Characteristics of Buddhist Architecture

1. BUDDHIST
ARCHITECTURE

2. -The Buddhist architecture has its roots deeply
implanted in the Indian soil- the birth place of
buddha’s teaching.
-It began with the development of various symbols
, representing aspects of buddha’s life(563BCE-
483BCE).
-Indian emperor Ashoka, not only established
buddhism as the state religion of his large
Magadha empire, but also opted for the
architectural monuments to spread buddhism in
different places.

3. -Principle structure were built over a wide base with the super
structure decreasing gradually in size toward an apex to attain height ,
monumentality and structural stability was the soundest way of
assuring a long life to edifice .
-The non – elastic materials like stone and brick were used for
construction .
-The load in this type of structures acts only downwards and as long
as the lowest course is not crushed by its own weight , structure
remains stable .
-Buddhist architects chose circle / square , the two purest geometric
form for monumental edifices .
MONUMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ANCIENT
ARCHITECTURE

4. -The major features of this style are :
-Stupas
-Viharas
-Chaitanyas
-Edicts
-Iats or stambhas
-Though primitive Buddhism rejected any form of image worship,
they represented Buddha by means of symbols like stupa, bodhi
tree indicating Enlightenment, Wheel of Law, as first sermon as
well as corporeal vehicle of Buddha, and his footprints.
-These styles quietly speaks about phases of the buddhist stages.

5. STUPAS
• A stupa is a mound-like or hemispherical structure
containing Buddhist relics, typically the ashes of Buddhist
monks, used by Buddhists as a place of meditation.
• Stupas were built of stones or bricks to commemorate
important events or mark important places associated with
Buddhism or to house important relics of Buddha. Ashok
Maurya who laid the foundation of this group of monuments
is said to have built 84,000 stupas, most of which have
perished.

6. PARTS OF STUPAS
Dome is called ‘Anda’ or ‘Egg’ as it contained the seed i.e. ‘relic
of the monk’
Harmika: Top of dome is ‘Harmika’ (Heaven of 33 gods) , square
balcony in decorative form enclosing a pedestal .
Chattra: A 3 tiered stone / wooden umbrella chhatrayasti raised over
pedestal which was the vedic alter of sacrifice and represented the
village shrine.
This in later period became inverted stepped pyramid covered by an
umbrella rain vase (Varsha Sthala) at top.

8. Vedica: Stupa is enclosed with a wooden / stone
railing called vedica .
Toranas : They were cermonial gateways placed
at cardial point similar to Aryan village gates .
Medhi : Medhi (predestrian Path) for devotees
to wave in homage to stupa. Medhi was
approached by double staircase sopana .
Brick work , surface of dome finished
of with a thick layer of lime water .

9. TREASURY
All stupas contain a treasury filled with various objects.. Mantras written on
paper are rolled into thin rolls, and put into these small clay stupas. Filling the
treasury, one layer of Tsa-Tsas are placed, and the empty space between is filled
with dry sand. On the new surface appearing, another layer is made, until the
entire space of a treasury is full.
The number of Tsa-Tsas are dependent on the size of both the treasury and Tsa-
Tsa, since it should be completely filled. For example, the Kalachakra stupa in
southern Spain has approximately 14 000 Tsa-Tsas within.
-Jewellery and other "precious" objects are also placed in the treasury. It is not
necessary that the jewellery be expensive, since it is the symbolic value that is
important, not the market price. It is believed that the more objects placed into
the stupa, the stronger the energy of the Stupa will be.
TREE OF LIFE
A very important element in every Stupa is the Tree of Life. It is a wooden pole
covered with gems and thousands of mantras, and placed in the central channel
of the stupa.It is placed here during a ceremony or initiation, where the
participants hold colorful ribbons connected to the Tree of Life. Together the
participants make their most positive and powerful wishes, which are stored in
the Tree of Life. In this way the stupa is charged up, and will start to function.

