The story of the Stupa

In 1936, A.H. Longhurst, former Superintendent in the Archaeological Survey of India, published a book titled “The Story of the Stupa”. It traced the evolution of the stupa, far before the era of Gautama Buddha and well into modern times.

It had four chapters, three of which were seemingly unrelated to stupas. The first explained the significance of the umbrella in Indian culture,and the extremely high privilege it held symbolically, at the time of Longhurst’s writing.

Megalithic Origins

Longhurst begins not with megalithic monuments, especially in Kerala. Kodakallu is a class of monument, whose name literally means umbrella-stone in Malayalam (koda=umbrella; kallu=stone). It is aptly named for its shape. These are burial monuments. A massive stone is placed over the grave of a corpse; such pre-historic burial monuments, called dolmens, are found all over India. Usually they are merely large and crude; the umbrella shaped versions are found only in Kerala, and this one in the picture is a masterpiece for its perfection, which must have been achieved only using stone tools.

Longhurst explains that the heavy stone is to prevent the spirit of the dead from coming alive and haunting the living. Extant tribes with such animist beliefs and fears are common all over the world.

Burial sites are common among prehistoric peoples, even in India, which contrasts sharply with the Hindu custom of cremating the dead.

Dolmen, Mallachandram
Picture : Manonmani Puduezhuthu

Koda kallu

Buddhist Stupas

Buddhists and Jains constructed stupas to bury their saints, though today only excavated Buddhist stupas seem to have survived in India. Stupas are mentioned even in Vedic literature.

While the most famous stupas are for Gautama Buddha himself, hundreds of other people, mostly monks in the Buddhist sangha also had stupas. Cunningham excavated a casket in Bhilsa on which was inscribed the name of Haritiputra, a disciple of Buddha. Scattered around major stupas in places like Vaishali, Sanchi, Nalanda, Ratnagiri etc are the stupas of several monks of local monasteries.

The famous stupas of massive structure and intricate art, like Sanchi, Amaravati and Bharhut, contends Longhurst, are exceptions, rather than the rule. Sanchi is exceptional in another way. Its claim to fame is not any direct connection with Buddha, but that it was the hometown of Vidisha Devi, one of Maurya Asoka’s favorite queens.

Importance of Umbrellas

Exploring the ceremonial and social significance of umbrellas, Longhurst says they were reserved for the Gods and their human representatives, royalty. This is especially visible in the sculptures  and paintings over two millennia, as also recorded history and administrave texts. The umbrella of the enemy king was a prized possession, to be captured in battle. Temple processions often feature ceremonial umbrellas of the Gods. Chariots (rathas) are often topped by umbrellas. An inscription in Tiruvarur, Tamilnadu, speaks of the privilege of carrying an umbrella, granted to a devadasi.

Jain tirthankaras, except Parshvanatha, are always shown with triple umbrellas.  Jain acharyas have only one umbrella over them. While it is quite common to see images of Buddha featuring single umbrellas, some monuments like Pithalkora, show triple umbrella over Buddha also, in paintings.

The Hindu God Vinayaka is popularly featured with an umbrella over his head. Paper umbrellas are quite popular during Vinayaka Chathurthi. Mahishasura Mardhini is also often featured with an umbrella. The major Gods though, are rarely shown with an umbrella; Vamana is one such rarity. Unusual exceptions are a Kalyana Sundara sculpture in Kanchi Kailasanatha, a standing Brahma in Pullamangai.

The funerals of the Todas, a Nilgiri tribe, even today feature umbrellas over the funeral car. This is remarkably similar to a Gandharan sculpture showing the Buddha’s own funeral car, with umbrellas.

Toda funeral procession

The custom was so strong in India that even Muslim rulers of India adopted it as a royal emblem, even though neither the nations of their origins nor Islam gave umbrellas any social significance. Europeans of the 17^th century, who had also no special status for umbrellas in their culture, were forced to stow away or surrender their common sun protection umbrellas, when entering the city of Delhi.

