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

CHAPTER VII

THE VIHARA, OR MONASTERY—THE GAUTAMI-PUTRA MONAS-

TERY, NASIK

—

MONASTERY AT BEDSA

—

MODELS OF

MONASTERIES AT MAMALLAPURAM

Wemustnowpassontothemhdras,ormonasteriesadjoining,

-'orsometimesincludedin,thechaitya-housesandothershrines

towhichthe religiousdevoteesofancientIndiaattachedthem-

selves. It iswrongto assume that either the chaitya-houses

or the

monasteries

which belonged to them were exclusively

Buddhist institutions,

although the oldest materials fortheir

architecturalhistory

arepracticallyall Buddhist. The life of

religious recluses dwelling

togetherin forestasramas isoften

describedinancient

Sanskritliterature. TheSilpa-sastrasgive

particular directions for

the planning ofvillagesintendedfor

thosewho lived a monastic

life; and just as the builders of

Buddhistchaityasand

chaitya-housesfollowedveryclosely,

as

we have seen,the ancient

Indian tradition of structure

and

symbolism, sotherecannot

bemuch doubtthatthe dwellings

ofthe Buddhist

bhikkus in

Asoka's time differedvery

little

from those which

had been used

bydevotees of other

sects

beforethetenets

ofthegreat

Kshatriyareformerwere

propagated

byhiszealous royal

disciple.

An ordinary

asrama occupied

by Buddhist

bhikkus is

quaintlyshown in

one ofthe

Bharhut reliefs(PI.

XXI),which

represents the

Jetavana monastery

of Srivasti,

which inFa

Hian'stime, or the

fifthcentury

a.d., had

grown into a great

establishmentwith

splendid

buildings

seven stories

inheight.

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