Buddhist architecture

Buddhist religious architecture developed in the Indian subcontinent. Three types of structures are associated with the religious architecture of early Buddhism: monasteries (viharas), places to venerate relics (stupas), and shrines or prayer halls (chaityas, also called chaitya grihas), which later came to be called temples in some places.

The initial function of a stupa was the veneration and safe-guarding of the relics of Gautama Buddha. The earliest surviving example of a stupa is in Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh).

In accordance with changes in religious practice, stupas were gradually incorporated into chaitya-grihas (prayer halls). These are exemplified by the complexes of the Ajanta Caves and the Ellora Caves (Maharashtra). The Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya in Bihar is another well-known example.

The Pagoda is an evolution of the Indian stupa.

Early development
The beginning of Indian monumental architecture dates back to the time of Ashoka (reigned 268-232 BC), ruler of the Maurya Empire, the earliest empire of Indian history, which was founded in the 6th century BC. Accepted as a reform movement from the more authoritarian Brahmanism Buddhism and had promoted its dissemination. Against this background, a Buddhist sacral architecture emerged for the first time, as well as a secular art influenced by Buddhist iconography. The Buddhist sacred building is not intended for the worship of deities, but is either in the form of a cult building symbolize cosmological ideas or accommodate in the form of a monastery followers of Buddhism on the ” eightfold path ” to overcome the suffering.

Centers of Buddhist architecture were next to the Maurya Empire (4th to 2nd century BC) whose successor under the Shunga dynasty (2nd and 1st century BC), the Western Dean in the area of today Maharashtra and the northwest of the subcontinent with the historical region of Gandhara and the kingdom Kuschana (3rd century BC to 3rd century AD), where Buddhism is a close symbiosis with the culture of the Hellenistic world, which has been widespread since Alexander the Great einging (Graeco Buddhism). After Hellenistic pattern was created about in the 1st century BC. The settlement Sirkap in the area of Taxila (Gandhara, present-day Northwest Pakistan) with main street, right angles outgoing side streets and blocks of houses in the rectangular grid.

The capital of the Maurya, Pataliputra (Bihar, Northeast India), is said to have been one of the largest cities of the time according to the description of the Megasthenes. Since Pataliputra is now largely under the city of Patna, so far only a small part of the ancient city has been excavated, including remains of a picket fence. The remains of a large hall resting on monolithic sandstone pillars, whose purpose is unknown, represent the most outstanding find.

After the fall of Kushana, and partly before that, Buddhism, with the exception of Sri Lanka, was everywhere in South Asia, albeit with considerable regional disparities, in retreating from the resurgent Hinduism. This was accompanied by a reduction in Buddhist construction activity, which finally came to a standstill after the advance of Islam. The Buddhist building tradition outside of India continued to develop and develop, especially in Southeast and East Asia as well as in the Tibetan cultural area.

Beginning of monumental architecture
The origins of Indian monumental architecture that began in the 3rd century BC are not clear, but are attributed to Persian influences by many scholars (including Mortimer Wheeler), while Indian archaeologist and art historian Swaraj Prakash Gupta sees his own development of wood carving of the Gangestal. Persian stonemasons, after the destruction of the Achaemenid empire by Alexander the Great in 330 BC, according to Persian proponents, could Chr. Brought the art of stone processing and polishing to India. Among other things, the design of relief figures speaks for this thesis. On the other hand, the Buddhist stupas as the earliest representatives of sacred architecture as well as early temple and monastery complexes can be derived from Indian models, where many design principles were indeed taken from the wood architecture.

It is undisputed that the Achaemenids already in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. BC expanded to the northwest of the Indian subcontinent. From this time come numerous city fortifications (ramparts, ditches) in northern India. A second wave of the construction of such facilities took place at the time of the Hellenistic incursions of the Graeco-Bactrians in the 2nd century BC.

The stupa as the earliest Buddhist cult building
At the time of the Maurya, the stupa was the earliest known form of Buddhist religious architecture. The stupa emerged from older, buried burial mounds. Early stupas consisted of a flattened, brick-built and often filled with quarry stone or earth hemisphere (Anda, literally “egg”), in which a chamber (Harmika) for the storage of relics is embedded, and were surrounded by a wooden fence. In addition to relics, stupas should often recall important events in the history of Buddhism.

