Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/164

 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. BIHAR CAVES. As might be expected from what we know of the history of the localities, the oldest caves in India are situated in Bihar, in the neighbourhood of Rajagriha now Rajgir which was the capital of Bengal at the time of the advent of Buddha. Bihar, however, was also one of the earliest provinces in which the Jaina doctrines were propagated, and their great Tirthankara Mahavira was a native of Vai^ali, 1 and a contemporary of Gautama Buddha. He preached in Tirhut, Bihar, and neighbouring districts, and is said to have died at Pawapuri, about 10 miles to the north-east of Rajgir, where his sarnosaran or stupa stands, marking one of the most sacred places of pilgrimage of the sect. 2 They have several temples about Rajgir, and in early times they would have bhikshugrihas or residences for their ascetics hewn out in the rocks just as other sects had. And on the wall of the Sonbhandar cave is an inscription dating perhaps from about A.D. 200, ascribing it to a Muni Vairadeva and as " fit for the residence of Arahants " indicating that it then belonged to the Jains. 3 The most interesting group is situated at a place called Barabar, 16 miles north of Gaya. One there, called the Kama Chaupar, bears an inscription which records the excava- tion of the cave in the nineteenth year after the coronation of A.yoka (B.C. 244).* It is simply a rectangular hall measuring 33 ft. 6 in. by 14, and except in an arched roof rising 4 ft. 8 in. above walls, 6 ft. I in. in height, it has no architectural feature of importance. At the right, or west end, is a low platform as if for an image, and the walls are polished quite smooth. A second, called the Sudama or Nyagrodha cave (Woodcut No. 53), bears an inscrip- tion of Ajoka's twelfth year, the same year in which most of his edicts are dated, B.C. 250, and, consequently, is the oldest architectural example in India. It dedi- cates the cave to the mendicants of the Ajivika sect. 5 The cave consists of two apartments : an outer, 32 ft. 9 in. in length, and 19 ft. 6 in. in 53. Sudama Cave. 1 Near Chapra and Cherand, on the north bank of the Ganges, some 20 to 25 miles above Patna. 'Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' vol. Ixix. pp. 77ff. 2 Buhler ' On the Indian Sect of the Jainas,' Eng. trans., pp. 25<f. ; Cunning- ham, ' Archaeological Survey Reports,' vol. xi. pp. I7of. ; ante, p. 54, note I. 3 Cunningham, ' Archaeological Survey Reports,' vol i. p. 25, and plate 13. 4 ' Indian Antiquary,' vol. xx. pp. i68ff. and 36 iff. 5 The Ajivikas were followers of Makhali Gosala, a contemporary and opponent of Mahavira and of Buddha. They were naked recluse devotees and fatalists, and were often ranked with the Digambara Jains. The Vijva cave here, and the three caves in Nagarjuni hill, i excavated in the reign of Dajaratha,