The Beginnings of Buddhist Art and Other Essays in Indian and Central-Asian Archaeology c11.7

c11.7

That the architectural form of the temple is infinitely more favourable to the effect of the whole than that of the mausoleum, no one will deny. Still this reason is not entirely satisfying; nor does it suffice to explain what at first sight is « wrong » with the aspect of Boro-Budur (pl. XXXI, 1). It is not a dome with simple lines, like the most ancient Indian *stûpas* which are preserved to us, for example at Sânchî and at Mânikyâla. Neither is it a superposition of quadrangular diminishing terraces, a kind of pyramid in steps, such as the Chinese pilgrims describe the « pagodas » of north-western India. Nor has it the lengthy slenderness of its Burmese or Siamese congeners, which point very high into the air as it were the handle of an enormous bell. To speak candidly, it seems to have been unable to decide clearly whether to be conical, pyramidal, or hemispherical. The vertical indented walls of the first six galleries give the impression that the monument is about to mount up straight towards the sky : but with the three upper circular galleries this start is suddenly frustrated, and the whole structure assumes a crushed and heavy appearance. Doubtless we must make allowance for the disappearance of the crown and the depression of the summit under the influence of the rains. Neither must we forget that the wide band of masonry which now forms the first terrace was constructed round the edifice as an afterthought and contributes in no slight degree to the appearance of heaviness (¹). But, all taken into account, the disappointment of the impartial observer exists none the less. That a great tumulus can never be anything but a kind of huge pudding, he is quite ready to admit : but there are puddings which are more or less succesfully constructed. Without irreverence we may say that the *stûpa* of Boro-Budur, with the endless zig-zags of its passages and the profuse ornamentation of its pinnacles, gives at first the impression of a pasty, as badly « raised » on the whole as it is minutely carved in detail (²).