Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/211

 CHAP. VI. WESTERN VIHARA CAVES. 177 of the larger one, and is in all respects similar, except that its dimensions are only 22 ft. by 17 ft., and the roof has fallen in. Between the two a mass of rock is left in order to admit of a stair being cut in it leading to the surface of the rock above ; but what stood on the platform there has not been investigated. The other caves, at Barabar and Nagarjuni, if not exactly chaityas in the sense in which that term is applied to the western caves, were at least oratories^ places of prayer and worship, rather than residences. One Ajivika ascetic may have resided in them, but for the purpose of performing the necessary services. There are no separate cells in them, nor any division that can be considered as separating the ceremonial from the domestic uses of the cave, and they must consequently, for the present at least, be classed as chaityas rather than viharas. The case is widely different when we turn to the caves in Orissa, which are among the most interesting, though at the same time the most anomalous, of all the caves in India. With possibly one or two exceptions belonging to other sects, they were evidently excavated for the Jains. Till comparatively recently, however, they were mistaken for Buddhist, but this they clearly never were ; hence they must be described in a subsequent section of this work (Book V. chapter ii., in Vol. ii.). WESTERN VIHARA CAVES. The oldest cave in western India is probably a small vih^ra to the west of the Bhaja group, which is unique of its kind. It faces north and consists of a verandah i/| ft. in length by 7 ft. wide at the east end and 9^ ft. at the west, with a hall, also of somewhat irregular form, 1 6 ft. deep by 16 ft 7 in. across, exclusive of a bench 21 in. broad along the east side. The accompanying plan (Woodcut No. 96) will show the arrangement of the four cells entering from the hall and one from the verandah, in three of which are stone beds ; besides, there are three cells, or cubicles, with a separate entrance outside the verandah to the left, each with its stone bed usually an indication of early date. VOL. I. M 96. Plan of small Vihara at Bhaja. (From a plan by Mr. H. Cousens.) Scale 25 ft. to i in.