Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c12.46

c12.46

There remains only one other Hinayana chaitya hall, that at Kanheri, which is in a class by itself, as it was the last of this type to have been produced, having been excavated, according to inscriptional evidence, as late as 180 A.D. Up a slight incline, and surrounded by pretty woodland scenery, through which meander and murmur shallow streams, this monastic retreat must have provided a pleasant haven for meditation and seclusion. In its style of architecture the chaitya hall, is, in effect, a decadent copy of that at Karli, but only about two-thirds its size. Its history is plainly observable from the sculpture on the facade. First cut out of the rock in the second century A.D., it was probably never completed, but none the less it was in use by the Hinayana brotherhood for some time. Then, as with others prepared for a similar purpose, on the decline of the creed, it fell into disuse for several centuries On the revival of the Buddhist religion in its Mahayana form about the fifth century A.D., it was again taken over and occupied by the monks, its exterior, by means of additional sculpture, being made suitable for the theistic ritual then prevailing. Some of the sculptured forms, subsequently introduced, are now the most striking part of the composition, as apart from certain smaller figures on the facade, the result of the same movement, at each end of the vestibule there is a colossal statue of the Buddha over twenty-five feet high. Only the exterior of this chaitya hall is affected by later impositions, the interior remaining as originally designed.