Evolution of Stupas

The earliest stupas of Buddha were of mud and brick, as befitting a renunciate. One such mud stupa has remnants in Vaishali. During the era of Asoka, these were dismantled, and the buried relics of Buddha apportioned and distributed to hundreds of stupas across Jambudvipa. These stupas were usually undecorated. It is only the vedikas surrounding the stupas, as in Sanchi or Amaravai, or the entrance arches, that were richly adorned in sculptures. Perhaps one exception is a brick and mortar stupa at Nalanda, which features images of the Buddha, but its age is uncertain.

The stupa slowly evolved from a mound over a burial, to a symbolic object of worship. This is best shown by the rock cut stupas of Kanheri, Karle, Ajanta, Pithalkhora etc., where the stupas are carved out of the mother rock – no monk was buried under them. Like the earlier brick stupas of Sanchi, Amaravati, etc, these too feature harmikas over them. Some but not all stupas in Kanheri and Pithalkora, have an umbrella carved on the ceiling of the cave, over the stupa. Paintings in the pillars of the large chaitya at Pithalkora, and cave 9 in Ajanta, feature Buddha with triple umbrellas. The stupa in Ajanta cave 19 is quite elaborate – it features a several bas relief images of the Buddha, and also an intricate triple umbrella.  

Mud stupa,Vaishali, Bihar

Bhaja stupa with harmika, no umbrella

Karle stupa with umbrella

Kanheri stupa with umbrella on ceiling

Ajanta Cave Nineteen
Elaborate stupa with Buddha image
and triple umbrella

A parallel evolution can be seen in stupas in Sri Lanka, the earliest ones being mainly massive brick mounds, but the later dagobas featuring more architectural triple umbrellas. Dagoba is a contraction of dhatu-garbha. Hiuen Tsang in his travels, records multi storeyed wooden temples for Buddha one of which in Rajagriha (Rajgir, Bihar), was completely burnt in a fire accident, which he witnessed. These wooden temples, notes Longhurst, continue in two regions, Kerala and the Himalayas. He specially observes that Nepal, which was never ravaged by Islamic invasions, best preserves Hindu and Buddhist temples from a millennium ago, and perhaps an even older era. 

The influence of Hiuen Tsang and other pilgrim monks who took Buddhism to China and other east Asian nations can still be felt in their architecture of their Buddhist stupas and temples. They must have been copies of what existed in India at that time, argues Longhurst, hence a snapshot in time. But the mounds got shorter and the symbolic umbrellas got more and more elaborate, as reflected in in Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma or the White Dagoba in Beijing. An even later rendition is the Yukishiji pagoda in Japan, where the upper storeys, are not functional, but decorative, being architectural versions of the umbrella.

White Dagoba, Beijing - with umbrella
Picture : Wikipedia

Shwedagon Pagoda, Burma
Picture: Wikipedia

Yakushiji Temple, Japan
Picture : Japan-Guide.com

Such umbrellas and inscribed figures, not just of Buddha, but several yakshas and yakshis, can be also seen in the votive stupas in Ratnagiri, Orissa, which were discovered only in the 1970s.

Remarks

I wonder if Longhurst’s conjecture, even the whole book, could have been proposed by a scholar today. The umbrella has been democratized.He lived and wrote in the 1920-30s, when the princely states of India and royal regalia were visible and omnipresent. Perhaps also to be kept in mind, is that, several such conjectures were made in the early days of Oriental research, that time has falsified. Still, a remarkable book.

Other related Links
Vaishali - a visit
The Art of Amaravati
Ajanta - An overview (Prof Swaminathan's slideshow)
Introduction to Amaravati sculptures (lecture video)

Photo Credits
Most of the photos in this essay are my own. Links for others here.
Kodakallu, Kerala : Miyapadavu Social Club
Thiruvarur temple chariot - Wikipedia
White Daboga, Beijing - Wikipedia
Shwedagon Pagoda, Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) - Wikipedia
Yakushiki temple, Japan - Japan Guide
Toda funeral This website (link broken)

Art of Amaravati

This essay makes two points. The first is to introduce the art of Amaravati, in the words of Prof Swaminathan, in a document prepared to suggest improvements to the Amaravati Gallery in the Egmore Museum. The second is to highlight how exquisitely those words have been chosen and what a marvel the document itself is. I wrote earlier that Prof Swaminathan had developed a new form of literature – Powerpoint Literature. This perhaps could be called Bulletpoint Literature. It shows how marvelously and concisely a document can be drafted, while comprehensively capturing the historical, artistic, aesthetic significance of the subject, and also mentioning its unique aspects.

