DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0148
subsequent additions. None but mortals were sculptured in the
earlier caves, and among these mortals Sakya .Muni nowhere appears.
Here, on the contrary, he is Bhagavat—the Holy One—the Deity—
the object of worship, and occupies a position in the front of the
dagoba or altar itself (Woodcut No. 61, p. 126), surmounted by the
triple umbrella and as the Numen of the place.
At a future stage of our inquiries we may be able to fix more
nearly the time in which this portentous change took place in
Buddhist ritual. For the present it is sufficient to remark that
images of Buddha, and their worship, were not known in India in
the 1st century of our era, and that the revolution was complete in
the 5th century.
Before leaving this cave, however, it may be well to remark on
the change that had taken place in the form of the dagoba during
these 500 years. If Woodcut No. 01 is compared with the dagobas
in Nos. 5ti and 57, it will be seen how much the low rounded form
of the earl}- examples had been conventionalised into a tall steeple-
like object. The drum had become more important than the dome,
and was ornamented with architectural features that have no meaning
us applied. But more curious still is the form the triple umbrella
earlier caves, and among these mortals Sakya .Muni nowhere appears.
Here, on the contrary, he is Bhagavat—the Holy One—the Deity—
the object of worship, and occupies a position in the front of the
dagoba or altar itself (Woodcut No. 61, p. 126), surmounted by the
triple umbrella and as the Numen of the place.
At a future stage of our inquiries we may be able to fix more
nearly the time in which this portentous change took place in
Buddhist ritual. For the present it is sufficient to remark that
images of Buddha, and their worship, were not known in India in
the 1st century of our era, and that the revolution was complete in
the 5th century.
Before leaving this cave, however, it may be well to remark on
the change that had taken place in the form of the dagoba during
these 500 years. If Woodcut No. 01 is compared with the dagobas
in Nos. 5ti and 57, it will be seen how much the low rounded form
of the earl}- examples had been conventionalised into a tall steeple-
like object. The drum had become more important than the dome,
and was ornamented with architectural features that have no meaning
us applied. But more curious still is the form the triple umbrella