History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c12.s2: Topes at Sârnâth and in Bihâr.
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c12.s2
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Topes at Sârnâth and in Bihâr.
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Not only is there no other group of topes in India Proper that can be compared, either in extent or in preservation, to those of Bhilsâ, but our knowledge of the subject is now so complete that it is probably safe to assert that only two, or at most three, topes exist between the Satlaj and the sea, sufficiently perfect to enable their form and architectural features to be distinguished. There are, of course, numerous mounds near all the Buddhist cities which mark the site, and many of which probably hide the remains, of some of the hundreds of stûpas or dâgabas mentioned by the Chinese
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16. Tope at Sârnâth, near Benares. (From a Photograph.)
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Pilgrims, besides many that they failed to distinguish. All, however, with the fewest possible exceptions, have perished; nor is it difficult to see why this should be so. All, or nearly all, were composed of brick or small stones, laid either without mortar, or with cement that was little better than mud. They consequently, when desecrated and deserted, formed such convenient quarries for the villagers, that nearly all have been utilised for building huts and houses of the Hindûs, or the mosques of the Musalmâns. Their rails, being composed of larger stones and not so easily removed, have in some instances remained, and some will no doubt be recovered when looked for; and as these, in the earlier ages at least, were the iconostasis of the shrine, their recovery will largely compensate for the loss of the topes which they surrounded.
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The best known, as well as the best preserved of the Bengal topes, is that called Dhamek, at Sârnâth, near Benares (Woodcut No. 16). It was explored by General Cunningham in 1835-36, and found to be a stûpa or chaitya—not containing relics, but erected to mark some spot sanctified by the presence of Buddha, or by some act of his during his long residence there. In 1904-05 further excavations were made under Mr. Oertel, but the results have not yet been made public. It is situated in the Deer Park, where Buddha took up his residence with his five disciples when he first removed from Gayâ on claiming to have attained Buddhahood, and commenced his mission as a teacher. That it commemorates this event, is exceedingly probable, since that stûpa, of all others, would be religiously preserved and restored. There are several mounds in the neighbourhood, but the descriptions of the Chinese Pilgrims are not sufficiently precise to enable us always to discriminate between them.
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The building consists of a stone basement, 93 ft. in diameter, and solidly built, the stones being clamped together with iron to the height of 43 ft. Above that it is in brickwork, rising to a height of 110 ft. above the surrounding ruins, and 128 ft. above the plain.¹ Externally the lower part is relieved by eight projecting faces, each 21 ft. 6 in. wide, and 15 ft. apart. In each is a small niche, intended apparently to contain a seated figure of Buddha, and below them, encircling the monument, is a band of sculptured ornament of the most exquisite beauty. The central part consists—as will be seen by the cut (No. 17) on the next page—of geometric patterns of great intricacy, but combined with singular skill; and, above and below, foliage equally well designed, and so much resembling that carved by Hindû artists on the earliest Muhammadan mosques at Ajmîr and Delhi, as at first sight might suggest that they may not be very distant in date.
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¹ These dimensions and details are taken from Gen. Cunningham’s ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. i. pp. 107 *et seqq.*; for his account of the exploration, see ‘Journal Bengal Asiatic Society,’ vol. xxxii. ; Sherring’s ‘Sacred City of the Hindûs,’ pp. 236-243.
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The carvings round the niches and on the projections have been left so unfinished—in some instances only outlined—that it is impossible to guess what ultimate form it may have been intended to give them. The upper part of the tower was
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17. Panel on the Tope at Sârnâth. (From a Photograph.)
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possibly an addition of even later date than the lower part, and may never have been finished at all; but from our knowledge of the Afghanistan topes we may surmise that it was intended to encircle it with a range of pilasters, and then some bold mouldings, before covering it with a hemispherical dome.