Amaravati was the location of one of the most magnificent Buddhist stupas in India, and perhaps the most magnificent in South India. It’s believed to be near Dhanyakataka, a capital of a Pallava dynasty (related to the more famous later Pallava dynasty that ruled from Kanchipuram in Tamilnadu). It’s near Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. Very little of the stupa, called a mahacetiya, remains today, except a large brick mound, and a few of the limestone panels that decorated it. In the early 19^th century, Colin Mackenzie rescued some of the panels from a local zamindar, which he then shipped to Calcutta. The best preserved of these were then shipped to the British Museum in London (like the more famous Elgin Marbles). A number of damaged panels called the Eliot Marbles, after Walter Eliot of the Madras Literary Society, were then shifted to the Egmore Museum in Madras by the museum’s founder Edward Balfour.

What's left of the Amaravati Stupa

Remaining panels at the Amaravati Stupa

Amaravati Gallery at Egmore Museum, Madras

Here, verbatim, is Swaminathan’s comments on the Importance and Uniqueness of Amaravati

The art of Amaravati is a treasure for the following reasons:

·         Here we witness the earliest lithic work of any significance in the southern part of the peninsula

·         Even this earliest attempt exhibits an astounding creative maturity, and represents the perfection of the art of sculpture

·         The beginning of Indian classicism is seen here whose thread is to be followed by the Guptas in the North and the Pallavas in the South

·         It is here we see the greatest efflorescence of Buddhist art in the medium of stone

·         There are jatakas that are narrated here have not been handled elsewhere

·         The quintessence of Amaravati art is subtle suggestion, and emphasis through contrast, in depicting the fight of conscience against sin, in showing in the same frame a king who becomes a monk, almost in sutra form

·         The technique used makes even hackneyed theme which has to be repeated is given an artistic twist to make it lively

·         The themes are as many, the decorative element is as diverse, as are the different technical methods adopted render the scenes effectively

·         A synoptic method is adopted for narrating a long Jataka tale in a short compass the Amaravati sculptor has few equals, like narrating the story of Shaddanta

·         The sculptor possessed with masterly knowledge of composition and balance and sequences, and here for the first time lighter and deeper etching, differentiated planes, perspective and distance, and foreshortening are successfully introduced.

·         It is puzzling to find inventiveness of the sculptor who has devised his own way of presentation and the cumulative effect has created a unique language

·         The charm of this effective language has compelled the attention of subsequent schools not only in India but even in faraway places like Java

·         Even the assimilation of foreign elements has been subtle is not blatant as in Gandhara, Mathura and Kushana 

·         The four periods of the Amaravati art, starting with 200 BCE to 250 CE, is not only a long stretch but also is important in the chronology of Indian art tradition

Other related blogs that may interest you

1. The stupa at Vaishali
2. Mandhata– An Amaravati sculpture (in Tamil) மாந்தாதா – ஒரு அமராவதி சிற்பம் 
3. Swaminathan’s Powerpoint Literature
4. Purnagiri
5. Samrat Asoka – book release speeches 
6. History of Amaravati – Kishore Mahadevan & Nalagiri sculpture –Artist Chandru (video) 

Artist Chandru explains a design,
 inspired by a flower, to Prof Swaminathan

Vaishali

If there is a Heaven

When the Sakya prince Siddhartha renounced his family, palace, kingdom and duty to search for the Truth, he left Kapilavastu and wandered to several places, before his great epiphany at Gaya. One of the cities he visited was Vaishali, a city-state governed by a guild of businessmen. “If there is a Heaven, it must be at least as rich and at beautiful as Vaishali,” he remarked. Siddhartha may be best known for his renunciation, but he knew a thing or two about wealth and beauty.

