The ancient and medieval architecture of India: a study of Indo-Aryan civilisation

VISHNU

SHRINES

43

thatthe"Vishnu

"

shrineisas ancientas

anyother

—viz. that

miniature shrines

of thistypeare

constantlybeing

dug up at

Sarnath and otherancient

Buddhist sites,

side by side with

the miniature stdpas which

were the special

symbols of the

Buddhistsand

Jains. Forreasonswhich

aregivenbelowitis

necessaryto reject Professor Macdonell's

theory' of the

deri-

vation of the sikhara from the stdpa,

to which

I subscribed

previously.^ Theconstructive

principlewasthesame

in both,

butthe symbolismofthe stdpawasdifferent.

The mostnoteworthyexampleofa

"

Vishnu

"

shrine,and

oneoftheearliestnowexisting,isthe

famousBuddhisttemple

of

Bodh-Gayi, built

in honour of the Bodhi tree (Vishnu's

tree),andof Buddha as the Upholderofthe Universe. Not

many years ago the possession of the shrinewas thesubject

of

a great controversy in which the

Government of Bengal

opposed the

claimsofthe Mahantofa neighbouringVaishna-

vaite monastery to its custody.

The official

experts seem to

havemisapprehended the historicalaspectsofthecase,and,as

so

frequentlyhappenswhen historyismisread,ledtheGovern-

mentintoafalse

positionwithregardtothereligioustraditions

ofIndia.

As

a

"

Vishnu

"

shrinemaybeBuddhist,so

itmayalsobe

Saivaite, for

Siva to Saivaites is Brahmi,

Vishnu, and Siva.

Itistheimage forwhich

theshrine is builtwhichdetermines

theform

of

thelatter. There

is some internal evidence as to

the

antiquityof

the M^nasara traditions

in this statement, for

image-worshipwas not

generally recognised by

philosophical

Hinduism until theriseofthe

Mahayanaschool of

Buddhism

about the beginning

of the Christian

era. But

shrines for

Brahmi,Vishnu,and

Sivawerecertainlybuilt

beforethistime.

/

A

"

Siva

"

shrine,inthe

technical sense,has

one entrance

^

"JournaloftheRoyal

SocietyofArts,"Mar.

5,1909.

2

"

Indian

Architecture: ItsPsychology,

Structure,andHistory,"

1913,

p.98.