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In his excavations, General Cunningham found, buried in the solid masonry, at the depth of 10½ feet from the summit, a large stone on which was engraved the usual Buddhist formula, "Ye dharmma hetu," etc., in characters belonging, he thought, to the 7th century, from which he inferred that the monument belongs to the 6th century. But I cannot accept the conclusion; it seems to me much more probable that this stone may have belonged to some building which had fallen into decay, or to have been the pedestal of some statue which had been disused, and was consequently utilised in the erection or repair of this structure. One feels consequently more inclined to adopt the tradition preserved by Captain Wilford,¹ to the effect that the Sârnâth monument was erected by the sons of Mahîpâla, and destroyed (interrupted?) before its completion.² We know that the Deer Park, where the Buddha preached his first sermon, was the site of one of the early and most sacred stûpas, and the excavations recently made have brought to light remains of all ages from that of Asoka down to the 11th century at least. An inscription, found long since, and dated in A.D. 1026, records the repair of a Buddhist stûpa and Dharmachakra, and the erection of a Gandhakutî temple in the time of Mahîpâla—probably by his sons.³ Whether it refers to this stûpa or not, it indicates that large restorations did take place as late as the 11th century, when this also was probably encased, as we now find it, with a modernised exterior. The form of the monument with the eight projecting faces that decorate its drum, the character of its sculptured ornaments, the unfinished condition in which it is left, and indeed the whole circumstances of the case, render this date so probable that it may be accepted for the present at least, though it is quite possible that further research may require us to modify this opinion.
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¹ 'Asiatic Researches,' vol. ix. p. 203, and vol. x., p. 130.
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² See also paper by Vesey Westmacott, 'Calcutta Review,' vol. lix., 1874, p. 68.
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³ 'Asiatic Researches,' vol. v. p. 133; 'Indian Antiquary,' vol. xiv. p. 139. The contents of this inscription was probably the basis of Wilford's statement.
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The only stone building yet found in India that has any pretension to be dated before Asoka's time is one at Râjgir, having the popular name of Jarâsandha-ka-baithak. As will be seen from the annexed woodcut (No. 18), it is in the form of a platform 85 ft. square at the base and sloping upwards for 20 or 28 ft. to a platform measuring 74 by 78 ft.⁴ It is built wholly of stones, neatly fitted together without mortar; and its most remarkable peculiarity is that it contains fifteen cells, one of which is shown in the woodcut. They are from 6 to 7 ft. in length, by about half that in breadth, and they are occupied at times up to the present day by Jogis whose bodies are constantly smeared with ashes.¹
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⁴ 'Indian Antiquary,' vol. i. p. 72.
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¹ 'Cave-Temples,' pp. 33f.; Cunningham, 'Archæological Survey Report,' vol. i. p. 20; vol. iii. p. 142.
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18. View and Plan of Jarâsandha-ka-baithak. (From Cunningham, 'Archæological Survey Report,' vol. iii. plate 42.)
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The other Bengal tope existing nearly entire, also known as Jarâsandha-ka-baithak, is opposite to the village of Giriyek, about 6 miles east-north-east of the preceding. General Cunningham states its dimensions to be 28 ft. in diameter by 21 ft. in height, resting on a basement 14 ft. high, so that its total height, when complete, may have been about 55 ft. As it was not mentioned by Fah Hian, A.D. 400, and is, apparently, by Hiuen Tsiang, A.D. 640, its age is probably, as General Cunningham states, intermediate between these dates, or about A.D. 500.² It is a bold, fine tower, evidently earlier than that at Sârnâth, and showing nothing of the tendency towards Hindû forms there displayed. It has, too, the remains of a procession-path, or extended basement which is wholly wanting at Sârnâth, but which is always found in the earlier monuments. It was erected, as Hiuen Tsiang tells us, in honour of a Hansa—goose—who devoted itself to relieve the wants of a starving community of Bhikshus.³
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² 'Archæological Survey Report,' vol. i. pp. 16-19, and plate 15.
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³ 'Hiouen Thsang,' tom. iii. p. 60; or Beal, 'Buddhist Records,' vol. ii. p. 181.
