Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/264

 230 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. been one in connection with the vihara. It seems to be referred to about a century later ; : and by Gajabahu I., in the 2nd century A.D. we are told "it was constructed of a greater elevation, and he caused arches to be built at the four gates." Such casing of smaller dagabas to enlarge them was not infrequent. The stupa stands on a stone-paved platform 590 ft. square, raised about p| ft. above the ground level, and ascended on each side by a flight of steps 27 ft. wide. The excavations here and at the other large dagabas have shown that, as with the Nepal and Indian chaityas, at each cardinal point there were richly carved, oblong projections from the circle of the lower pasadas or terraced basement, which were, doubtless, the chapels or thrones for the Dhyani Buddhas. We have a similar arrangement also at Sanchi and in the Kalinga stupas. 2 The second tope is the Jetawanarama, begun by King Mahasena in the 4th century, and finished by his successor, Kittis-Siri Meghavanna. In form and dimensions it is almost identical with the last described, though somewhat more perfect in outline, owing probably to its being more modern than its rival. 3 Its chapels seem to have been quite ruined. Next to these, but far more important from its sacredness, is the Ruwanveli dagaba, erected by King Dutthagamani, between the years B.C. 102 and 78, over a very imposing collec- tion of relics, of which a full account is given in the 28th to 3 ist chapters of the ' Mahawansa..' Its dimensions are very similar to those of the last two described ; but it has been so much defaced, that except the remains of the circular plinths round its base, it has, like the rest, become only a huge shape- less mound of solid brickwork. The excavations, however, have made it plain that the dome had a diameter of 252 ft. 8 in., that, like all the others, it stood upon a basement of three plinths called pasadas, or procession terraces, together 15 ft. high, and rose from a stilted drum to a greater height than a hemisphere. The ' Mahawansa ' says it was 120 cubits high, or about 270 ft., but the present mound stands only about 179 ft. above the paved platform, which is 5 ft. 7 in. above the ground 1 Mahawansa, ch. 35. 2 'Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,' 1902, p. 32 ; ' Buddhist Art in India,' p. 195. The dsana, or seat for Vairochana. is in the relic chamber. At the Mirisa- veti dagaba at Anuradhapura, and at Rankot and Kiri dagabas at Polonnaruwa, Mr. Bell has found several detached cells or chapels probably of late date. That the'MahSyana ritual had found acceptance in Ceylon by the gth century or earlier, is evidenced by Mr. Bell's discovery at the Vijayarama monastery of copper plaques bearing invocations to Akasa- garbha, Vairochana, TarS, etc. - ' Sessional Papers,' 1896, pp. 460, 464-467. 3 Its dome is 310 ft. in diameter and its height to the top of the square capital, 187 ft. 6 in., and to the top of the ruined spire 245 ft. Smither's 'AnurSdhapura,' plate 47.