Page:Provincial geographies of India (Volume 4).djvu/214

198 the most ancient Buddhist chaityas, as represented in the sculptures at Sanchi, and in the ancient model pagodas found near Buddhist remains in India; the fantastic boo-payah, or pumpkin pagoda, which seemed rather like a fragment of what we might conceive the architecture of the moon than anything terrestrial, and many variations of these types. But the predominant and characteristic form is that of the cruciform vaulted temple.

Ananda. The most famous temple is the Ananda, of Jain architecture, with vaulted chambers and corridors, built in the year 1091 and still standing almost untouched by time. It contains stone sculptures representing scenes of Gaudama's life and terra cotta tiles picturing events of his former existences, as well as images of the founder King Kyansittha and of the last four Buddhas of the present cycle.

Tha-byin-nyu, another magnificent temple, built by Alaung-sithu in 1244 after models of temples in Northern India, is thus described:

...The form of the temple is an equilateral quadrangle, having on each side four large wings, also of a quadrilateral form. In these last are the entrances, and they contain the principal images of Gautama. Each side of the temple measures about two hundred and thirty feet. The whole consists of four stages, or stories, diminishing in size as they ascend. The ground story only has wings. The centre of the building consists of a solid mass of masonry: over this, and rising from the last story of the building, is a steeple, in form not unlike a mitre, ending in a thin spire, which is crowned with an iron umbrella, as in the modern temples. Round each stage of the building is an arched corridor, and on one side a flight of steps leads all the way to the last story.... Perhaps the most remarkable feature of this temple, as well as of almost all the other buildings of Pagan, is the prevalence of the arch. The gate ways, the doors, the galleries, and the roofs of all the smaller temples, are invariably formed by a well-turned Gothic arch.

Other notable temples of Indian types and giving evidence of Indian influence are Maha Bodi, a copy of the shrine at