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

VILLAGE

SHRINES

37

of placing
it upon awider
social and
spiritual basis—that
of

theSangha,
orcommunity,
instead
of the household or tribe.

Thus
thesimple shrine
which served
forthereligious
rites of

the Indo-Aryan

village grew into

the cathedralchurch

of the

Buddhist Sangha.

Thereare manyrepresentations

ofvillage

shrines in Aso-

kansculptures. PI. IX,a,

shows atypical

onefromBharhut,

which

proves that

the Indianvillage

shrine ofthethirdcen-

turyB.C. alreadycontained allthe

constructive elements

ofthe

medievalHindutemple. Themain

buildingwasonlya

square

or

circular cell—such

as might have

served

for

the

hutof

a hermit, oryogi

—

coveredbyadome,doubtlessconstructed

withawoodenorbambu framework.

'

It

contained sacred symbols

which were

the

objects ofworship.

Thiscellcorre-

sponds to thegarbha-griha, or holy of

holies,ofamedieval Hindutemple. In

front of it was a verandah covered

by

the usual Indian chhaja, which served

asashelterforthetwoguardiansofthe

shrine, humanordivine, whoare shown

standing in front of it.

This is

the primitive form of the

antarala,orinnerchamber,ofthe laterHindutemple(fig. 12).

In front of this, again, is the hall for the worshippers, the

mandapamof the Hindu

Silpa-sastras, coveredbythe typical

Bengaliroof.

Thesymbolicmeaningof therailingenclosingthe

shrine,

whichistheprototypeof

theplinthofaHindutemple,hasbeen

alreadyexplained. Itisthe

rail

of

the ancientVedicsacrifices,

which showed

thattheplacewasholyground.

As in therail

and toran of the stdpa, the

secular origin of such a village

shrineandofeach

divisionofthe Buddhist

and Hindu temple

garhha-griha

antar&la

mandapam

Wl-Jni i^TW

Fig.12.

—

TypicalPlanofa

HinduTemple.