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

MONASTERY AT

BEDSA

83

ofHindu

sculptureis

"writtenin decay."

Noneofthesculp-

ture

atKirl^and

verylittlethatbelongsto

the Mauryan

epoch

in India

hadanyconnection withPersia in

thesense

intended

by

Fergusson and other archaeologists.

These

capitals are

Vedic-Indian,orIndo-Aryan,and

onlyPersianso

farasPersian

artwas inearlyVedic times

itself inspired by

Aryan culture.

The superficial similarity

between these

and Persepolitan

capitals

wastheresultofthecommonorigin

oftheirsymbolism,

not tothepresenceofforeigncraftsmenin

theIndiaofAsoka's

time. ThesplendouroftheMauryan

courtmayhave

attracted

Fig.34.—SectionofRock-cut

ViharaatBedsa(fromadrawingbytheArchaeological

Survey

of

India),

skilled craftsmen from

Persepolis,but theyworked in India

under

Indianinspiration justas the Gandharancraftsmen did

somecenturies later. Theywere but craftsmen learning the

art language of India, not artistsenrichingitwith

theirown

creative ideas.

The symbolism

of

this Hlnayana Buddhist

artprovesthistobethecase,as Fergussonhimselfwouldhave

admitted ifhehad understoodit.

An exceptional form of rock-cut vihara is

the early

Buddhist

one at Bedsi, ascribed to the second century b.c,

which has its cells placed round a chaitya-house having
the

usualbarrel-vaultedroofandan apseround
thechaitya. The

planand section
are shown in figs.
34

and

35.