Most during the Maurya period in the 3rd and 2nd century BC The stupas of northern India and Nepal, built in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC, were walled under the Shunga dynasty of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, the oldest of the well-preserved stanchas of Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh, Central India). Amongst the stupas of Sanchi, the mid-2nd century BC stands out. Renewed, in the core but still from the epoch of the Maurya originating Great Stupa out, which is one of the most important architectural monuments of Indian antiquity. He has all the elements that are characteristic of the later Stupas. The Anda rests on a terraced circular substructure (Medhi), which is accessible via staircases. The harmonica is no longer embedded in the anda, but stands inside a square stone balustrade on top. The conclusion is a stone mast (Yasti), which is derived from the centrally placed wooden rods of the former burial mounds, with triple umbrella-shaped crowning (Chattra, plural Chattravali). The building as a whole symbolizes the cosmos according to Buddhist ideas, with the Anda representing the heavens and the Yasti the axis of the world. The complex is surrounded by a walkway (Pradakshinapatha) and stone fence (Vedika); however, the four stone gates (Torana) with rich figureheads embedded in it were only built in the 1st century BC. Chr. Or later supplemented. Also from the Shunga period is the Stupa of Bharhut in Madhya Pradesh. The ruling on the territory of today’s Andhra Pradesh Shatavahana built between the 2nd century BC. Chr. And the 2nd century AD Stupas with pictorial Frisians, including in Ghantasala, Bhattiprolu and Amaravati.

Also in the northwest the stupa architecture flourished; One of the earliest examples is the Dharmarajika stupa in Taxila in the Gandhara region (northern Pakistan), which resembles the stupas of Maurya and Shunga. In Gandhara, a new type of stupa developed: From around the 2nd or 3rd century AD, a square pedestal detached the round medhi in the Kuschana pond, while the previously flattened hemisphere shape of the actual stupa was now stretched cylindrically. Representing this new type is the Stupa of Sirkap near Taxila. The stretched stupas were widely distributed in northern India due to the expansion of Kushana. For particularly large stupas the Medhi is narrower, higher and delimited by cornices of the superstructure, so that the stupa appears like a storey building. Stupas from the late period of Buddhism in northern India tower towering high, and the Anda only forms their upper conclusion. An example is the incomplete, cylindrically elongated Dhamek Stupa of Sarnath (Uttar Pradesh, North India) from the 4th or 5th century.

In Sri Lanka, which in contrast to the rehinduisierten, later partly Islamized India is still Buddhist shaped, developed from the 3rd century BC. Chr. A special variety of Stupa, which is known as Dagoba. The oldest Dagobas are either preserved as ruins or were later overbuilt. Characteristic features are the generally round step base, the hemispherical or bell-shaped Anda, the quadratic harmonica sitting on it and the conical tip composed of tapered rings.

In other parts of Asia, where Buddhism has taken hold to some extent today, the construction tradition of Stupa was continued and further developed. New forms of construction emerged from it, such as the chortens in Tibet, the pagoda in China and Japan, and the Thai chedi through the intermediate step of the Dagoba. Other variants are common in Southeast Asia.

Buddhist cave temples and monasteries

The caves in the Barabar Mountains Bihars from the 3rd century BC BC, the epoch of the Maurya, represent the starting point of the monolithic cave temple architecture, which in later centuries matured into an important feature of all-Indian architecture. Although the Barabar Caves of the Ajivika sect, a non-Buddhist community, served as a place of worship, they anticipate some features of later Buddhist cave temples. The Lomas Rishi Cave consists of an elongated hall, adjoined by a circular chamber that served as a cult room. Both forms of space later merged in the Buddhist sacred building to the prayer hall (Chaityagriha, Chaitya-Hall). Among the Barabar Caves, only the entrance to the Lomas Rishi Cave is adorned with an elephant relief modeled on wooden models.

In the 2nd or 1st century BC The oldest parts of Bhaja monastery date to the beginning of the Buddhist cave temples. Bhaja is located in the Western Dean, where the main development of the cave temples took place. Here rectangular hall and circular chamber are already merged to the apsidial Chaitya -Langhalle with barrel vault. A column row divides the hall into three ships. In the apse rises a small stupa, which is cut out of the rock just like all the other components. On both sides of the horseshoe-shaped entrance to Chaitya-Halle lie, each grouped around a larger central space, several simple rectangular cells that form a monastery (Vihara) in their entirety. The described structure represents the basic concept of Buddhist cave monasteries in India; Subsequent investments differ, apart from a few exceptions, only in their size, complexity and individual artistic design. The architecture of the cave monasteries is an eye-catcher in imitating contemporary timber construction, as the columns of the Chaitya halls and the ribs of the vaulted ceilings are in caves without any static function. The exterior facades often imitate wooden models, which have not survived.