10. THE GREAT STUPA,SANCHI

11. THE GREAT STUPA AT SANCHI
-Sanchi in Raisen district of Madhya Pradesh is famous for its
magnificent Buddhist monuments and edifices. Situated on a hill, these
beautiful and well-preserved stupas depict the various stages of
development of Buddhist art and architecture over a period of thirteen
hundred years from the third century B.C. to the twelfth century A.D.
-Inscriptions show that these monuments were maintained by the rich
merchants of that region.
-The stupa built by Ashoka was damaged during the break-up of the
Maurya Empire. In the 2nd century B.C., during the. rule of the Sungas it
was completely reconstructed.
-Religious activity led to the improvement and enlargement of the stupa
and a stone railing was built around it. It was also embellished with the
construction of heavily carved gateways.

12. -Life-sized sandstone statues of the meditating Buddha were the final addition
to the Great Stupa.
-A statue was placed at each of the four cardinal points, just inside the
entrances.
-The east statue, shown here, is in somewhat better condition than the
others. The postures and mudras of all four Buddhas are identical. Each is
flanked by attendants.
-The diameter of the stupa is 36.60 metres and its height is 16.46 metres. It is
built of large burnt bricks and mud mortar. It is presumed that the
elaborately carved Toranas were built by ivory or metal workers in the 1st.
Century BC during the reign of King Satakarni of the Satavahana Dynasty. The
last addition to the stupa was made during the early 4th Century AD in the
Gupta period when four images of Buddha sitting in the dhyana mudra or
meditation were installed at the four entrances.

13. The Dhamekh Stupa and the
Dharmarajika stupa at Sarnath are
believed to have been built by Ashoka
and later rebuilt in the Gupta period.
These stupas contain the relics of
Buddha and are therefore important
places of Buddhist pilgrimage. Buddha
gave his First Sermon in Sarnath and also
founded the Sangha or Order of Monks
here. The original Dhamekh Stupa built
with mud or brick is a cylindrical
structure 43.5 m. high. The stone base-
ment has eight projecting faces with
niches in them. Delicately carved with
beautiful floral and geometrical
patterns, it is believed to have been put
up in the Gupta period.
DHARMAKSHA STUPA,SARNATH

14. -They are residential places of
Buddhist priest.
-There are 25 rock cut Viharas at
Ajanta and 11 at Ellora.
-Main halls entered by a
doorway , it has assembly halls ,
dining chambers , meditation
cells , walls depict figures of
Buddha .
-Also consist of Assembly hall,
dining chambers.
-From the halls deep into the
rocks, cells are provided for
meditation.
-There were columns , 60 m high
and well chiseled .
VIHARAS
hall
cell
shrine
entrance

15. -The shrines contain beautiful figures of Buddha and the walls of
the antechamber depict the stories based on Buddha’s life and fine
frescoes as in case of Ajanta.
-Some great structural viharas were about 60m high covered with
glazed tiles.
-Pillars were richly chiseled in the form of dragons.
-Beams were painted in red and rafters with all colors of rainbow.
-Viharas were literally the pleasure gardens of monastic precincts.
-The viharas of Ellora dated 400 AD to 7th century AD are of one,
two, and three storeys and are the largest of the type. They
contain sculptured figures and belong to both Hinayana and
Mahayana Buddhism.

16. -Chaityas or ‘sacred spots’ are the temples as well as
Assembly halls created out of the particular demands
of Buddhist religion.
-Temples cum assembly halls used to pay homage .
-Opened by small rectangular doorways to vaulted hall
with apsidal end .
-Divided longitudinally by 2 colonnades forming a
broad nave in the centre and two side aisles.
-The roof is usually semi – circular .
-The chaityas resemble to that of churches of
Christian.
CHAITYAS

17. -Some of the most beautiful rock-cut caves are those at Ajanta,
ElIora, Bhaja, Karle, Bagh, Nasik and Kanheri.
-Some of the chunar sand-stone rock-cut chaityas of Bhaja.
Kondane. Karle and Ajanta, all in Maharashtra state are earlier
excavations and belong to the first phase or Hinayana creed of
Buddhism and are similar to the brick and wooden structures of
Ashokan times.
-Some of the chaityas show that wood had been used in the
roofing and entrance arches.
-The chaitya at Bhaja is a long hall 16.75 metres long and 8
metres broad with an apse at the end.
-The hall is divided into a central nave and an aisle on either
side flanked by two rows of pillars.
- The roof is vaulted.
- The rock-cut stupa in the apse is crowned by a wooden
harmika. The chaitya has a large arched torana or entrance
with an arched portico.

