DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0107
84
BUDDHFST ARCHITECTURE.
Book I.
CHAPTER IV.
KAILS.
contents.
Rails at Bharhut, Muttra, Sanchi, ami Amravati.
It is only recently that our rapidly-increasing knowledge has cuahled
us to appreciate the important part which Rails play in the history of
Buddhist architecture. The rail of the great Tope at Sanchi has, it
is true, been long known; but it is the plainest of those yet dis-
covered, and without the inscriptions which are found on it, and the
gateways that were subsequently added to it, presents few features
to interest any one. There is a second rail at Sanchi which is more
ornamented and more interesting, but it has not yet been published
in such a manner as to render its features or its history intelligible.
The same is at least partially true of the great rail at Budilli
Gaya, though it is one of the oldest and finest of its kind. When,
however, the Amravati sculptures were brought to light and pieced
together,1 it was perceived that the rail might, and in that instance
did, become one of the most elaborate and ornamental features of
the style. Since then General Cunningham has found two or three
buried rails at Muttra, and his crowning discovery of the great rail
at Bharhut, has made it clear that this was the feature on which the
early Buddhist architects lavished all the resources of their art, and
from the study of which we may consequently expect to learn most.
The two oldest rails of which we have any knowledge in India
are those at Buddh Gaya and that recently discovered at Bharhut.
The former, General Cunningham thinks, cannot be of much later
date than Asoka.2 The latter, in his ' Memorandum,'3 he ascribes to the
age of that monarch. These determinations he founds principally on
the form of the characters used in the inscriptions on them, which
certainly are nearly identical with those used on the hits. Prom
them, and the details of the sculptures, it is quite evident they
cannot be far removed in age from the dates so assigned to them.
1 ' Tree and Serpent Worship,' Preface
to the First Edition.
- 'Archaeological Reports,' vol. i. \>. 10.
:l ' Memorandum,' dated 18th April,
1874, printed by the Bengal Govern-
ment, hut not published.
BUDDHFST ARCHITECTURE.
Book I.
CHAPTER IV.
KAILS.
contents.
Rails at Bharhut, Muttra, Sanchi, ami Amravati.
It is only recently that our rapidly-increasing knowledge has cuahled
us to appreciate the important part which Rails play in the history of
Buddhist architecture. The rail of the great Tope at Sanchi has, it
is true, been long known; but it is the plainest of those yet dis-
covered, and without the inscriptions which are found on it, and the
gateways that were subsequently added to it, presents few features
to interest any one. There is a second rail at Sanchi which is more
ornamented and more interesting, but it has not yet been published
in such a manner as to render its features or its history intelligible.
The same is at least partially true of the great rail at Budilli
Gaya, though it is one of the oldest and finest of its kind. When,
however, the Amravati sculptures were brought to light and pieced
together,1 it was perceived that the rail might, and in that instance
did, become one of the most elaborate and ornamental features of
the style. Since then General Cunningham has found two or three
buried rails at Muttra, and his crowning discovery of the great rail
at Bharhut, has made it clear that this was the feature on which the
early Buddhist architects lavished all the resources of their art, and
from the study of which we may consequently expect to learn most.
The two oldest rails of which we have any knowledge in India
are those at Buddh Gaya and that recently discovered at Bharhut.
The former, General Cunningham thinks, cannot be of much later
date than Asoka.2 The latter, in his ' Memorandum,'3 he ascribes to the
age of that monarch. These determinations he founds principally on
the form of the characters used in the inscriptions on them, which
certainly are nearly identical with those used on the hits. Prom
them, and the details of the sculptures, it is quite evident they
cannot be far removed in age from the dates so assigned to them.
1 ' Tree and Serpent Worship,' Preface
to the First Edition.
- 'Archaeological Reports,' vol. i. \>. 10.
:l ' Memorandum,' dated 18th April,
1874, printed by the Bengal Govern-
ment, hut not published.