Fergusson, James: History of Indian and Eastern architecture (Band 1) (London, 1910)

25. View of Manikyala Tope. (From a Photograph.)

belt of pilasters, joined generally by arches simulating the
original rail. This can hardly be an early architectural form,
and leads to the suspicion that, in spite of their deposits, their
outward casing may be more modern than the coins they
contain ; yet, 011 the other hand, we must admit that the simple
hemispherical dome, without drum, placed on a low platform,

1 Cunningham, ‘ Archreological Reports,’ vol. v. pp. 75-79, and plates 21-24.

96 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. Book I.

of the Public Works Department. They also made careful
plans and sections of the whole.1

From these it appears that the dome is an exact hemisphere,
127 ft. in diameter, and consequently as nearly as may be, 400
ft. in circumference. The outer circle measures in like manner
159 ft. 2 in., or 500 ft. in circumference, and is ascended by
four very grand flights of steps, one in each face, leading to
a procession-path 16 ft. in width, ornamented both above
and below by a range of dwarf pilasters, representing the
detached rail of the older Indian monuments. It is, indeed,
one of the most marked characteristics of these Gandhara topes,
that none of them possess, or ever seem to have possessed,
any trace of an independent rail; but most have an ornamental