The Hindu Temple v1.c8.s3.20

v1.c8.s3.20

⁵⁰ Caitya is derived from Citi. A Caitya, in the Buddhist application, with reference to a man-made form, is the Stūpa. The meaning of Caitya, in the ‘Mahābhārata’, where the country is described full of Caityas and Yūpas (sacrificial posts) is sacrificial altar. The ‘Rāmāyaṇa’, II. 3. 18; II. 25. 4; II. 71. 41, speaks of Devāyatana and Caitya. Āyatana means a resting place or support and as such a seat, the place of the sacred fire, and also an abode of divinity. The definite sense of ‘house’ seems conveyed by the word Caityagṛha (‘Rāmāyaṇa’, V. 12. 14); it is commented as ‘Buddha-āyatanaṃ’ or, acc. to Govindarāja, as a Maṇḍapa of Catuṣpathas, a hall of Vedic Brāhmaṇas. The Caityaprāsāda again which had 100 pillars and was very high, is commented as a Buddhamandira and in the latter instance, by Govindarāja, as a building like a Devāyatana. (‘Ind. Antiquary’, XI. p. 20). Coomaraswamy, ‘Yakṣas’, Pt. I. pp. 17-27, shows that a Caitya and Āyatana is a ‘bhavana’, a haunt or abode of a Yakṣa. This can be an altar or a constructed temple, or also a sacred tree, or a tree with an altar.