DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0198
170 CAVE TEMPLES OP WESTERN INDIA.
front. In many instances the cells were small; in others they con-
sisted of two apartments, the inner having a stone bench or bed (as
in several instances at Junnar). This bed is a constant feature of all
the earlier cells, but disappears in those excavated after the second
century after Christ. A permanent spring or stream of water close
by, or a cistern (ponclhi) cut in the rock, usually beside or under
the cell, was an indispensable accompaniment. The number of
these cells at one place was often considerable.1
The next step in Western India was to introduce a square hall for
assembling in, probably copied from some wooden and structural
erection that existed before any rock-cut excavations were attempted,
and often also used as a school: this must have been a very early
accompaniment of every group of Bhihshu-grihas or monks' cells. At
first this room perhaps had no cells, but it would soon be evident that
the walls of a large hall offered special facilities for excavating cells
all round it, and, for purposes of worship, a larger cell was after-
wards cut out in the back wall, containing a dagoba to serve in
place of a separate chapel. At first, too, the smaller halls or sdl-
agrihas might have been formed without pillars to support the roof,
— the tenacity of the rock being assumed to dispense with the
necessity of any prop between the side walls. Afterwards, how-
ever, when the size was increased, it was found that this was unsafe,
and that, 'owing to flaws and veins, large areas of roofing, if left
unsupported, were liable to fall in. Pillars were then resorted to, as
in the ordinary wooden buildings of the country, arranged either
in rows running round the sdlds or halls, separating the central
square area from the aisles, or disposed in equidistant lines, as m
Cave XL at Ajanta, and probably in the vihara at Pitalkhora.
Little sculpture was at first employed in any of the caves; but w
later examples the pillars came to be elaborately carved; and,
though Buddha did not preach idol-worship, in course of time the
plain dagoba ceased to satisfy the worshippers of certain sects,
and the shrine came to be almost invariably occupied by an image
Buddha seated on a sort of throne, called a SinMsana, or ' lion-sea ,
because the ends of it rested on lions carved in bas-rehefr--^
1 Groups of caves are often called Lends, a word which Dr. J. Wilson derived to^
Sansk. layanam, "ornamentation"; but lay ana, "a place of rest, a house, ^
the root, li, "to adhere," seems a more natural derivation, for the name o
abode."
front. In many instances the cells were small; in others they con-
sisted of two apartments, the inner having a stone bench or bed (as
in several instances at Junnar). This bed is a constant feature of all
the earlier cells, but disappears in those excavated after the second
century after Christ. A permanent spring or stream of water close
by, or a cistern (ponclhi) cut in the rock, usually beside or under
the cell, was an indispensable accompaniment. The number of
these cells at one place was often considerable.1
The next step in Western India was to introduce a square hall for
assembling in, probably copied from some wooden and structural
erection that existed before any rock-cut excavations were attempted,
and often also used as a school: this must have been a very early
accompaniment of every group of Bhihshu-grihas or monks' cells. At
first this room perhaps had no cells, but it would soon be evident that
the walls of a large hall offered special facilities for excavating cells
all round it, and, for purposes of worship, a larger cell was after-
wards cut out in the back wall, containing a dagoba to serve in
place of a separate chapel. At first, too, the smaller halls or sdl-
agrihas might have been formed without pillars to support the roof,
— the tenacity of the rock being assumed to dispense with the
necessity of any prop between the side walls. Afterwards, how-
ever, when the size was increased, it was found that this was unsafe,
and that, 'owing to flaws and veins, large areas of roofing, if left
unsupported, were liable to fall in. Pillars were then resorted to, as
in the ordinary wooden buildings of the country, arranged either
in rows running round the sdlds or halls, separating the central
square area from the aisles, or disposed in equidistant lines, as m
Cave XL at Ajanta, and probably in the vihara at Pitalkhora.
Little sculpture was at first employed in any of the caves; but w
later examples the pillars came to be elaborately carved; and,
though Buddha did not preach idol-worship, in course of time the
plain dagoba ceased to satisfy the worshippers of certain sects,
and the shrine came to be almost invariably occupied by an image
Buddha seated on a sort of throne, called a SinMsana, or ' lion-sea ,
because the ends of it rested on lions carved in bas-rehefr--^
1 Groups of caves are often called Lends, a word which Dr. J. Wilson derived to^
Sansk. layanam, "ornamentation"; but lay ana, "a place of rest, a house, ^
the root, li, "to adhere," seems a more natural derivation, for the name o
abode."