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

CEYLON
434
'
AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA
added at a later period, but, in its arrangement,
attempts to imitate the Mahabodhi shrine as it
was in the Pala Period. Certainly the Great
Temple at Gaya was the most copied edifice in
the Buddhist world, but its replicas in Burma,
Siam, and in the Far East are always in a sense
original creations, just as the different versions
of the basilica of St Peter's are original architectural
designs.
The ruins of Ayudhya, the capital from 1350
to 1767, when it was destroyed by the Burmese,
present us with many examples of the characteristic
Siamese development of the stupa form
[368]. These monuments or prachedis were intended
as shrines for the ashes of Buddhist holy
men and the Siamese kings. They are round in
plan, with a series of diminishing rings leading
up to the bell-shaped dome, from which rises a
tapering, onion-like finial. The Siamese prachedis
are composed of a variety of borrowings
from Singhalese and Burmese models: the
ringed base and bell-dome suggest the dagabas
of Ceylon, and the peculiarly pointed form is
related to Burmese examples.
The last phase of Siamese architecture is
represented by the numerous palaces and temples
erected in Bangkok since 1782. The bots
or sanctuaries are built largely of wood with
368. Ruins of Avudhva JU-'
f*
c6i
,*
'si.-