A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c21.5

c21.5

Such work involved no great problems of constructional engineering, and is best regarded as a branch of sculpture, though ‘on a grand and magnificent scale’. The caitya was primarily a temple or place of worship, and was so called because in early Buddhism the object of worship was generally a *stūpa* (*caitya*); the *vihāra* was a monastery. In Hinayāna Buddhism the Buddha was never represented in sculptured form, but his presence was indicated by a throne, a footstool, cushions and other symbols. The Buddha image came into use in later Mahāyāna Buddhism and then it was introduced into some of the early *caityas* as at Kanheri and Nasik. The Hinayāna rock-cut monasteries and shrines are all situated in Bombay State within a radius of two hundred miles round Nasik. The *caitya* was generally ‘a large vaulted hall having an apsidal end and divided longitudinally by two colonnades into a broad nave and two aisles. In the apse stood the *stūpa*, also carved out of the natural rock.’ Circumambulation of the *stūpa* took place along the aisles and the apse, while the congregation assembled in the nave. The *vihāra* consisted of a ‘central hall entered by a doorway’ from a verandah in front and surrounded by square cells cut further into the rock, each serving as the abode of a monk. Architecturally the *caityas* are more notable than the *vihāras*. In both there was a close imitation of the wooden structures which were the originals of their designs; even in rock-cut buildings, much woodwork was put into both the façade and interior, so used were the early builders to wood before they started building in stone. But rock-architecture as it comes before us is fully matured, and the stages, if any, of its evolution are no longer traceable.