An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c40.111

v2.c40.111

The temples and monasteries are in two parallel rows, the temple facing e. and the monasteries w., the wide space in between sometimes occupied by stray shrines. Temple 3, the tallest of the monuments of Nālandā represents the result of seven accumulations, the earliest three of modest dimensions being buried deep under the later ones. The temple of the fifth stage, with four corner towers, had its facade ornamented with stucco figures of Buddha and the Bodhisattvas in Gupta tradition, which were encased within the extension of the sixth stage. The level of the shrine at the top rose with each reconstruction with a resultant higher flight of steps at each stage. The ruins of the shrine of the last stage with a pedestal for the installed Buddha image are seen at the top. Each stage had its own votive *stūpas* all round, often engulfed in the later extensions. One of such *stūpas*, of the fifth stage, contained in its core a clay tablet inscribed with the sacred text *Pratītya-samut pāda-sūtra* and dated A.D. 516-7. Another manifestation of devotion is the enshrinement within votive *stūpas* of clay lumps or miniature clay *stūpas*, each having in its core two clay tablets impressed with the Buddhist creed. The temple of the seventh stage externally measures 130 × 80 ft. In previous accounts the edifice is described as a *stūpa* but the existence of a Buddha shrine at the top of each of at least the fifth, sixth and seventh stages indicates it to be a temple.