in which at intervals recesses were left for the reception of small lamps to be lit on festival occasions. Over all a certain amount of colour and gilding was applied, and it was also the custom to furnish them with festoons of flowers and drapery together with banners and flags. As the Buddhist ritual consisted of circumambulating the stupa, a processional passage (*pradakshina patha*) was provided by enclosing the monument within a wooden railing (*vedica*) leaving a space for promenading with an entrance at each of the cardinal points. At least one of these stupas, very much in the state described above, still survives, appearing as a rough white-washed mound rather incongruously set amidst an aggregation of later and more finished artistic accessories. Such is that at the shrine of Shwayambhu Nath in Nepal, which has been continuously worshipped for over two thousand years.