DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2371#0366
344 LATEST BUDDHIST CAVE-TEMPLES.
Buddhas; over it are some eight projecting fillets or tenias, crowned
by a fragment of a small stone umbrella. The aisles of this Chaitya-
cave contain a good deal of sculpture, much of it defaced. In the
right aisle there are large compartments with Buddhas sculptured in
alto rilievo, with attendants; their feet rest on the lotus upheld by
Ndga-Tprotected figures with rich headdresses, and others sitting beside
them. Over the Buddhas are flying figures, and above them a line
of arabesques with small compartments containing groups.
On the left wall, near the small door is a gigantic figure of
Buddha about 23 feet 3 inches in length, reclining on a couch (see
Plate L.) This represents the death of the great ascetic. "It is,"
says Fahian, " to the north of Kusinara " (probably Kusia, between
Betiya and Gorakhpur) " betwixt two sal trees on the bank of the
river Hiranyavati (probably the Oandak) that the ' Illustrious of the
Age,' his face turned to the north, entered nirvana. There where
Subhadra long after obtained the law, and where they adored for
seven days in his golden coffin the ' Illustrious of the Age;' there
where ' the hero that bears the diamond sceptre' (Vajrapani) let go
the golden pestle, and where the eight kings divided the sarin (or
relics), in all these places they established Sangharamas or monas-
teries which exist to this day." * The visitor will observe a tree at
the head and another at the foot of the figure, and Ananda, the
relative and attendant of Buddha, standing under the second. This
figure has also its face turned to the north. " In a great chapel
erected at Kusinara," says Hiwen Thsang—writing about a.d. 640
—is a " representation of the nirvana of the Tathagata. His face
is turned to the north, and hath the appearance of one slumbering.
Above the large figure are several very odd ones, perhaps repre-
senting the divas " making the air ring," as the legend says, " wit i
celestial music, and scattering flowers and incense." Among them
is perhaps Indra, the prince of the thirty-two divas of Trayastrinshas,
on his elephant. In front of the couch are several other figures, ^
disciples or bkikshus, exhibiting their grief at his departure, auu a
worshipper with a flower in his hand and some little offerings in <
tray.
1 Foe Koue Ki, Chapter XXIV. d thi.
2 General Cunningham in a private letter to me reports that he has discovere
figure, but nothing has yet been published regarding it.—J. F.
Buddhas; over it are some eight projecting fillets or tenias, crowned
by a fragment of a small stone umbrella. The aisles of this Chaitya-
cave contain a good deal of sculpture, much of it defaced. In the
right aisle there are large compartments with Buddhas sculptured in
alto rilievo, with attendants; their feet rest on the lotus upheld by
Ndga-Tprotected figures with rich headdresses, and others sitting beside
them. Over the Buddhas are flying figures, and above them a line
of arabesques with small compartments containing groups.
On the left wall, near the small door is a gigantic figure of
Buddha about 23 feet 3 inches in length, reclining on a couch (see
Plate L.) This represents the death of the great ascetic. "It is,"
says Fahian, " to the north of Kusinara " (probably Kusia, between
Betiya and Gorakhpur) " betwixt two sal trees on the bank of the
river Hiranyavati (probably the Oandak) that the ' Illustrious of the
Age,' his face turned to the north, entered nirvana. There where
Subhadra long after obtained the law, and where they adored for
seven days in his golden coffin the ' Illustrious of the Age;' there
where ' the hero that bears the diamond sceptre' (Vajrapani) let go
the golden pestle, and where the eight kings divided the sarin (or
relics), in all these places they established Sangharamas or monas-
teries which exist to this day." * The visitor will observe a tree at
the head and another at the foot of the figure, and Ananda, the
relative and attendant of Buddha, standing under the second. This
figure has also its face turned to the north. " In a great chapel
erected at Kusinara," says Hiwen Thsang—writing about a.d. 640
—is a " representation of the nirvana of the Tathagata. His face
is turned to the north, and hath the appearance of one slumbering.
Above the large figure are several very odd ones, perhaps repre-
senting the divas " making the air ring," as the legend says, " wit i
celestial music, and scattering flowers and incense." Among them
is perhaps Indra, the prince of the thirty-two divas of Trayastrinshas,
on his elephant. In front of the couch are several other figures, ^
disciples or bkikshus, exhibiting their grief at his departure, auu a
worshipper with a flower in his hand and some little offerings in <
tray.
1 Foe Koue Ki, Chapter XXIV. d thi.
2 General Cunningham in a private letter to me reports that he has discovere
figure, but nothing has yet been published regarding it.—J. F.