Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/409

 CHAP. I. CIRCULAR PAGODAS OR CHAITYAS. 349 upon us. Thus the buildings of one country supplement those of the other, and present together a series of examples of the same class, ranging over more than 2000 years, if we reckon from the oldest dagabas in Ceylon to the most modern in Burma. Another example of importance, the Shwe-zigon pagoda near Pagan, might here be included, especially as, although the original pagoda founded in 1094 was, according to Mr. Nisbet, built over and increased in 1 164, it at all events is less attenuated than either the Shwe-Tshandau or the Shwe-Dagon. It retains also in its three lower storeys, with terraces and processional paths round, the primitive form of the early dagabas. At a place called Mingun, about half-way between the former capital of Amarapura and the present one at Mandalay, are two pagodas, which are not without considerable interest for our present purposes ; if for no other reason, at least for this that both were erected about a hundred and twenty years ago, and show that neither the forms nor aspirations of the art were wholly extinguished even in our day. The first, the Sinbyume pagoda, is circular in form, and was erected in the year 1790, in the reign of King Bodauhpaya (1781-1819). As will be seen from the woodcut (No. 448), it is practically a dagaba, with five concentric procession-paths. Each of these is ornamented by a curious serpent-like balustrade, interspersed with niches con- taining, or intended to contain, statues of Buddha, and is accessible by four flights of steps facing the four cardinal points. The whole is surrounded by a low circular wall 750 ft. in diameter, said to represent the serpent Ananta. Within this is a basement, measuring about 400 ft. across, and this, with the procession-paths and dagaba on the summit, make up seven storeys, intended, it is said, to symbolise the mythical Mount Meru. 1 The building was severely damaged by the earthquake of 1838, but was restored by King Mindon Min in 1874; above the central tower shown in the woodcut (No. 448) a low storey has been built with projecting dormers and niches in them as in the Tupayon pagoda and, crowning the same, an octagonal base in two tiers supporting the bell, the finial with rings round and the Hti ; a series of five consecutive entrance porches 1 The above particulars are abstracted from a paper by Col. Sladen in the 'Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,' vol. iv. (N. S.) p. 406, with remarks by Col. Yule and others. It is curious that there is a discrepancy between the native and the European authorities as to the number of storeys not mechanical, of course, but symbolical ; whether, in fact, the basement should be counted as a storey, or not. The above I believe to be the correct enumeration. We shall presently meet with the same difficulty in describing Boro-Budur in Java.