Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/245

CHAP. VII. GANDHARA MONASTERIES. The sculptures discovered have been partly collected in the Indian Museums those of Lahor and Calcutta having between them 1700 or more specimens of this class of art, and small collections were sent to Madras, Rangoon, and Bombay in 1884 ; there is a large and fine collection at Berlin, and over a hundred pieces at the Louvre, whilst the small collection in the British Museum is due almost entirely to private donors. 1 These remarkable sculptures have attracted more attention on the continent than in India or England, and the encouragement given by continental governments has conduced in a marked degree to their study and the solution of some of the problems they present. 2 The essential elements of a Buddhist monastery were the stupa and sangharama or quarters for the monks ; the vihara proper, or shrines for the images, might be arranged to form a court round the stupa, or they might surround a separate court, between the stupa and sangharama and, as in the Mahayana schools the images were very numerous, the pantheon must often have overflowed the capacity of the stupa courts. The following plans (Woodcuts Nos. 119, 120), of the two principal monasteries which have been excavated in the vicinity of Peshawar, will explain their arrangements in so far as they have been made out. As will be seen at a glance, they are very similar to each other, or at least consist of the same parts. First a circular or square court, AA, surrounded by cells, evidently intended to contain images, though none were found in situ. In the centre of each stands a circular or square platform, being the basement of a stupa, approached by steps. 3 The circular one at Jamalgarhi was 22 ft in diameter and adorned with cross-legged, conventional, seated figures of Buddha, the smaller one, at Takht-i-Bahai, was 15 ft. square and ornamented by two rows of pilasters one over the other. Beyond this is an oblong court, BB, called the "pantheon," from the number of images, small models of topes, and other votive offerings of all sorts, that were found in it. It, like the last court, is surrounded by niches for images, and was the " vihara " properly so called. 1 Foucher, ' L'Art Greco- Bouddhique du Gandhara,' tome i. pp. 23-30. 2 In 1893 Prof. A. Griinwedel, in a handbook of the Gandhara sculptures at Berlin, discussed the origin of ' Buddhist Art in India,' elucidating the subject from the bas - reliefs in the Royal Museum there. An enlarged edition was issued in 1900, and an English transla- tion revised and greatly extended was published (by Quaritch) in 1901. Dr. A. Toucher's Mission to the North-West Frontier, etc., has already been referred to, ante, p. 89. 3 All the stupas of the Panjab and Gandhara had steps up to the level of the basement, and usually on the side facing the monastery ; thus, at Jamalgarhi they were a little to the east of south, whilst at Takht-i-Bahai, they were on the north side. Some had steps on two, and others on all four sides.