History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s8: Monasteries.

History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v2.c33.s8

Language: English

Monasteries.

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As Burma is a country in which the monastic system of Buddhism flourishes at the present day to the fullest extent, if we had more information regarding its monasteries, or *kyaungs* as they are called, it might enable us to understand the arrangement of the older ones. The travellers who have visited the country have been silent on the subject, principally because the monasteries are, in almost all instances, less magnificent than the pagodas to which they are attached, and are, with scarcely an exception, built of wood—a practice destructive of their architectural character, and also depriving them wholly of that monumental appearance of stability which is so essential to true architectural expression.

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This peculiarity is not confined to the monasteries; all residences, from that of the poorest peasant to the palace of the king, having been constructed from time immemorial of this perishable material. The custom has now passed into a law,

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455. Burmese Kyaung. (From Col. Symes 'Embassy to Ava.')

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that no one shall have the power of erecting buildings of stone or brick, except it be the king himself, or unless the edifices be of a purely religious character. Even this exception is not always taken advantage of, for the king's palace itself is as essentially a wooden erection as the dwelling of any of his subjects. It is, however, not the less magnificent on this account—rather, perhaps, more so—immense sums being spent on the most elaborate carvings, and the whole being lacquered, painted, and gilt, to an extent of which we have no conception in our more sober clime.

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The general appearance of the façade may be realised from the annexed view (Woodcut No. 456); but its real magnificence consists in the profusion of gilding and carving with which every part is covered, and to which it is impossible to do justice on so small a scale.

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The same profuse decorations are bestowed upon the monasteries, one of which is represented in the annexed woodcut (No. 455), showing a building in which all the defects arising from the use of so easily carved a material are carried to excess.

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456. Façade of the King's Palace, Burma. (From a Sketch by Col. Yule.)

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If the colouring and gilding could be added, it would represent a building such as the West never saw, and, let us hope, never will see; for, however dazzling its splendour, such barbaric magnificence is worthy only of a half-civilised race.

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The naked form of these monasteries—if the expression may be used—will be understood from the following woodcut (No. 457) of one erected at Mandalay. It is apparently five storeys in height, but as a matter of fact only one storey is occupied, the first, or "piano nobile" as we would call it. The reason for this being that the Pôngyi or priest would refuse to reside in a building where any one's feet were above his head. The first storey of a Kyaung, and this applies to the example at Mandalay, is always raised about 8 to 10 ft. above the ground, being carried on great timber posts. It is surrounded by a balcony on three sides, access to which is obtained by flights of steps enclosed between balustrades with a peculiar

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457. Monastery at Mandalay. (From a Photograph.)

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curved termination in front, shown in the woodcut (No. 455). The steps, the walls carrying them and the balustrades are all in brick, whilst the rest of the structure is entirely in timber. On the eastern side is a shrine, in which is a statue of Gaudama, above which is the Pyâtthat, a lofty structure with three, five or seven roofs according to the importance of the Kyaung; thus in the Royal monasteries and the King's Palace there are seven roofs, as in Woodcut No. 456. The monastery at Mandalay (Woodcut No. 457) was not completed when the photograph was taken, but not being masked by the elaborate carving as shown in Woodcut No. 455, the scheme of its design is easier to read. There are four storeys of roofs, the upper one covers a lantern only; the roof below covers the central hall which is enclosed with double aisles all round covered over by the two other roofs. Virtually there is only one room in a Burmese Kyaung, at the east end; and next to the Pyâtthat is the Pôngyi's quarter, where he receives visitors, teaches in the school and sleeps; at the west end are the students' quarters and the store-rooms, and the school-room, if it may be so termed, is in the central hall.¹

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¹ Yule's 'Mission to Ava,' pp. 354-355.—Phayre in 'Jour. Asiat. Soc. Bengal,' vol. xxix. pp. 346ff.

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These many-storeyed kyaungs, with the tall seven-storeyed spires (shown in Woodcuts Nos. 447 and 455), bring us back to the many-storeyed temples in Nepâl, which are in all essential respects so nearly identical, that it can hardly be doubted they had a common origin. We are not yet in a position to point out the connecting links which will fuse the detached fragments of this style into a homogeneous whole, but it is probably in China that they must be looked for, only we know so little of the architectural history of the western portion of that great country, that we must wait for further information before even venturing on this subject.

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The fact that all the buildings of Burma are of wood, except the pagodas, may also explain how it is that India possesses no architectural remains anterior to the age of Asoka. Except the comparatively few masonry pagodas, none of which existed prior to his era, there is nothing in Burma that a conflagration of a few hours would not destroy, or the desertion of a few years entirely obliterate. That the same was the practice of India is almost certain, from the essentially wooden forms still found prevailing in all the earlier cave temples; and, if so, this fully accounts for the disappearance of all earlier monuments.

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We know that wooden architecture was the characteristic of Media, where all the constructive parts were formed in this perishable material; and from the Bible we learn that Solomon's edifices were chiefly so constructed. Persepolis presents us with the earliest instance remaining in Asia of this wooden architecture being petrified, as it were—apparently in consequence of the intercourse its builders maintained with Egypt and with Greece.

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In Burma these wooden types still exist in more completeness than, perhaps, in any other country. Even if the student is not prepared to admit the direct ethnographic connection between the buildings of Burma and Babylon, he will at any rate best learn in this country to appreciate much in ancient architecture, which without such a living illustration, it is hard to understand. Solomon's House of the Forest of Lebanon is, with mere difference of detail, reproduced at Ava or Amarapura; and the palaces of Persepolis are rendered infinitely more intelligible by the study of these edifices. Burma is almost equally important in enabling us to understand what an active, prosperous Buddhist community may have been in India at a time when that religion flourished there;¹ and altogether, if means were available for its full elucidation, it would form one of the most interesting chapters in the History of Architecture in Asia.