The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c12.2

c12.2

Of all the buildings of the Mauryan epoch that which is most distinctly Buddhist is the *Chaitya-griha*, or House of the Chaitya, which was the assembly-hall or chapter-house of the Order.¹ The religious observances enjoined upon members of the Order are distinguished from those of the Jains and of orthodox Brahmans by being congregational instead of individualistic, and thus Buddhist builders had to provide shelter for a much larger number of worshippers than would ordinarily gather together at Jain or Brahman shrines, except when the latter attracted large crowds of pilgrims. Though the religious tenets of the Jains and Buddhists had much in common, the social organisation of Buddhism differed from that of the former in recognising a distinction between laymen who merely accepted the teaching of the Master and members of the Sangha who devoted themselves entirely to a religious life. The necessity of providing accommodation for both classes, meeting together at stated times, in Buddhist places of worship, dictated the structural arrangements of the chaitya-griha. The Jains in their temple-building usually followed the structural tradition of the Brahmanical sects.