Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c16.49

c16.49

At Sarnath, near Benares, there is the Dhamek Stupa built with a substantial core of brick, but faced with a very solid "envelope" (achchaday) of stone masonry, which however is manifestly a later addition, a stupendous piece of work left unfinished but a reconstruction has been attempted on Plate XL, Fig. 7. What makes this ruined and rather shapeless monument of special interest is the unusual scheme for the decorative treatment of the stone facing, which includes ornamental elements some having significant implications. The remains of these are on the lower story of the structure—it may have been the intention to decorate in a somewhat similar manner the entire surface of the upper domical portion but this is too damaged to determine—and from the character of the stone carving it obviously dates from the early Gupta period, cir. A D. 350 This lower circular story is divided into compartments by eight projections, in outline curiously resembling the tapering tower or "*Sikhara*," the principal architectural feature of the Hindu temple style which followed, with an arched niche recessed in the centre of each to contain a statue of the Buddha seated in one of the eight conventional attitudes on a low moulded throne. Over some of the surfaces surrounding this scheme a diaper pattern carved in floral scrolls appears to have been contemplated a very rich and elegant idea. But the most original and striking designs are those forming a wide border carried around its lower circuit, one of which is floral and the other geometrical, each expressive of its own historical traditions. The floral one a spiral motif, typically Gupta in style is a combination of flowing wave-like curves simulating flower stems supporting at intervals a many-petalled sunflower medallion, an artistic conception of notable beauty and grace. Apart however from its intrinsic elegance it stands forth as the archetype of that distinctive border of spiral curves and foliated medallions which adorns the "screen of arches" forming the facade of the Qutub Mosque at Delhi erected many centuries later under the very different conditions that then prevailed during a Muslim regime. The other pattern, encircling the building contiguous with the foregoing, and in pleasing contrast to its rhythmic fluency, as it is devised on a geometrical system of straight lines, is a rare example of this form of treatment in the field of Indian decorative art. Each of the eight areas between the projecting niches, contains a running "fret" design, all different as each is based on a separate combination of lines, figures and angles, among which interpretations of the "swastika" and the "key" element may be identified. (Plates XXXVIII and XLIII).