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

THE

GAUTAMI-PUTRA

MONASTERY 8

1

Ndgarjuna.

The simple

ritualof

the Hinayina

school only

demanded

a stone

bench which

ran round

three sides of the

hall

(41

feetbroad

by

46

deep)

infront

ofthecells, uponwhich

themonks satto

listentothe

word of

the Blessed One.

The

position

of the chaitya, sculptured

in

low relief,

is shown in

theplan bythe projection

on the

walls of the cells

which face

thecentraldoorway.

Theentrance

tothehallwas

througha

verandah(PI.XXII)

fronted

by six

pillars of the

Sanghawith

capitals almost

identical in their sculpture

with those at Karl^,

except

thatsomeofthe

Devasonthe

Vedic altars

ride upon bulls

andlionsinsteadofelephants.

The bull was the sacrificial

animal, the

symbol of pro-

creation,

thevdkan,orvehicle

of Siva, and thus the guar-

dian of the western

quarter,

orthe

gateofthesettingsun.

Thelionstoodfortheblazing

heat of the sun high in

the

heavens

which dried up the

deadlymists of theplains: itwas thus the vehicle

of Dtlrga,

the Inaccessible, Destroyer

ofdemons—

who

was Siva's bride

and represented Nature-force, the counterpart of the Great

Spirit who is the Lord of Death. The lion as a sun-

emblem was the guardian of all four quarters, and became

the udhan, or throne symbol, of the Buddha to signify his

world-wide dominionandtheglory of hisspiritual conquests.

The
elephantwas

Indra'srain-cloudandguardianofthesouth,

whencecame therushingmonsoon

winds carrying Lakshmi's

6

Fig.33.—PlanofGautamt-putraMonastery,Nisik.