Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c16.30

c16.30

From the bare mounds which for centuries have covered up the remains of these shattered structures, it is a relief to turn to the well-preserved shrine of Budh Gaya, the sole living example of the style. Yet, paradoxically, the very preservation of this monument has been its ruin, for so heartlessly and unintelligently has it been restored, that it now gives but a poor idea of its architectural character as originally designed. Fortunately there are a few records, illustrating it before it was altered, so that it is possible theoretically to restore it to something like its previous appearance. This material comprises a "scaling", and a few small ancient replicas, which show it as a building very different from its present reconstruction. Taking the general formation of the building it now consists of a high and broad terrace, or plinth, of 50 feet wide and some 20 feet high, on which rises a lofty pyramidal tower, square in section, and its summit about 180 feet from the ground. At each corner of the terrace is a turret, a copy to a smaller scale of the central tower, so that, as a whole, the composition corresponds to a panchayatana or five-shrined temple of the Hindus. Such is the existing appearance of the monument. (Plate XXXVIII, Fig. 1) On the other hand while the sealing and the models depict it as a tower not dissimilar in proportions, they represent it as distinctly different in its architectural treatment. For instance there are no smaller corner turrets, which were evidently introduced by the Burmese Buddhists through whose interest it was extensively rebuilt as early as the 14th century. Moreover the front of the building on the eastern side, (as according to legend the Buddha sat under the Bodh tree facing the rising sun) shows a commodious arched recess, apparently trefoil in shape, enshrining a large figure of the Buddha, seated in the preaching attitude. Approach to the image was obtained by means of a tall flight of steps, and the entire conception was enclosed by a railing entered also from the east through a torana gateway. Within the courtyard formed by the railing an Asokan lion pillar may be seen, and on each side stands a colossal statue recalling the two Asokan Yaksha figures from Patna, now in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. Outside the enclosure, on the north, there appears a monastery, while the area on the south is occupied by groves of trees, also another torana gateway, with numerous other details not possible to identify. (Plate XL, Fig 8)