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The third stûpa, if it may be so called, is the celebrated temple or, properly, chaitya at Bodh-Gayâ, which stands immediately in front of the celebrated Bodhi-tree (*Ficus religiosa*)¹ under whose shade Buddha is said to have attained complete enlightenment in the thirty-fifth year of his age, *cir.* B.C. 525. Its history is told in such detail by Hiuen Tsiang² that there seems little doubt as to the main facts of the case. According to this authority, Asoka built a small vihâra here, but long afterwards this was replaced by a temple 160 ft. high and 60 ft. (20 paces) wide, which are the exact dimensions of the present building, according to Cunningham,³ and we are further told that it was erected by a Brâhman, who was warned by Maheswara (Siva), in a vision, to execute this work.⁴ In this temple there was a cella corresponding with the dimensions of that found there, in which the Brâhman placed a statue of Buddha, seated cross-legged, with one hand pointing to the earth.⁵ The date of the erection of this temple is still obscure: General Cunningham laboured, on rather doubtful data, to prove that it was erected in the reign of the Kushan king, Huvishka, in the century B.C., and, from a coin found in a later image, he concluded that additions and restorations were made in the 4th century.⁶ There are sculptures and inscriptions that must belong between the 2nd and 7th centuries, and they are numerous between the 9th and end of the 12th; but none of them help us in definitely fixing the date of the temple. From the style and what remains of the older sculptures, we can only assume that it may belong to somewhere about the 6th century, though considerably altered in later times by successive restorations. From an Arakanese inscription on the spot, first translated by Colonel H. Burney, we further learn that the place, having fallen into decay, was restored by the Burmese in the year 1105, and again in 1298.¹
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¹ Buchanan Hamilton was told by the priests on the spot, in 1811, that it was planted there 2225 years ago, or B.C. 414, and that the temple was built 126 years afterwards, or in 289 B.C. :—not a bad guess for Asoka's age in a locality where Buddhism has been so long forgotten.—Montgomery Martin's ‘Eastern India,’ vol. i. p. 76.
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² ‘Hiouen Thsang,’ tom. ii. pp. 464-468; or Beal, ‘Buddhist Records,’ vol. ii. pp. 118-121.
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³ ‘Archæological Reports,’ vol. i. p. 5; and ‘Mahâbodhi,’ p. 18.
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⁴ Wassiliev, in his work on the Doctrine, History, etc., of Buddhism, pp. 41-42, gives a somewhat different account, stating that it was erected by Punya, one of three brothers converted by Uttara, one of whom built a temple in the Deer Park at Benares, and the other a temple in the Venuvana garden at Râjagriha. Gen. Cunningham refers to a story related by Târânâth of two brothers, one of whom built the Nâlanda temple, and, from the resemblance in style, he infers that the Mahâbodi temple belongs to the same date, if not to one of the brothers.
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⁵ That is in the attitude known as the ‘Bhûmisparsa mudrâ’, in which Sâkyamuni sat when he attained supreme knowledge.
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⁶ ‘Mahâbodhi,’ pp. 17-25. This was a coin of Pasupati, Râja of Nepâl, whose name—possibly the Pasuprêksha of the chronologies—is well-known to numismatists from his coins; but nothing is certain about his date, except that most probably he lived subsequently to the 7th century.—‘Indian Antiquary,’ vol. xiii. p. 412; Wright’s, ‘History of Nepal,’ p. 113; Sylvain Lévi, ‘Le Népal,’ tome ii. pp. 108-111; ‘Journal Royal Asiatic Society,’ 1908, p. 681.
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¹ 'Asiatic Researches,' vol. xx. pp. 161-189; Râjendralâl Mitra, 'Buddha Gayâ,' p. 209; Phayre's 'History of Burma,' p. 46; and 'Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' vol. xxxvii. p. 97, note. Gen. Cunningham read the dates as equivalent to 1079 and 1086 A. D.; 'Mahâbodhi,' pp. 27, 28, and 77. But though a scholarly translation of the inscriptions has yet to be made, the readings of the Burmese or Arakanese dates as 467 and 660 of their era, can hardly be questioned—*i.e.* 1105 and 1298 A. D.
