Buddhist Architecture

Notes

Three main forms:
1. Stupa: relic mound.
2. Chaitya (Chaityagriha): prayer hall.
3. Vihara: monastery, with cells around a central courtyard or hall.
Chaitya hall features:
- Apsidal plan.
- Stupa at the apsidal end.
- Nave with side aisles and a pillared corridor for circumambulation.
- Barrel-vaulted roof.
- Horse-shoe (chaitya) window.
- Examples: Bhaja, Karle, Ajanta caves 9, 10, 19, 26.
Hinayana phase: aniconic (symbols such as wheel, footprints, Bodhi tree). Mahayana phase: Buddha images appear.
Schools of sculpture:
- Gandhara: Greco-Roman influence, grey schist, wavy hair.
- Mathura: indigenous, red sandstone.
- Amaravati: white marble, narrative panels.
Major sites:
- Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya (UNESCO 2002).
- Sanchi (1989).
- Ajanta (1983).
- Nalanda Mahavihara (2016).
- Nagarjunakonda.
Ancient universities: Nalanda, Vikramashila (Pala king Dharmapala), Odantapuri, Somapura.

Key points: Ajanta has 29 caves on the Waghora river, with both Hinayana and Mahayana phases and famous paintings (Jataka tales, Padmapani, Vajrapani).