Page:History of Indian and Eastern Architecture Vol 2.djvu/507

 CHAP. IV. BORO-BUDUR. 425 of half-way house between the majestic simplicity of the Abhayagiri at Anuradhapura, and the somewhat tawdry com- plexity of the pagoda at Mingun (Woodcut No. 448). With the idea of a dagaba, however, Boro - Budur also combines that of a vihara, such as that illustrated by Woodcuts Nos. 89, 90. There the cells, though only copied solid in the rock, still simulated the residences of the monks, and had not yet advanced to the stage we find in the Gandhara monasteries, where the cells of monks had become niches for statues. Here this is carried further than in any example found in India. The cells of the Mamallapuram example are here repeated on every face, but essentially as niches, and are occupied by 436 statues of Buddha, seated in the usual cross-legged attitude. In this respect Boro-Budur is in advance of the Takht-i-Bahai, which is the monument in India that most nearly approaches to it in mythological significance. So great, indeed, is the similarity between the two, that whatever date we assign to the one drags with it that of the other. It would, indeed, be impossible to understand how, in the 7th century, Buddhism had been so far developed towards the modern Nepalese and Tibetan systems if we had not these Gandhara monasteries to fall back upon. On the other hand, having so similar a Buddhist development in Java in the 7th century, it seems difficult to separate the monuments of the north-west of India from it by any very long interval of time. As will be observed from the plan and elevation (Woodcuts 477, 478, page 423), the monument may be described either as a seven or a nine-storeyed vihara, according as we reckon the platform on which the seventy-two small dagabas stand as one or three storeys. Its basement measures over 400 ft. across, but the real temple is only 300 ft. from angle to angle either way. It is not, however, either for its dimensions or the beauty of its architectural design that Boro-Budur is so remarkable, as for the sculptures that line its galleries. These extend to nearly 5,000 ft. almost an English mile and as there are sculptures on both faces, we have nearly 10,000 lineal ft. of bas-reliefs ; or, if we like to add those which are in two storeys, we have a series of sculptures, which, if arranged consecutively in a row, would extend over nearly 3 miles of ground. Most of them, too, are singularly well preserved ; for when the Javans were converted to Muhammadanism it was not in anger, and they were not urged to destroy what they had before reverenced ; they merely neglected them, and, except for earthquakes, these monuments would now be nearly as perfect as when first erected. The outer face of the basement, though extremely rich in architectural ornaments and figure-sculptures, is of comparatively