Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/113

Rh permanently the reputed scene of some incident famous in the history of the Buddhist Church; but occasionally one was erected merely in honour of a Buddha. The form, apparently of high antiquity, seems to be derived from that of a hut with a curved bamboo roof, not from an earthen tumulus. In Asoka's age a stûpa was a nearly hemi-spherical mass of solid masonry, either brick or stone, resting upon a plinth which formed a perambulation path for worshippers, and flattened at the top to carry a square altar-shaped structure, which was surmounted by a series of stone umbrellas one above the other. The base was frequently surrounded by a stone railing, the pillars, bars, and coping-stones of which might be either quite plain or adorned by all the resources of sculpture in relief. Sometimes the entrances through the railings were equipped with elaborate gateways (toṙaṇas), resembling in style those still common in China, and covered with the most elaborate carvings.

The principal stûpa at Sânchî, which stands on the top of a hill and is a conspicuous object as seen from the Indian Midland Railway, is a segment of a sphere, built of red sandstone blocks, with a diameter of 110 feet at the base of the dome. The diameter of the plinth or berm is, $121 1⁄2$ feet, and the total height of the monument when perfect is believed to have been about $77 1⁄2$ feet. It is enclosed by a massive plain-stone railing with monolithic pillars 11 feet high, entrance being effected through four highly ornate