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

72

THE

kArLE

CHAITYA-HOUSE

isnow

standing, the

placeofthe other

one

beingcovered by

a

later Dtirga

shrine. It is

interesting

tonotice

that thesym-

bolicaltradition

isstill

maintainedin

thiscomparatively

modern

Hindu building, for,

as the

Silpa-sastras

record,^ the

sixteen-

sided

pillar is technically

known as

Rudra-kantha

—

i.e. it is

consecrated

toSiva in

Brahman

hagiology,or

Dharmain the

equivalent

Buddhist

meaning

;

Dtirgi

beingthe

saktiorfemale

energyof Siva in

his tamasic

aspect

as Rudra.

Themodern

shrineistherefore

the correct

symbol

forthe right-hand

pillar,

Fig.31.—PlanofKirleChaitya-house(fromFergusson's"CaveTemples

'").

which

has fallen. TheHindumali usesthe same symbolism

when

he plants a pair of trees, as male and female, beside

the

wellofhisorchard orgarden,and celebrates theirwedding

with sacred rites.

Thecapital ofthisVishnu standard is not, as Fergusson

supposed,aPersepolitanideaimportedintoIndia

bythe crafts-

men of Asoka'scourt, but thetraditional Indian

rendering

of

ancient Vedic symbolism. It is the amalaka,

the fruit of

Vishnu'sbluewater-lily,and ofthe purewhite

flowerofSiva,

'

Seeabove,

p.58.