Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/278

 242 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. containing an image of the Buddha. 1 In others, such as that styled the Vijayarama vihara, there was a small dagaba as well as a temple and other structures ; and connected with each such vihara would be the indispensable Service-hall or Uposathagharam. The "preaching halls" which Fah Hian mentions at the head of the four principal streets, where the religious members of the community of all classes assembled on stated days to listen to the preaching of the doctrine or " bana," may have been connected with certain of these viharas. 2 Besides these there is at Anuradhapura a temple called Isurumuniya, partly cut in the rock, partly structural. Till within the last forty years the pillars of its porch still carried the wooden beams of a roof, but whether it was the original one or a subsequent addition is by no means clear. From the mortises in the face of the rock I would be inclined to believe that it was at least in the original form, but the building has been so knocked about and altered in modern times, that it is impossible to speak with certainty regarding it. So far as can be judged from photographs, I would be inclined to ascribe the original excavation to the 6th or 7th century. 3 The architecture of the steps and the Naga dwarpals are all of the old pattern, but coarser and showing unmistakable signs of decadence. The excavations directed by Mr. Bell, among other important discoveries, have brought to light a regular " Buddhist railing " surrounding a rectangular site, near the Abhayagiri Dagaba. The pillars of this rail were only 3 ft. 10 in. in height by 8 in. square quite diminutive as compared with Indian examples and standing I ft apart with three cross - bars, surmounted by a coping 8 in. high ; but it stood on a moulded basement about 3 ft. 9 in. in height, thus raising the whole to about 8 ft. 3 in. high. Except a little carving on the jambs of the entrance, the whole is perfectly plain. 4 To us these are the most interesting of the remains of the ancient city, but to a Buddhist the greatest and most sacred of the vestiges of the past is the celebrated Bo-tree. This was long reverenced and worshipped even amidst the desolation in which it stood, and has been worshipped on this spot for more than 2000 years ; and thus, if not the oldest, is certainly among the most ancient of the idols that still command the adoration of mankind. 1 Smither's ' Anuradhapura,' pp. 59-60 and plates 58, 59 ; and Spence Hardy, ' Eastern Monachism,' pp. 200-201. 2 Fah Hian, chap. 38. 3 " The doorway is fine, and the temple is unique in many respects." Cave's ' Ruined Cities of Ceylon,' p. 63. 4 ' Second Archaeological Survey Re- port,' pp. 3, 4. A small fragment of Buddhist railing had also been found here in 1873. Smither's 'Anuradha- pura,' p. 50 and plate 44.