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

4

THE INDIAN VILLAGE

Indo-Aryan culture had already

for many centuries

planted

itselfdeepinIndiansoil,andIndo-Aryan

buildinghadacquired

an Indian character as

distinctive as that

of Indo-Aryan

philosophyand religious

teaching.

Just

as atthe

presentday

one mustlook forall thatis

truly typical of Indian life and

characterinthevillageratherthaninthe

town, inthesameway

theessentialderivationsofIndianarchitecture,

inconstruction

andin decoration,will be found not in

imperial palaces, but

inthe lifeofthevillagefolk.

ThevillageinancientIndiarepresentedahighlyorganised

socialcommunity,farremovedfromthedecadentmodern type.

TheAryan,

jealousof

histribalhonourandproudofhissocial

privileges, was, as the name implies, a born aristocrat; but

hisidealofgovernmentwasessentiallydemocratic. Only

the

urgent necessity of national or racial preservation reconciled

himtothelifeofgreattownsandacentralised formofgovern-

ment. The philosophy

ofthe Vedas proclaimed the highest

ideal of self-government,

and Aryan philosophy was not an

abstractspeculative

theory,butapractical

formula

oflife. The

teachingof Buddha,

though itdisputed the divine authority

whichthe orthodoxattributed

totheVedas,onlygave tothis

formulaa differentinterpretation and awider

application. It

wasaprotestagainstsacrificial

ritesandthe debasingpractice

ofphysicalself-torture,throughwhich

certainBrahmanicalsects

soughttoacquire spiritual

wisdom and toinculcate habits of

self-control

;

but itwasinnoway

opposedtotheesotericteach-

ingofAryan philosophy. Onthecontrary,it

laidthe founda-

tionsofthelatteronawiderfootingand

openeditsdoorstothe

wholeworld,
instead ofreserving itas the
exclusive property

oftheAryan race.

Thegreatbulkofthepopulation inearly

Buddhist times,

says ProfessorRhys Davids, orat least
70-80per cent., lived

invillages,andtheentireliteratureof
earlyBuddhismmentions