The art and architecture of India - Buddhist, Hindu, Jain (Art Ebook)

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150. Nagarjunakonda, stupa
JO)
O IO 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 FEET
10 15 20 METRES
belongs to the same style. The diameter of this
sanctuary is one hundred and six feet, and it
reached an original height of seventy or eighty
feet. The ground plan of the stupa is also of
interest for the hidden symbolism of these relic
mounds. It will be noted that the plan suggests
the idea - already mentioned as inherent in the
symbolism of all stupas - of the cosmic axis
surrounded by concentric rings, just as the
world mountain Meru of Indian cosmology is
imagined to be girdled by successive mountain
ramparts, the Cakravala. 15 The presence of the
axis was of course indicated on the exterior by
the harmika emerging from the dome typifying
the sky. 16 It would be justifiable to assume, too,
that the arrangement and the number of compartments
formed by the walls of the interior
structure were disposed in the form of a
mandala, just as Hindu temples were raised on
a foundation of such magic squares. The establishment
at Nagarjunakonda also included
temples of the familiar chaitya plan, together
with the remains of palace structures and
viharas. The former are certainly the earliest
surviving examples of actual structural buildings
in the chaitya form. The monasteries
include one
y
building specifically reserved for
resident monks from Ceylon. It has the typical
plan of a court surrounded by individual cells.
A new chronology for the Amaravati sculptures
has been suggested in a recent work by
Douglas Barrett. He proposes a shorter chronology
extending from the second to the fourth
century a.d. for the entire development in the
Amaravati region. The author states: 'Before
the 1 st century a.d. there was neither the social
organization nor the economic wealth to erect a
series of monuments in Andhradesa. It is not
even certain that its inhabitants professed the
Buddhist religion/ According to Barrett's
arrangement, the sculptures may be divided
into an Early Phase {c. 125-150 a.d.), Middle
Phase (r. 150-200 a.d.), and Late Phase (third
and fourth centuries a.d.) which would include
the carving at sites like Nagarjunakonda and
Goli. Barrett believes that the Sanchi sculpture
immediately preceded the Early Phase at
Amaravati and provided the inspiration of its
style. If we follow Barrett's chronology, illustration
34 would represent the Early Phase; 145