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From the data these accounts afford us we gather that the building we now see before us (Woodcut No. 19) is substantially
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19. Temple at Bodh-Gayâ with Bo-tree. (From a Photograph by Mr. Peppe, C.E.)
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that erected in the 6th century, but the niches Hiuen Tsiang saw, containing golden statues of Buddha, cannot be those now existing — most of the images round the basement are distinctly of Burmese type, though some few of them appear to be of about the 6th century—and the sculptures he mentions find no place in the present design; the amalakas of gilt copper that crowned the whole, as he saw it, have also disappeared.¹
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¹ Beal's 'Buddhist Records,' vol. ii. pp. 118 and 136, note 2.
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The changes in detail, as well as the introduction of radiating arches in the interior, must belong to the Burmese restorations in the beginning of the 12th and end of the 13th centuries. Though these, consequently, may have altered its appearance in detail, it is probable that, until the "restoration" in 1880-81, we still had before us a straight-lined pyramidal nine-storeyed temple of about the 6th century, retaining all its essential forms—anomalous and unlike anything else we find in India, either before or afterwards, but probably the parent of many nine-storeyed towers found beyond the Himâlayas, both in China and elsewhere.
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Unfortunately, instead of carefully preserving this very interesting monument, the Government of Bengal was advised to "restore" it, and this was carried out under the superintendence of General Cunningham and his assistant, by which—as might have been anticipated—it was materially modified, and from an archæological point of view seriously injured.²
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² Cunningham's 'Mahâbodhi,' preface, p. ix. The restoration cost the Government somewhere about 200,000 rupees; and then the Mahant of the neighbouring monastery appropriated the renovated temple for his Vaishnava followers and consecrated the image by applying to it the "tilak" or frontal mark of Vishnu, so that it might be worshipped as that divinity, whilst he set both the Buddhists and Government at defiance to re-occupy the shrine.
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Eventually we may discover other examples which may render this noble tower less exceptional than it now appears to be. At Kesarîyâ in Champâran, about 20 miles south-east from Lauriyâ-Ararâj, where one of the pillars of Asoka mentioned above is found, are the ruins of what appears to have been a very large tope. It is, however, entirely ruined externally, and has never been explored, so that we cannot tell what was its original shape or purpose.³ At Piprahwa also in the north of Basti district, on the Nepâl frontier, a mound containing the remains of a stûpa was excavated in 1897-98, but, apparently, more attention was given to the discovery of the relic casket, than to the construction and dimensions of the stûpa. It seems, however, to have been about 90 feet. in diameter at the base, and about 13½ ft. from the ground level; the dome began with a diameter of about 62 ft.⁴ The inscription on one of the relic caskets has attracted much attention on the part of scholars as recording the deposit of relics of the Sâkya clansmen of Buddha.¹
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³ Cunningham, 'Archæological Reports,' vol. i. pp. 64ff. and plate 24.
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⁴ 'Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,' 1898, p. 577; and 'Report on a Tour of Exploration of the Antiquities in the Tarai, Nepal,' by Babu P. C. Mukherji, 1899, pp. 43-47, in which the "approximate total diameter of the whole stûpa" is given as 90½ ft.; but both illustrations and descriptions are very unsatisfactory.
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¹ ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ 1899, pp. 149-180; 1905, pp. 679f; and 1907, pp. 105f.
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All along this line of country numerous Buddhist remains are found, all more or less ruined, and they have not yet been examined with the scientific care necessary to ascertain their forms. This is the more to be regretted as this was the native country of the founder of the religion, and the place where his doctrines appear to have been originally promulgated. If anything older than the age of Asoka is preserved in India, it is probably in this district that it must be looked for.