On his further wanderings, he met the most powerful, ambitious, feared man of his times – Bimbisara, ruler of Magadha, with his capital at Rajagriha, the Abode of Kings. A puzzled Bimbisara asked Siddhartha why he would leave queen and kingdom, wealth and power, to wander around as a monk. When Siddhartha explained about his search, Bimbisara merely said, “If you find, please come and share your enlightenment with me.”

Several years later, the beggarly monk Siddhartha believed he had attained enlightenment, and after preaching his message to those who would listen, mostly others in search of the same, he returned to Rajagriha to keep his promise to Bimbisara, now far more powerful, the conqueror of several kingdoms. And on the mountain of Grihakuta, Gautama Buddha held sermons for Bimbisara, his first royal disciple. On top of this hill, Buddha convened and conducted his first Council of the new religion he had founded.

Of Buddha and Rajagriha, later. For now, Vaishali.

It is not the world famous Buddha, but the mighty Bimbisara with whom the city of Vaishali is most closely associated. And more than with Bimbisara, a dancer, a courtesan, a woman of unparalleled beauty – Amrapali. 

Amrapali

Briefly, the story is that when Amrapali, an extraordinarily beautiful woman entered the streets of Vaishali, the richest men in the city fought each other, vying to possess her as a wife. Seeing that no man had an advantage over another, they held council and declared her a public woman. Any man could have her for the evening for her price. She learnt the various arts and excelled any woman they knew in dancing. One day, while she was dancing, there was an alarm over an invasion, a call to arms and the announcement that a king was invading their beautiful city – none other than Bimbisara.  For the next several days, while the men prepared for Bimbisara’s siege and eventually, war, Amrapali had no visitors. Until one day, a handsome young man visited her, and returned every day for several days, and finally proposed to her. She then explained to him that her loyalty was to the city itself, that she could marry no man, as that would incite jealousy in every rival and bring strife to Vishali.  The heartbreak in her suitor’s expression must have been visibly moving. Curious only now, she asked him who he really was, as she had never seen him in the city before, and all the able men in the city were too worried about an impending invasion to spare time even for Amrapali.

He told her who he was – Bimbisara. How he managed to enter the city undetected and unaccompanied is a detail best left to unromantic fact fanatics, but whatever his disappointment was, it paled in comparison to the spectrum of emotions that Amrapali suffered. Horrified that she had spent weeks delighting the very scourge of the city to whom she felt unshakeable loyalty, fearing the consequences of her unknowing betrayal, torn with longing that she could simply leave the city and spend her life as the beloved of a man, so obviously enchanted with her, she sent him away to spend time alone. Madly in love with Amrapali, heart rent, with  no further interest in the city she lived, and seeing not the earthly paradise that Siddhartha had seen earlier, Bimbisara merely withdrew his siege, and went back to Rajagriha, to console himself in the arms of other gorgeous women and mere royal delights, but still, no Amrapali.

The citizens of Vaishali, though, found out that their favorite woman had entertained their most feared enemy while they spent the same time in abject fear of annihilation. Outraged, betrayed, disgusted, they chased her out of Vaishali into the forests tossing curses and stones and cries of contempt upon her fleeing form, ignoring all pleas of guileless innocence. Time passed, not healing her at all, as she lived in  a hut with her most loyal attendants, heart broken, beauty shattered, her soul leaking life every day, until one day she had another visitor. A man who radiated peace and wisdom, kindness and compassion, and whose ambition far surpassed that of Bimbisara or any royal conqueror. For this man wanted nothing less than to conquer all humanity and with his newfound wisdom. Gautama Buddha.

To Amrapali, now, as to Bimbisara earlier, he brought a healing touch to a soul torn asunder by the cruelty of circumstances and human cruelty. Amrapali finally found a place in his Order, his Sangha, as a nun.

