Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 1.djvu/94

 62 BUDDHIST ARCHITECTURE. BOOK I. CHAPTER III. STtJPAS. CONTENTS. Relic Worship Bhilsa Topes Topes at Sarnath and in Bihar Amaravati Stupa Gandhara Topes Jalalabad Topes Manikyala Stupa. THERE are few subjects of like nature that would better reward the labour of some competent student than an investigation into the origin of Relic Worship and its subsequent diffusion over the greater part of the old world. So far as is at present known, it did not exist in Egypt, nor in Greece or Rome in classical times, nor in Babylon or Assyria. In some of these countries the greatest possible respect was shown to the remains of departed greatness, and the bones and ashes of persons who were respected in life were preserved with care and affection ; l but there was no individual so respected that a hair of his head, a tooth, or a toe-nail, even a garment or a utensil he had used, was considered as a most precious treasure after his death. In none of these countries does it appear to have occurred to any one that a bone or the begging-pot of a deceased saint was a thing worth fighting for ; or that honour done to such things was a meritorious act, and that prayers addressed to them were likely to be granted. Yet so ingrained do these sentiments appear to be among the followers of Buddha, that it is difficult to believe that the first occasion on which this sentiment arose, was at the distribution of his remains on his attaining Nirvana at Kusinagara, about B.C. 480. On that occasion, eight cities or principalities are said to have contended for the honour of possessing his mortal remains, and the difficulty was met by assigning a portion to each of the contending parties, who are said to have erected stupas to contain them in each of their respective localities. 2 None of these can now be identified with 1 Examples of this may be cited in the reverence of the Athenians for the remains of Theseus and Oedipus, and the honours paid to those of Demetrius ; but this bears no analogy to the relic- worship of India, and Central Asia. 2 These were Rajagriha, Vauali, Kapilavastu, Allakappa, Rimagrama, Vethadipa, Pava, and Kunnara.' Bud- dhist Art in India,' p. 15 ; S. Hardy's 'Eastern Monachism,' p. 221. The fame of this distribution seems to