Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c15.7

c15.7

The principal remains consist of a large number of monolithic stupas, a series of rock-cut chambers, and the foundations of an extensive structural monastic building. The stupas, of various sizes, are mostly carved out of the out-cropping rock, and are nearly all hemispherical in shape standing on cylindrical drums, their proportions being similar to those in the early Hinayana chaitya halls of the Western Ghats, some of which may therefore be anterior to the Christian era Standing on the summit of the eastern hill, the main establishment at Sankaram comprises a large rock-cut stupa on a square base, with the ruins of a capacious rectangular complex in axial relation to it. The latter was a monastery, with the monks' cells arranged round a large quadrangle, its interior measuring 150 feet by 70 feet, within which were symmetrically disposed three apsidal buildings, evidently chaitya halls. Some of the monolithic stupas here are the largest of their kind, the main one in the front of the monastery, at its circular base being 65 feet in diameter, but its upper part has been demolished. Although there are indications of an early foundation on this site, it seems clear that its most flourishing state was during the Mahayana period, (from c. A.D. 450) as the character of the few surviving pieces of sculpture denotes. There is the quality of coherence in the planning of this part of the scheme, with its well-proportioned monastic buildings confronting the great stupa, but the workmanship itself is on the whole crude and unskilled. The remains at Guntupalle, and also those on the Sankaram Hills, are remarkable more for their antiquarian interest than for their artistic or architectural values