DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0118
96 EASTEBN CAVES.
on the opposite bank of the river, about 17 miles higher up. This
was first explored by General Mackenzie in 1817-21, afterwards
by Sir Walter Elliot, and recently by Mr. Sewell of the Madras
Civil Service, and the results of their labours, except of the last
named, are described in the second part, and last 56 of the plates of
my Tree and Serpent Worship. Though it may not have been the most
sacred, it certainly is, in an artistic point of view, the most im-
portant Buddhist monument that has yet been discovered in India,
and is quite unique in the part of the country where it is situated.
Its magnificence, and the length of time it must have taken to
execute its sculptures, prove that for a long period the Buddhists
must not only have been all powerful in this part of India, but
also the possessors of immense wealth, and it is consequently pro-
bable that other remains of the same class may still be found,
and more especially that contemporary caves may still exist in
the sides of the hills in its neighbourhood. Those that have
hitherto been discovered, hardly answer to the expectations thus
raised, while such as have been described belong to a much more
modern age, and to another religion. It will, consequently, only be
when some contemporary series of caves is discovered that we can
expect to find anything that is worthy to be classed, with the sculp-
tures of the Amravati Tope.1
1 In a paper read to the Royal Asiatic Society on the 17 th of November last, Mr.
Sewell adheres to the opinion he expressed in his original report to the Madras Go-
vernment, that the Avarasila Sangarama of Hiuen Thsang -was not identical with the
Amravati Tope, but was a " rock cut" vihara situated on the side of a hill immediately
overhanging the city of Bejwara. He admits that there are no remains of any struc-
tural buildings on that hill, which could have belonged to ancient times, and no trace
of the " caverns " mentioned by the pilgrim. All he contends for is that there are plat-
forms cut here and there in " the rock," on which he thinks the buildings of the
monastery may have been erected.
Although it may fairly be admitted that the language of Hiuen Thsang may bear
the interpretation Mr. Sewell puts upon it, it is so deficient in precision that it may
with equal fairness be argued that the expression which he considers descriptive of the
monastery in reality applies to the road. The " Via Sacra," with its statues and rest
places, which its founder constructed to lead from the city to the sacred spot. As the case
now stands we have before us the substantial fact of the existence of the Amravati Tope,
which from our knowledge of the sculptures found in the Gandhara monasteries we
know was " adorned with all the art of the palaces of Bactria," and very similar in
style to them. On the other hand we have only a hill side which has in some places
been cut down to afford platforms for buildings, but of what form and of what age we
on the opposite bank of the river, about 17 miles higher up. This
was first explored by General Mackenzie in 1817-21, afterwards
by Sir Walter Elliot, and recently by Mr. Sewell of the Madras
Civil Service, and the results of their labours, except of the last
named, are described in the second part, and last 56 of the plates of
my Tree and Serpent Worship. Though it may not have been the most
sacred, it certainly is, in an artistic point of view, the most im-
portant Buddhist monument that has yet been discovered in India,
and is quite unique in the part of the country where it is situated.
Its magnificence, and the length of time it must have taken to
execute its sculptures, prove that for a long period the Buddhists
must not only have been all powerful in this part of India, but
also the possessors of immense wealth, and it is consequently pro-
bable that other remains of the same class may still be found,
and more especially that contemporary caves may still exist in
the sides of the hills in its neighbourhood. Those that have
hitherto been discovered, hardly answer to the expectations thus
raised, while such as have been described belong to a much more
modern age, and to another religion. It will, consequently, only be
when some contemporary series of caves is discovered that we can
expect to find anything that is worthy to be classed, with the sculp-
tures of the Amravati Tope.1
1 In a paper read to the Royal Asiatic Society on the 17 th of November last, Mr.
Sewell adheres to the opinion he expressed in his original report to the Madras Go-
vernment, that the Avarasila Sangarama of Hiuen Thsang -was not identical with the
Amravati Tope, but was a " rock cut" vihara situated on the side of a hill immediately
overhanging the city of Bejwara. He admits that there are no remains of any struc-
tural buildings on that hill, which could have belonged to ancient times, and no trace
of the " caverns " mentioned by the pilgrim. All he contends for is that there are plat-
forms cut here and there in " the rock," on which he thinks the buildings of the
monastery may have been erected.
Although it may fairly be admitted that the language of Hiuen Thsang may bear
the interpretation Mr. Sewell puts upon it, it is so deficient in precision that it may
with equal fairness be argued that the expression which he considers descriptive of the
monastery in reality applies to the road. The " Via Sacra," with its statues and rest
places, which its founder constructed to lead from the city to the sacred spot. As the case
now stands we have before us the substantial fact of the existence of the Amravati Tope,
which from our knowledge of the sculptures found in the Gandhara monasteries we
know was " adorned with all the art of the palaces of Bactria," and very similar in
style to them. On the other hand we have only a hill side which has in some places
been cut down to afford platforms for buildings, but of what form and of what age we