History of Indian and Eastern ArchitectureFergusson, James
History
History of Indian and Eastern Architecture
Fergusson, James
Architecture -- India; Architecture, Asian
Be this as it may, any one who will compare the plan of the chaitya at
Sanchi (Woodcut No. 40), which is certainly Buddhist, with that of this
temple at Aiwulli, which is either Jaina or Vaishnava, can hardly fail
to perceive how nearly identical they must have been when complete. In
both instances, it will be observed, the apse is solid, and it appears
that this always was the case in structural free-standing chaityas. At
least, in all the rock-cut examples, so far as is known, the pillars
round the apse are different from those that separate the nave from the
aisles; they never have capitals or bases, and are mere plain
makeshifts. From the nature of their situation in the rock, light could
not be admitted to the aisle behind the apse from the outside, but must
be borrowed from the front, and a solid apse was consequently
inadmissible; but in free-standing examples, as at Aiwulli, it was easy
to introduce windows there or anywhere. Another change was necessary
when, from an apse sheltering a relic-shrine, it became a cell
containing an image of a god; a door was then indispensable, and also a
thickening of the wall when it was necessary it should bear a tower or
sikra to mark the position of the cella on the outside. Omitting the
verandah, the other changes introduced between the erection of these two
examples are only such as were required to adapt the points of support
in the temple to carry a heavy stone roof, instead of the light wooden
superstructure of the Buddhist chaitya. (Woodcut No. 121.)
[Illustration: 121. Temple at Aiwulli. (From a Photograph.)]
It may be a question, and one not easy to settle in the present state of
our knowledge, whether the Buddhist chaityas had or had not verandahs,
like the Aiwulli example. The rock-cut examples naturally give us no
information on this subject, but the presumption certainly is, looking
at their extreme appropriateness in that climate, that they had this
appendage, sometimes at least, if not always.
If from this temple at Aiwulli we pass to the neighbouring one at
Pittadkul, built probably a couple of centuries later, we find that we
have passed the boundary line that separates the ancient from the
mediæval architecture of India, in so far at least as plans are
concerned (Woodcut No. 122). The circular forms of the Buddhists have
entirely disappeared, and the cell has become the base of a square
tower, as it remained ever afterwards. The nave of the chaitya has
become a well defined mantapa or porch in front of, but distinct from,
the cell, and these two features in an infinite variety of forms, and
with various subordinate adjuncts, are the essential elements of the
plans of the Jaina and Hindu temples of all the subsequent ages.
[Illustration: 122. Plan of Temple at Pittadkul. (From a Plan by Mr.
Burgess.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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