Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c34.2

c34.2

AS in the case of most civilizations, the arts of India have evolved by means of a sequence of movements, one superseding the other, so that a cross-section of the whole would present a series of strata not unlike that of a geological formation. In the course of development most of these art strata have become obliterated by subsequent "deposits," but on the other hand in several instances these movements have been so persistent that portions are still visible, like an outcrop, as proof of their one-time prevalence. Such is a certain type of roof structure of a very distinctive character, which reveals itself in a variety of forms, and in widely different parts of the sub-continent. This roof is of the gabled or multiple order and appears to be a survival of a wooden type, which was apparently not uncommon in India towards the beginning of the Christian era. There are various references by Chinese pilgrims to towers and shrines several stories high which these adventurous travellers saw while in Buddhist India, and of which they brought back small copies for reproduction to the original scale in their own country. It is not unlikely therefore that, as with the distinctive Indian *torana* gateway, which became the *piu-lu* of China, so from these multiple roofed structures of Buddhist India was derived the many storied pagoda of the Far East.