The Antiquities of Orissa v2.c16.s2.116

v2.c16.s2.116

Adverting to the caves of Western India, Mr. Fergusson has developed a system of evolution, according to which the simplest of the caves are assigned to the earliest period and the most ornate to a comparatively recent date,—the whole spreading over many centuries. How far this is correct as regards those caves, it is not for me here to enquire, but I am not at all disposed to apply the principle to the caves which form the subject of my remarks. The principle is founded upon the experience of human habitations in civilized society, and cannot be applied to monasteries. Monastic institutions do not develop slowly and gradually, step by step, with the advancing civilization of their occupants, even as the ancient pile huts of Zurich, Brienne and Neufchatel developed into Swiss villas; but by fits and starts according to the nature of the patronage extended to them by civil society and the state of civilization of their patrons,—the monks themselves being the passive recipients of the bounty of their lay admirers, and the art displayed in their habitations dependant entirely on the taste of the artist employed and of their employers. A hermit of great sanctity, perhaps professing some supernatural or miraculous powers, takes shelter in a wood near a flourishing town, whence men of all classes proceed to visit him and offer him the means of his sustenance and more in lieu of his blessings; a wealthy person, perhaps a king or a minister, takes special interest in him, and defrays the cost of building a comfortable house for his use; his sanctity draws around him shoals of proselytes and followers, for whose accommodation additional buildings are required; other rich men defray the cost thereof; and a stately monastery is the result.