Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/274

 238 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. Besides these, there are on the hill of Mihintale, eight miles to the east of the city, two important relic-shrines ; one of the first class the Mahaseya, erected on its summit to cover a hair that grew on the forehead of Buddha over his left eyebrow. The other the Ambasthala dagaba on a shoulder of the hill immediately below this is of the same class as the Thiiparama ; it stands on the traditional spot where King Devanampiya-Tissa first met the Thera Mahinda, and is said to have been erected by that king. The small central building stands on a base 29 ft. in diameter and about 3 ft. high ; and the dome, where it rises from this, is 23 ft. in diameter and about 20 ft. high, rather oval in curvature and surmounted by a square capital support- ing a stunted spire the total height being about 30 ft. from the circular pavement on which it stands. It is surrounded by two concentric rows of pillars, which, as appears to have been usual when this mode of decoration was employed, rose to half the height of the central mound. The inner circle of twenty pillars stands 5 ft. from the basement, and the outer, of thirty-two shafts, is 12 ft. farther out. They are 12 ft. high with octagonal capitals 2 ft in height. The platform is reached on the west side by a granite stair. 1 There are, in addition to these, a great number of dagabas of various sorts scattered over the area once covered by the old city, but whether any of them are particularly interesting, either from their architecture or their history, has not been ascertained, nor will it be till the whole site has been systematically and carefully surveyed. There is another ruin at Anuradhapura, which, if a little more perfect, would be even more interesting than those topes. It goes by the name of Loha Mahapaya, or Great Brazen Monastery. We have a full account in the ' Mahawansa ' of its erection by the pious King Dutthagamani (dr. B.C. ioo), 2 accord- ing to a plan procured from heaven for the purpose as well as a history of its subsequent destruction and rebuildings. When first erected it is said to have been ioo cubits or 230 ft. square, and as high as it was broad ; the height was divided into nine storeys, each containing ioo cells for priests, besides halls and other indispensable apartments. Nearly 200 years after its erection it required considerable repairs, but the first great disaster occurred in the reign of Mahasena (4th century), who is said to have destroyed it utterly. 3 It was re-erected by his son, but with only five storeys instead of nine ; and it. never after this regained its pristine magnificence, but 1 Smither, ' Anuradhapura,' p. II. ' 2 ' Mahawansa,' Tumour's translation, p. 163, ch. 27. 8 Loc. cit. p. 235, ch. 37.