DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0159
13(i
BUDDHIST AliCIITTECTriiE.
Book I.
sequent Buddhist and Dravidian architecture, is so great that it is
well worth quoting here, though this will be more evident in the
sequel than it can be at present. In construction the breadth, in
a structural building, would probably have been greater in proportion
to the height than in this example, but that is of little consequence
for our present purposes.
It is, of course, always difficult, sometimes impossible, to realise
the form of buildings from verbal descriptions only, and the Chinese
Pilgrims were not adepts at architectural definitions. Still Hiouen
Thsang's description of the great Nalanda monastery is important, and
so germane to our present subject that it cannot well be passed over.
This celebrated monastery, which was the Monte Cassino of India
for the first five centuries of our era, was situated thirty-four miles
south of Patna, and seven miles north of the old capital of Raja-
griha. If not founded under the auspices of the celebrated Nagar-
juna in the 1st century, he at all events resided there, introducing the
Mahayana or great translation, and making it the seat of that school
for Central India. After his time six successive kings had built as
many viharas on this spot, when one of them surrounded the whole
with a high wall, which can still be traced, measuring 1G00 ft. north
and south, by 400 ft., and enclosing eight separate courts. Externally
to this enclosure were numerous stupas or tower-like viharas, ten or
twelve of which are easily recognised, and have been identified, with
more or less certainty, by General Cunningham, from the Pilgrim's
description.1 The general appearance of the place may be gathered
from the following: — "In the different courts the houses of the
monks were each four storeys in height. The pavilions had pillars
ornamented with dragons, and had beams resplendent with all the
colours of the rainbow—rafters richly carved—columns ornamented
with jade, painted red and richly chiselled, and balustrades of carved
open work. The lintels of the doors were decorated with elegance,
and the roofs covered with glazed tiles of brilliant colours, which
multiplied themselves by reflection, and varied the effect at every
moment in a thousand manners." Or as he enthusiastically sums
up:—"The Sangharamas of India are counted by thousands, but
there are none equal to this in majesty or richness, or the height
of their construction." -
From what we know of the effects of Burmese monasteries at the
present day this is probably no exaggeration; and with its groves of
Mango-trees, and its immense tanks, which still remain, it must have
been, as he says, "an enchanting abode." Here there resided in his
time—within and without the walls—10,000 priests and neophytes,
1 ' Archccological Reports,' vol. i. p. 28,
plate 16.
'Hiouen Thsnng,' vol. i. p. lot.
BUDDHIST AliCIITTECTriiE.
Book I.
sequent Buddhist and Dravidian architecture, is so great that it is
well worth quoting here, though this will be more evident in the
sequel than it can be at present. In construction the breadth, in
a structural building, would probably have been greater in proportion
to the height than in this example, but that is of little consequence
for our present purposes.
It is, of course, always difficult, sometimes impossible, to realise
the form of buildings from verbal descriptions only, and the Chinese
Pilgrims were not adepts at architectural definitions. Still Hiouen
Thsang's description of the great Nalanda monastery is important, and
so germane to our present subject that it cannot well be passed over.
This celebrated monastery, which was the Monte Cassino of India
for the first five centuries of our era, was situated thirty-four miles
south of Patna, and seven miles north of the old capital of Raja-
griha. If not founded under the auspices of the celebrated Nagar-
juna in the 1st century, he at all events resided there, introducing the
Mahayana or great translation, and making it the seat of that school
for Central India. After his time six successive kings had built as
many viharas on this spot, when one of them surrounded the whole
with a high wall, which can still be traced, measuring 1G00 ft. north
and south, by 400 ft., and enclosing eight separate courts. Externally
to this enclosure were numerous stupas or tower-like viharas, ten or
twelve of which are easily recognised, and have been identified, with
more or less certainty, by General Cunningham, from the Pilgrim's
description.1 The general appearance of the place may be gathered
from the following: — "In the different courts the houses of the
monks were each four storeys in height. The pavilions had pillars
ornamented with dragons, and had beams resplendent with all the
colours of the rainbow—rafters richly carved—columns ornamented
with jade, painted red and richly chiselled, and balustrades of carved
open work. The lintels of the doors were decorated with elegance,
and the roofs covered with glazed tiles of brilliant colours, which
multiplied themselves by reflection, and varied the effect at every
moment in a thousand manners." Or as he enthusiastically sums
up:—"The Sangharamas of India are counted by thousands, but
there are none equal to this in majesty or richness, or the height
of their construction." -
From what we know of the effects of Burmese monasteries at the
present day this is probably no exaggeration; and with its groves of
Mango-trees, and its immense tanks, which still remain, it must have
been, as he says, "an enchanting abode." Here there resided in his
time—within and without the walls—10,000 priests and neophytes,
1 ' Archccological Reports,' vol. i. p. 28,
plate 16.
'Hiouen Thsnng,' vol. i. p. lot.