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

38

VILLAGE SHRINES

J

canbe easilytraced. The familiarname

kuti, orhouse, given

tosucha shrineissufficient indication. Itwas

originallythe

hutor

cellof some holy man,a

hermit, yogi, orrishi ofgreat

fame

inthevillage,inwhichhisstaff,

water-vessel,andbegging-

bowlwould be venerated as memorials after

his death. The

sanctityofthe manwouldclingtohis hut, butthe

namegiven

toitin theAsokansculptures originallymeant nothing

more

thanthat itwas

thehouseof

aparticularhermitoryogi. As,

however, hero-worship gradually developed into definite

religious cults such

as

Buddhism and

Jainism,

the house of

thesaintcame

tobe

regarded literallyas the House ofGod.

Ordinarily

thehut,withits verandahin frontor

all round

it,wouldbecome

oneofthevillageshrines,theverandah

shelter-

ingsome

otherreligiousdevotee,perhapsachela,ordiscipleof

the deceased,

who tookcharge of it. Butwhen suchashrine

becamefamous

asaplaceofpilgrimage, ahall, or

mandapam,

which

Fergusson callsaporch, wasplacedin frontofitforthe

accommodation

oftheworshippers. Thesimplest formofthe

mandapam

was an open pavilion supported byfour ormore

pillars androofed,

accordingtothecharacterofthe localbuild-

ingmaterials,with

bambuandthatchinBengalifashion, orby

a more permanent

structure of timber carpentering, covered

perhaps byskins, or byclayand plaster,

orotherwise by flat

slabsofstonearrangedin successivetiers one

over the other,

as showninfig.

13.

Inall casesthemodel forthetemplemandapam

was that

of the village assembly-hall, or mote-house,

which was at

the

same time the local council-chamber,

court-house, music-

hall, theatre,

and school. It washerethat the

village council

gathered

todiscuss localaffairs, tosettle

disputes,and decide

uponthe

punishment of offendersagainstthe

traditional

laws

of thecommunity.

Itwas herethat the

villagers gathered

in

the evening

to listen tothe recitation

of the national

Aryan