DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27191#0169
Chap. V.
WESTERN CHAITYA HALLS.
r33
were excavated between the date of the Sudama and that of
the “ Milkmaid’s Cave,” so called (which was excavated by
Da^aratha), probably within forty years of that date. They
appear to range, therefore, from B.c. 250 to about 220, and
the Lomas Rishi is probably the most modern—it certainly
is the most richly ornamented. No great amount of elabora-
tion, however, is found in these examples, inasmuch as the
material in which they are excavated is the hardest and
most close-grained granite; and it was hardly to be expectecl
that a people, who so recently had been using chiefly wood
as a building material, would have patience sufficient for labours
like these. They have polished them like glass in the interior,
and with that they have been content.
There is yet another small cave of this class—called Sita-
marhi—about 13 miles south of Rajagriha, and 25 miles east
from Gaya. It consists of a chamber rectangular
in plan, and measuring 15 ft. 9 in., by 11 ft. 3 in.,
which is hollowed out of an isolated granite
boulder lying detached by itself, and not near
any rocks. Inside it is as carefully polished as
any of those at Barabar.1 Its principal interest,
however, is in its section (Woodcut No. 57),
which is that of a pointed arch rising from the
floor level to a height of 6 ft. 7 in., without any
perpendicular sides, which are found in the other
caves here. The jambs of the doorway also slope
inwards from the bottom to the top, about 1 in.
each. From its peculiarities we might infer that
it is possibly the oldest in the district; but we
must have a more extended series before we can
form a reliable sequence in this direction. In 57- Pjan .Section
, . , r . , * , °f Sita-marhi. Scale
the meantime, however, we may ieel sure that 20 ft. t0 1 in.
this hermitage belongs to the great Mauryan
age, but whether before or after Ajoka’s time must be left at
present undetermined.2
Western Chaitya Halls.
There are in the Western Ghats and elsewhere in the
Bombay Presidency six or seven important chaitya caves whose
dates can be made out, either from inscriptions, or from internal
evidence, with very fair approximate certainty, and all of which
were excavated, if I am not very much mistaken, before the
Christian Era. The oldest of these is situated at a place
1 Beglar in ‘ Archneological Survey of India Reports,’ vol. viii. pp. 106-107.
8 ‘ Cave Temples,’ pp. 52-53.
WESTERN CHAITYA HALLS.
r33
were excavated between the date of the Sudama and that of
the “ Milkmaid’s Cave,” so called (which was excavated by
Da^aratha), probably within forty years of that date. They
appear to range, therefore, from B.c. 250 to about 220, and
the Lomas Rishi is probably the most modern—it certainly
is the most richly ornamented. No great amount of elabora-
tion, however, is found in these examples, inasmuch as the
material in which they are excavated is the hardest and
most close-grained granite; and it was hardly to be expectecl
that a people, who so recently had been using chiefly wood
as a building material, would have patience sufficient for labours
like these. They have polished them like glass in the interior,
and with that they have been content.
There is yet another small cave of this class—called Sita-
marhi—about 13 miles south of Rajagriha, and 25 miles east
from Gaya. It consists of a chamber rectangular
in plan, and measuring 15 ft. 9 in., by 11 ft. 3 in.,
which is hollowed out of an isolated granite
boulder lying detached by itself, and not near
any rocks. Inside it is as carefully polished as
any of those at Barabar.1 Its principal interest,
however, is in its section (Woodcut No. 57),
which is that of a pointed arch rising from the
floor level to a height of 6 ft. 7 in., without any
perpendicular sides, which are found in the other
caves here. The jambs of the doorway also slope
inwards from the bottom to the top, about 1 in.
each. From its peculiarities we might infer that
it is possibly the oldest in the district; but we
must have a more extended series before we can
form a reliable sequence in this direction. In 57- Pjan .Section
, . , r . , * , °f Sita-marhi. Scale
the meantime, however, we may ieel sure that 20 ft. t0 1 in.
this hermitage belongs to the great Mauryan
age, but whether before or after Ajoka’s time must be left at
present undetermined.2
Western Chaitya Halls.
There are in the Western Ghats and elsewhere in the
Bombay Presidency six or seven important chaitya caves whose
dates can be made out, either from inscriptions, or from internal
evidence, with very fair approximate certainty, and all of which
were excavated, if I am not very much mistaken, before the
Christian Era. The oldest of these is situated at a place
1 Beglar in ‘ Archneological Survey of India Reports,’ vol. viii. pp. 106-107.
8 ‘ Cave Temples,’ pp. 52-53.