18. BHAJA, ROCK CUT CHAITANYA
HALL
-The pillars are 3.4m high and
the high stilted vault is nearly
8.8m above
the floor level.
-The stupa is rather a plain
conception with a cylindrical
base, supporting a
huge dome with ‘railing’ finial.
-Woodwork is freely used.
-The timber and rock-cut
chaitya was a good
architectural combination of
high order of merit and
ingenious skill in construction.

19. -The entrance of this Chaitya is very grand and consists of 3 doorways set
underneath a gallery.
-The Chaitya hall is 38.5m long and 13m wide with a vaulted roof rising to a
height of 13.7m.
-The roof is supplemented by a series of wooden ribs which are closely
spaced.
-The hall is divided by 2 rows of columns forming a broad nave in the
centre.
-Each column is 1.22m in dia. And 7.32m high, with bell shaped capital
which supports a pair of kneeling elephants carrying male and female riders
and those of horses and tigers in their rear.
-The shaft is octagonal in shape and has a vase shaped base.
-At end is a stupa, carved in natural rock, with railing and inverted stepped
pyramid or tee at the top.
CHAITYAS AT KARLI

20. CHAITYAS AT KARLI

21. EDICTS OF ASHOKA
-The Edicts of Ashoka are a collection of 33 inscriptions on
the Pillars of Ashoka as well as boulders and cave walls made by
the Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire during his reign
from 269 BCE to 232 BCE.
-These inscriptions are dispersed throughout the areas of
modern-day Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan and
represent the first tangible evidence of Buddhism.
-The edicts describe in detail the Ashoka's view about dhamma,
an earnest attempt to solve some of problems that a complex
society faced.
--According to the edicts, the extent of Buddhist proselytism (to
convert people to another religion or opinion).during this period
reached as far as the Mediterranean , and many Buddhist
monuments were created.

22. EDICTS OF ASHOKA

23. STAMBHAS
-Sthambas or Pillars with religious emblems were put
up by pious Buddhists in honour of Buddha or other
great Buddhists.
- Fragments of Sthambas belonging to Mauryan
times and later were found at Sanchi, Sarnath,
Amaravati and Nagarjunkonda.

24. -Sarnath pillar is 15 m high .
-Four lions surmounting capital; supporting metal
wheel containing 24 spokes and called wheel of
lane.
-The wheel symbolizes first summon of Buddha ,
which is also adopted as national emblem of India .
-Sarnath lion capital (restored) of monolithic column
showing buddhist symbols.
SARNATH PILLAR

25. -The lion-capital - the most Magnificient piece of mauryan sculpture is
2.31 metres high.
-It consists of four parts –
(i) a bell-shaped vase covered with inverted lotus petals,
(ii) a round abacus,
(iii) four seated lions and
(iv) a crowning dharmachakra with thirty two spokes.
-The four lions are beautifully sculptured.
-On the abacus are four running animals - an elephant, a bull, a horse
and a Lion with a small dharmachakra between them.
-The dharmachakra symbolises the dharma or law; the four lions facing
the four directions are the form of buddha or sakyasimha, the four
galloping animals are the four quarters according to buddhist books and
the four smaller dharmachakras stand for the intermediate regions and
the lotus is the symbol of creative activity.
-The surface of these pillars has a mirror like finish.
ASHOKA PILLAR LION CAPITAL

27. --Another Ashokan Pillar of note is the one at Lauriya
Nandangarh in Bihar.
--Erected in the 3rd century BC it is made of highly
polished Chunar sand-stone.
--Standing 9.8 metres high it rises from the ground
and has no base structure.
-- It is surmounted by a bell-shaped inverted lotus.
--The abacus on it is decorated with flying geese and
crowning it is a sitting lion.
-- The pillar is an example of the engineering skill of
the craftsmen of Mauryan times.
ASHOKAN PILLAR, LAURIYA NANDANGARH, BIHAR