[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Architecture and art](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art) › [A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911) › c8.16 # A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c8.16 A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c8.16 - **Language:** English ### [c8.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c8.16) \*Stūpas\*, not to speak of miniature votive models, varied greatly in size. The very ancient specimen at Piprāwā on the Nepalese frontier, which may possibly be earlier than Asoka, has a diameter of 116 feet at ground level, and stands only about 22 feet high. The diameter of the great Sānchī monument at the plinth is 121½ feet, the height about 77½ feet, and the stone railing is a massive structure 11 feet high. Several monuments in Northern India, some of which were ascribed to Asoka, are recorded to have attained a height of from 200 to 400 feet; and to this day the summit of the Jetawanārāma \*dāgaba\* in Ceylon towers 251 feet above the level of the ground.¹ The larger monuments afforded infinite scope to the decorative artist. - [Previous: c8.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c8.15) - [Next: c8.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c8.17) - [Up: c8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c8) ## Linked texts (1) - [Sāñcī](https://indike.org/pramana/inp.site.sanchi) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c8.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c8.16) · Pramāṇa