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

THE STUPA

49

onlythe

Buddhists calledthem

Buddha,Sangha,andDharma,

instead

ofBrahm^,

Vishnu,andSiva,accordingtotheorthodox

Brahmanformula.

Fourbars tothe Brahman

meant thefour

Vedas,the

depositoryofthesacredtraditions

oftheAryanrace;

the

Buddhists explained themas

the foureventsin the life of

the

Blessed One—the Nativity,

the Enlightenment, the First

Sermon at Benares, and His

Death, or Pari-Nirvana. The

splendid open lotus flowers

carved upon therail (PI. XIII, a)

weresymbolsandvotive

offeringswhichhadthesamemeaning

forall schools of Aryan

philosophyand religion. Theriteof

pradakshina,

the circumambulation of the

sttlpa,

which

the

pilgrims

performed, was the ancient

Aryan rite which was

repeatedeverydayroundtheenclosure

ofeveryIndian village.

AndinAsoka'stime allthe beautiful

imageryofAryan poetry

which first found expression in

theVedic hymns waswoven

intothefabricofthestdpa. It

wasnolongerafunerealmound,

butplanned likethe Indian

villageon the lines of the cosmic

order which the Divine

Artificer Himself had drawn. The

dome

was the

symbol of the sky, the blue lotus flower en-

velopingtheearthwith its invertedpetals. Thegroupoffive

columns

which

rose from the base of the dome atthe point

oppositethefourgatewaysmarkedthearmsofthecosmiccross,

likethemain streets ofan Aryanvillage, and representedthe

five cosmic jewels, earth, air, fire, water, and ether. The

reliquary,at

the

crownofthedome,wastheVedicaltarofburnt

sacrifice;therailpatternuponitreproducinginadecorativeform

theactualrail whichenclosed thesacrificialarea, and also the

village shrine. The

umbrella over the

reliquary, originally

part

ofthe royal insignia

of the Kshatriya

PrinceSiddhartha,

^

TheVedicconnotationofthis

symbolismistpbefoundinthefivepostsofsacrifice,

i.e.thefourmarkingoutthesacrificialareaandthe

centralstakeoraltar,orthefourcorner

pillarswhichupheldtheuniversewithVishnu'spillarortreeinthecentre. Oragain,the

fourcornerpostsofthevillage

enclosurewiththecounciltreeinthecentre.

4