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

THE kArLE

CHAITYA-HOUSE

73

placed

within the four legsofaVedic altar

of sacrifice

;

one

part

of the sixteen-petalled flower is

turned down upon

the

shaft,as inthepillarsof the Bharhut

sculptures(fig.

21),

and

the

othergrows

upwards

tosupportthe altaronwhichthe

four

lion-guardians

ofthedoorsoftheskyareplaced.

Theentrance

tothechaitya-housewasthroughaporchwith

threeentrances,

overwhich wasthe naubat-khdna,or

music-gallery,similarto

thatshownintheBharhut relief

(PI.IX,c). This is nowin a

very

ruinouscondition,^and

onlythemortice-holes ofwooden

attachments

toitnow

remain.

The

fagade

of

the

entrance,whichwasscreened

from out-

sideviewby

this porch

andgallery,is illustrated

in PI.XVIII.

The central doorway,

opening into the nave, or hall of the

Sangha, wasthe entrance

for members of the order; the left

entrancewasforthelaymen,

sothattheymightcircumambulate

thechaityaandpassoutbytheexitontheright-handsidewith-

outdisturbingthecongregation.

This combination of three doorways inall

thechaitya-

houses and

in other sacred

edifices wherethebodhitreewas

theobjectof

adoration,

wasa purelypracticalarrangementfor

theconvenienceofworshippers.

Plate IX, D, shows theAsokan prototype of the twelve-

pillaredmandapam {baradart), used asashrine for the sacred

tree. Thethree

doorways in each sideof it

could have been

used inthesameway, theinnercircuit being reserved forthe

electoftheorderand theouteroneforlaymen. SomeBuddh-

iststtipas are

providedwith adouble rail round the pradak-

shind path for the same purpose. In Brahmanical shrines,

also, the

impure lowcastes could thus be separated from the

twice-born. The

ritualistic significance which attached itself

tothiscombinationofdoorwayswas,nodoubt,

thereasonwhy

^

Idonot

knowwhether,likemanyancientmonuments,thishasbeenlatelyrestored

by

theArchaeological

SurveyofIndia.