DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0114
92 EASTERN CAVES.
If we knew exactly when it was that Buddhism was first prac-
tically established in the west, it might aid in determining this
point. As before mentioned, it (vide ante, p. 17) is probable that it
was not known there before the arrival of the missionaries sent by
Asoka after the third convocation held in the 17th year of his reign,
B.C. 246. If this is so, it is unlikely that any suitable places of
worship were found there, or any habit of constructing them, while
as these missionaries found everywhere a rock admirably suited to
the purpose, they may at once have seized the idea of giving per-
manence and dignity to the new forms by carving them in the
imperishable rock. It is true, it may be objected, to this view that
this almost necessarily presupposes the idea of the inhabitants of the
country having used caves as habitations, of some sort, anterior to
the advent of the Buddhists, while, as none such have been f oimd, it
seems strange the habit should have become at once so prevalent.
If, however, any such earlier caves did exist, they must have been
only rude unsculptured caverns, like the Hathi Grumpha and the rude
caves in Behar, and would be undistinguishable from natural caverns,
and it would be impossible now to determine whether they had ever
been used by man for any purpose. Be this as it may, I know of no
other mode of accounting for the general prevalence of Chaitya caves
in the west and their non-existence in the east of India than by sup-
posing that on the one side of India they always had, and continued
to use, wooden halls for this purpose, while on the other side, having
no such structures, they at once adopted the idea of carving them
in the rock, and finding that so admirably adapted for the purpose
they continued to use it ever afterwards.
As I hope to be able to show, in describing the Eaths at
Mahavallipur, a little further on, the Viharas of the Buddhists
as originally constructed consisted of a square hall, the roof of
which was supported by pillars, and with cells for the residence of
the monks arranged externally round, at least, three sides of the
hall, on the upper storeys, at least. In some, perhaps most
instances, it was two or three or more storeys in height, each
diminishing in horizontal dimensions, and the cells being placed
on the roof of the lower storeys of the structure, which thus
assumed a pyramidal form like the Birs Nimrud near Babylon.
If any such monasteries existed in Katak they probably continued
in use during the whole Buddhist period, and so have been preferred
If we knew exactly when it was that Buddhism was first prac-
tically established in the west, it might aid in determining this
point. As before mentioned, it (vide ante, p. 17) is probable that it
was not known there before the arrival of the missionaries sent by
Asoka after the third convocation held in the 17th year of his reign,
B.C. 246. If this is so, it is unlikely that any suitable places of
worship were found there, or any habit of constructing them, while
as these missionaries found everywhere a rock admirably suited to
the purpose, they may at once have seized the idea of giving per-
manence and dignity to the new forms by carving them in the
imperishable rock. It is true, it may be objected, to this view that
this almost necessarily presupposes the idea of the inhabitants of the
country having used caves as habitations, of some sort, anterior to
the advent of the Buddhists, while, as none such have been f oimd, it
seems strange the habit should have become at once so prevalent.
If, however, any such earlier caves did exist, they must have been
only rude unsculptured caverns, like the Hathi Grumpha and the rude
caves in Behar, and would be undistinguishable from natural caverns,
and it would be impossible now to determine whether they had ever
been used by man for any purpose. Be this as it may, I know of no
other mode of accounting for the general prevalence of Chaitya caves
in the west and their non-existence in the east of India than by sup-
posing that on the one side of India they always had, and continued
to use, wooden halls for this purpose, while on the other side, having
no such structures, they at once adopted the idea of carving them
in the rock, and finding that so admirably adapted for the purpose
they continued to use it ever afterwards.
As I hope to be able to show, in describing the Eaths at
Mahavallipur, a little further on, the Viharas of the Buddhists
as originally constructed consisted of a square hall, the roof of
which was supported by pillars, and with cells for the residence of
the monks arranged externally round, at least, three sides of the
hall, on the upper storeys, at least. In some, perhaps most
instances, it was two or three or more storeys in height, each
diminishing in horizontal dimensions, and the cells being placed
on the roof of the lower storeys of the structure, which thus
assumed a pyramidal form like the Birs Nimrud near Babylon.
If any such monasteries existed in Katak they probably continued
in use during the whole Buddhist period, and so have been preferred