Stupas

The Buddha then wandered to several places and finally his soul underwent the final extinguishing – the Maha Pari Nirvana, in Kushinagara. His body was given to his family at Kapilavastu to be cremated, but with some parts distribued to the other seven of his Eight Great Events, one of which is Vaishali. Mud stupas were erected over his relics, buried in caskets at these places by his followers.

Buddha's Mud Stupa in Vaishali, under the dome

Mud stupa - what remains

Sri Lankan Buddhists near Mud Stupa

Vishala's lake near mud stupa

In later times, an even more famous and powerful king, Samrat Asoka of the Maurya dynasty, ruling from Pataliputra, decided to rebury these famous relics. In Vaishali he built a stupa of stone, some distance away from the original, convened a Council of Buddhists and granted land and resources for establishing a monastery. Several monks of this monastery were then later buried and stupas of various sizes and shapes erected for them, in order of their accomplishment and services to Buddhism in the esteem of their fellow monks.

Near the brick stupa is a tall majestic pillar, of polished sandstone, that is most symbolic of Asoka. Unlike the three-lion capital of the Sarnath pillar, which is now the emblem of the Wovernment of India, the Vaishali pillar has a one lion capital. The pillar made of sandstone, is smoothened by the technique of Mauryan polish, and glints like metal by the light of the evening, evoking awe in such admirers of India as Sir William Jones, the founder of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, James Prinsep, who rediscovered Ashoka and decoded the Brahmi script, and Sir Alexander Cunningham, who established the Archaeological Survery of India, which preserves these monuments.

Brick Stupa and Pillar built by Samrat Asoka

Tombs of other monks

Single Lion capital

Vaishali today

I visited Vaishali in 2011 November as a guest of my friend RajaGanesh, who was working for the Patna branch of IndianOil. His friend Rahul loaned me a car and his driver Valmiki, who knew only Hindi, whereas my Hindi was scattered and flawed, tenseless, caseless and with few pretensions of cogent expression. With me was my friend Karuna from Madras, who had accompanied me the previous eight days with me in Orissa and Calcutta, and with whom I have travelled to other places 

too, like Ajanta and Kanchi.

Vaishali’s history goes back much earlier than the time of Amrapali, Bimbisara and Buddha. It is named after its founder Raja Vishala. Not far from the mud stupa, are the remnants of Vishala’s palace, a low level of bricks designating walls, similar to the ruins of Harappan cities.

Raja Vishala's "palace"

What I saw of Vaishali in 2011 was a small farming village – similar to GangaiKonda Cholapuram or Vijayanagar. In one segment, there were some farmers houses in concrete, with cement poles for electric or telephone lines, but no actual wires. The route to the mud stupa was lined with Indian mud huts, where farmers live; and in stark contrast, concrete three storey Buddhist hospitality centers all run by trusts of Buddhist nations – Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma, Thailand etc.

Vietnamese center on the road to mud stupa

Farmer's houses on road to mud stupa

Farmer's house - poles for electriciy, but no wires 

Vaishali was recently in the news, globally, for all the wrong reasons - friends of students writing board exams, climbing windows to pass cheat sheets to the examinees. The brick building of the exam center shows several things – some modernity during Nitish Kumar’s reign, but the relative poverty of Bihar compared to most of India, the ambition of its students and the lawlessness of the society. On my return to Patna from Vaishali after sunset, I saw not a single electric light anywhere, except one small town halfway back. Nor a single bus for public transport. Even oil lamps lit only a few households.

The poverty of Bihar, especially Vaishali, was in stark contrast to Siddhartha’s bedazzlement.

But there is more to Vaishali’s history and heritage than Buddhism. I shall write about it soon.

Friends helping students cheat at board exams, in Vaishali, Bihar, 2015

Other Travel Essays

1. Kerala - LMS
2. A Pallava temple in a river island
3. Kundavai Jinalayam (in Tamil)
4. Dholavira
5. Bus stop index
6. Kumbakonam - LMS

6. The Greenery of the Chola country