The caves of Karla from the 1st to the 2nd century AD are similar in structure to the nearby monastery complex of Bhaja. Karla takes a special position with his rich picture decoration, which stands in contrast to the rather economical decor of Bhajas. If the columns in Bhaja are still unstructured and completely unadorned, the capitals of the finely articulated columns in Karla adorn elaborate figures of lovers (mithuna). Perfection reaches the sculptural decoration in the four Chaitya halls and more than 20 Vihara caves comprising Ajanta plant, which over a long period from about the 2nd century BC. Was created until the 7th century AD. In addition to lush relief and ornamental decoration on portals, columns and pilasters Ajanta is famous for its murals. While the Buddha is worshiped in the older plants only in symbolic form by stupas, are found in the younger caves numerous figurative representations. In Ellora, only the oldest part (about 6th to 8th century) is Buddhist, in addition there is a Hindu and Jain cave group each.

Detached temples and monasteries
Given the high level of mastery of the monolithic rock monasteries and temples and the obvious borrowings in the art of wood, it can be assumed that the freestanding sacral architecture was executed in the early Buddhist period in wood, but is not preserved due to the transience of the material. Remains of freestanding stone architecture of the late Buddhist period can be found only occasionally. In Gandhara in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent freestanding viharas have emerged since the 2nd century AD, which are like the cave viharasconsisted of a monk’s chambers grouped around a generally rectangular courtyard. They were usually part of larger structures with temples, stupas and farm buildings, which are now preserved only as ruins. One of the largest monasteries of this type was Takht-i-Bahi in present-day Pakistan. Relatively well preserved are the remains of the founded in the 5th century by the Gupta, later promoted by Harsha and the Pala and destroyed in the 12th century by Muslim conquerors monastic university (Mahavihara) in Nalanda (Bihar, Northeast India). The main building is the built over several precursors of bricks Great Stupa (SariputtaStupa) surrounded by steps, terraces and votive stupas, as well as corner towers with sculptures of Buddha and Bodhisattvas. Of the Chaityas and Viharas are little more than the foundations preserved, by means of which, however, is clearly seen that the Viharas around large farms – were arranged – similar to the cave viharas to middle rooms. Significant are some of the still completely preserved tower-like temple of Nalanda, whose Cella is located on the top floor.

From the Gupta period (about 400) comes the freestanding temple No. 17 of Sanchi, which housed a – lost – Buddha statue. The most significant freestanding Buddhist structure in India is the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodhgaya (Bihar, Northeast India), the place where Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment. The brick temple was built in the 6th century parallel to the early form of the Hindu temple in Guptareich, but was changed in the 12th and 13th centuries by Burmese master builders. Its basic form, with a pyramid – shaped center tower towering on a platform and a smaller replica of it at the four corner points of the platform, resembles the concept of medieval Hindu temples in theNagara style.

The Stambha
Free-standing monolithic columns (Stambhas) from the time Ashokas that are still intact, were discovered in ancient trade streets and places of worship at several locations in northern India. They contain historically very significant inscriptions (pillar edicts). The bell-shaped capitals adorn sculptures of individual or grouped guardian animals that are similar to Achaemenid motifs. While the oldest capitals were still rather squat, the later Stambhas have elongated capitals whose abacus adorn depictions of animals and plants. Best known is the capital of the Stambha of Sarnath(Uttar Pradesh, North India) with four lions looking in the direction of the sky and the Buddhist symbol of Dharmachakra (“Wheel of the Teaching”). It served as a model for the state emblem of the Republic of India.

The idea of a cultic column is modeled on the oldest temples of the Near East, the Indian Stambhas can be derived as a development within the region from the Vedic ritual column, the round mast for animal sacrifice Yupa. Freely erected Buddhist Stambhas served the proclamation of the teaching and as an image-free symbol for the worship of Buddha. In early stupas on a round pedestal, as in Sanchi, Stambhas were placed next to the buildings on the ground. With the development of square base zones, the pillars, especially in northwestern India, were erected on the corners on these platforms. This can still be seen on stupa pictures on bas-reliefs from Mathura and Taxila-Sirkap. Near stupas from the 1st century AD in Mingora, Swat Valley in northwestern Pakistan, stone columns were excavated that were once covered with stucco and richly decorated. The largest and most famous column from the Kushana period was the 28-meter-high Minar-i Chakri south of Kabul in Afghanistan.

Stambhas at Chaityas (Buddhist cave temples) are preserved in front of India’s largest cave temple in Karli west of Pune – it is a pillar with lion capitals resembling the Ashoka pillar from the 2nd century AD – and from the same time on both sides of the entrance to the Cave # 3 in Kanheri in the hinterland of Mumbai.

Freestanding Buddhist stambhas were not later built, their mythological importance as a world axis went into the built on the stupa central mast (Yasti), which carries the honor umbrellas (Chattravali). For this, this symbolism was adopted by Jainas whose medieval temples have a Manas-Stambha placed in front of them. The Gupta Iron Column, erected in Delhi around 400, is spectacular because of its material. In Hindu temples, the pillar erected on the main axis of the temple buildings ensures the cosmogonic order.

Source From Wikipedia