Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/107

CHAP. III. TOPES AT SARNATH AND IN BIHAR. 75 In his excavations, General Cunningham found, buried in the solid masonry, at the depth of io feet from the summit, a large stone on which was engraved the usual Buddhist formula, " Ye dharmma hetu," etc., in characters belonging, he thought, to the /th century, from which he inferred that the monument belongs to the 6th century. But I cannot accept the conclusion ; it seems to me much more probable that this stone may have belonged to some building which had fallen into decay, or to have been the pedestal of some statue which had been dis- used, and was consequently utilised in the erection or repair of this structure. One feels consequently more inclined to adopt the tradition preserved by Captain Wilford, 1 to the effect that the Sarnath monument was erected by the sons of Mahipala, and destroyed (interrupted ?) before its completion. 2 We know that the Deer Park, where the Buddha preached his first sermon, was the site of one of the early and most sacred stupas, and the excavations recently made have brought to light remains of all ages from that of A^oka down to the nth century at least. An inscription, found long since, and dated in A.D. 1026, records the repair of a Buddhist stupa and Dharmachakra, and the erection of a Gandhakuti temple in the time of Mahipala probably by his sons. 3 Whether it refers to this stupa or not, it indicates that large restorations did take place as late as the nth century, when this also was probably encased, as we now find it, with a modernised exterior. The form of the monument with the eight projecting faces that decorate its drum, the character of its sculptured ornaments, the unfinished condition in which it is left, and indeed the whole circumstances of the case, render this date so probable that it may be accepted for the present at least, though it is quite possible that further research may require us to modify this opinion. The only stone building yet found in India that has any pretension to be dated before Ajoka's time is one at Rajgir, having the popular name of Jarasandha-ka-baithak. As will be seen from the annexed woodcut (No. 18), it is in the form of a platform 85 ft. square at the base and sloping upwards for 20 or 28 ft. to a platform measuring 74 by 78 ft. 4 It is built wholly of stones, neatly fitted together without mortar ; and its most remarkable peculiarity is that it contains fifteen cells, one of which is shown in the woodcut. They are from 1 ' Asiatic Researches,' vol. ix. p. 203, and vol. x., p. 130. 2 See also paper by Vesey Westmacott, 'Calcutta Review,' vol. lix., 1874, p. 68. 1 ' Asiatic Researches,' vol. v. p. 133 ; ' Indian Antiquary,' vol. xiv. p. 139. The contents of this inscription was prob- ably the basis of Wilford's statement. 4 ' Indian Antiquary,' vol. i. p. 72.