Indian Architecture (Buddhist and Hindu Periods) c40.7

c40.7

The other stupa, that at Shwayambhu Nath, must also when originated, have been little more than a tumulus of consolidated earth erected on a prominent site, a hill arising abruptly out of the low lying valley around it. This rough mound is now crowned by an immense finial of the type previously described, and stands amidst a confused complex of temples, shrines, alcoves and symbolic accessories crowding the flagged terrace of which it forms the central feature. In marked comparison with the profusion of fretted forms which have accumulated in its vicinity during many centuries, the stupa itself appears as an unadorned pile of earthwork, creating the impression that the bulk of this elemental monument may indeed be all that is left of one of Asoka’s original tumuli erected to the order of that zealous and royal Buddhist some twenty-three centuries ago. (Plate CXLI) Primitive Buddhism, as in India, has almost passed out of Nepal, but these two stupas are a record of that period when this religion occupied a premier place in the life of its people