Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c16.23

c16.23

of opposing creeds. Such monastic strongholds were not unusual in several countries, a classical instance being that of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai built by Justinian in 530 A. D. the ramparts and embrasures with which it was provided belying its otherwise peaceful intention. Precautions of a similar kind were also necessary in the Buddhist monasteries of India, as the ruling power was ordinarily Brahmanical, and where moreover, in spite of their considerable following, the Buddhists were a minority community during most of their history The militant character of these ecclesiastical foundations was reproduced later in the Lamaseries of Tibet, several of which, such as that at Gyantse with its fortified walls and guarded gate-house, were evidently part of the same movement as that which produced the enclosed monastic sanctuaries of Bihar. In a like manner were prepared the temple-cities of the Jains on the western side of India, with their battlemented walls and formidable bastions, while the same apprehension existed to a lesser degree among the Brahmins, as some of the great walled temples in Southern India plainly testify. But an excellent example is the temple of Jagannath at Puri, with its outer and inner walls and guarded gateway. Except that it has no monastic establishment, a system which has no counterpart in Hinduism, Puri resembles in some of its main aspects the Buddhist sanctuaries of the early mediaeval period now being described, as it consists of a spacious sacred enclosure containing shrines and temples, around which has gradually grown up a large town to minister to its needs.