DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9541#0160
Chap. VI.
V1IIA.RAS.
137
and religion and philosophy were taught from a hundred chairs, and
here consequently our Pilgrim sojourned for five years, imbibing the
doctrines of the Law of Buddha. What Cluny and Clairvaux were
to France in the Middle Ages, Nalanda was to Central India, the
depository of all true learning, and the foundation from which it spread
over all the other lands of the faithful; but still, as in all instances
connected with that strange parallelism which existed between the two
religions, the Buddhists kept five centuries in advance of the Christians
in the invention and use of all the ceremonies and forms common to
both religions.
It would indeed be satisfactory if the architecture of this cele-
brated monastery could be restored and its arrangements made dear.
(Something has been done by Cunningham1 towards this, and
excavations have been made by Mr. Broadley and Captain Marshall.
The former it is feared has destroyed more than he has restored, and
his drawings are so imperfect as to be utterly unintelligible. The
latter has not yet published his discoveries. Nothing, however,
would probably better repay a systematic exploration than this cele-
brated spot, if undertaken by some one accustomed to such researches,
and capable of making detailed architectural drawings of what is
found.
If, however, it should turn out, as hinted above, that the whole of
the superstructure of these viharas was in wood, either fire or natural
decay may have made such havoc among all that remains of them, as
to leave little to reward the labours of the explorer. What has been
done in this direction certainly affords no great encouragement to hope
for much. At Sultangunge, near Monghyr, a large vihara wTas cut
through by the railway, but except one remarkable bronze statue of
Buddha2 nothing was found of importance. The monastery apparently
consisted of two large courtyards surrounded by cells. What was
found, however, could only have been the foundations, as there were
no doorways to the apartments or means of communication between
each other or with the exterior.3
The vihara excavated by Captain Kittoe and Mr. Thomas, at
Sarnath, seems certainly to have been destroyed by fire. All that
remained was a series of some twenty cells and four larger halls
surrounding a pillared court ;»0 ft. square. On one side were three
cells evidently forming a sanctuary, as is frequently found in the later
rock-cut examples.4
The excavations conducted by General Cunningham, at the same
place, are hardly more satisfactory in their result. The two buildings
1 ' Archaeological Reports,' vol. i. pp. j 3 ' Journal of the Asiatic Society of
28-36, plate 16. Bengal,' vol. xxxiii. ]>. 360, el aeqq.
2 Now in private hands in Birmingham. 1 Ibid., vol. xxiii. p. 469, el seqq.
V1IIA.RAS.
137
and religion and philosophy were taught from a hundred chairs, and
here consequently our Pilgrim sojourned for five years, imbibing the
doctrines of the Law of Buddha. What Cluny and Clairvaux were
to France in the Middle Ages, Nalanda was to Central India, the
depository of all true learning, and the foundation from which it spread
over all the other lands of the faithful; but still, as in all instances
connected with that strange parallelism which existed between the two
religions, the Buddhists kept five centuries in advance of the Christians
in the invention and use of all the ceremonies and forms common to
both religions.
It would indeed be satisfactory if the architecture of this cele-
brated monastery could be restored and its arrangements made dear.
(Something has been done by Cunningham1 towards this, and
excavations have been made by Mr. Broadley and Captain Marshall.
The former it is feared has destroyed more than he has restored, and
his drawings are so imperfect as to be utterly unintelligible. The
latter has not yet published his discoveries. Nothing, however,
would probably better repay a systematic exploration than this cele-
brated spot, if undertaken by some one accustomed to such researches,
and capable of making detailed architectural drawings of what is
found.
If, however, it should turn out, as hinted above, that the whole of
the superstructure of these viharas was in wood, either fire or natural
decay may have made such havoc among all that remains of them, as
to leave little to reward the labours of the explorer. What has been
done in this direction certainly affords no great encouragement to hope
for much. At Sultangunge, near Monghyr, a large vihara wTas cut
through by the railway, but except one remarkable bronze statue of
Buddha2 nothing was found of importance. The monastery apparently
consisted of two large courtyards surrounded by cells. What was
found, however, could only have been the foundations, as there were
no doorways to the apartments or means of communication between
each other or with the exterior.3
The vihara excavated by Captain Kittoe and Mr. Thomas, at
Sarnath, seems certainly to have been destroyed by fire. All that
remained was a series of some twenty cells and four larger halls
surrounding a pillared court ;»0 ft. square. On one side were three
cells evidently forming a sanctuary, as is frequently found in the later
rock-cut examples.4
The excavations conducted by General Cunningham, at the same
place, are hardly more satisfactory in their result. The two buildings
1 ' Archaeological Reports,' vol. i. pp. j 3 ' Journal of the Asiatic Society of
28-36, plate 16. Bengal,' vol. xxxiii. ]>. 360, el aeqq.
2 Now in private hands in Birmingham. 1 Ibid., vol. xxiii. p. 469, el seqq.