V LECTURE OS THE (UN 28 1 M Logical JUligimts toanatinns nf IPrafcrn 5ubin, BUDDHIST, BRAHMAN IC AL, AND JAIN A, ' INCLUDING THE DETAILS OF THOSE OF ELEPHANTA AND KARLA; WITH Jksrripiiuc an it fislamal Remarks. BY J01IX "WILSON, D.D., F.R.S., HONORARY PRESIDENT OF THE BOMBAY BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASTATIC SOCIETY, MEMBER OF THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF • THE ASIATIC SECTION' OF THE KOYAL SOCIETY OF NORTHERN 1 ANTIQUARIES AT COPENHAGEN, ETC. ETC. DS4\s .W74- Bombay : EDUCATION SOCIETY’S PRESS THACKER, YINING & Co. TRACT AND BOOK DEPOT. H 1875. D54I9 , W74- .1 !/*(>►> LECTURE ti)N! 2 ?» 1 PT 9 ON TUE Ivtiiginiia Cxauintimm nf iPtofrni 3iiiii«, BUDDHIST, BRAHHANICAL, AND JAIN A, INCLUDING THE DETAILS OF THOSE OF ELEPHANTA AND KARLA; Willi Jk$n;iptiuc ank ^tslBriral Remarks, vStS ✓ JOHN WILSON, D.D., F.K.S., HONORARY PRESIDENT OF tnE BOMBAY BRANCH OF THE ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY MEMBER OP THE EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF THE ASIATIC SECTION’ OF THE BOYAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN ANTIQUARIES AT COPENHAGEN, ETC. ETC. 33 o in Ij a v : EDUCATION SOCIETY’S PRESS. THACKER, VINING & Co. TRACT AND BOOK DEPOT. 1875. PREFACE. During my professional journeyings through- out this great country, I have often been brought in contact with its more remarkable antiquarian wonders, which in a considerable number of in- stances I have been among the first to observe and describe, though sometimes with unsatisfied curi- osity as well as with qualified admiration. For long they have met with much considerate treat- ment from our Asiatic Societies and from Govern- ment. It is confidently hoped that, in their general aspects at least, they will soon be patent to the public, from the able and long-continued research of our Orientalists, and especially, of late, General Cunningham, and from the intelligent delineation and description of Mr. James Burgess, prompted and urged on (as he is) by Mr. J. Fergus- son, whose friendship he enjoys. In the meantime much has been definitely ascertained respecting our antiquities ; and it is this which principally excites the attention of our tourists and visitors, who in position, influence, and numbers have been IV PREFACE. certainly increasing from year to year. With them the climax may be supposed to be now reached by the auspicious advent to India of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, the Tuyaea'ja, or the Heir Apparent of the Throne of the British Empire in its totality. With the mild radiance of himself and his noble attendants, as it will appear to the natives of India, and the specimens of the worthies of the British army and navy gracing his movements and demonstrations. His Royal Highness will doubtless attract great and salutary attention. But he will find an Indian ProgTess from very early times, as well as from the commencement of our own day, which is well calcu- lated to excite regard, sympathy and gratitude of no ordinary character. In the European atmos- phere around him may be seen what must encour- age us to believe that in the providence of God we have great blessings to give to India; while in the native princes, nobles, educated youth and multi- tudes near us, we may see a field of hopeful philan- thropy of a most encouraging nature, if we will but humbly seek to discharge our respective du- ties with regard to it. Most encouraging is it for us who have cleaved longest to India to see among our visitants and re- visitants on this occasion such a tried and cornpe- PREFACE. V tentfriendas we know the Right Hon’ble Sir Bartle Frere to be. I introduce his name here at present mainly to add, that two of the greatest groups of Religious Excavations of Western India were of his discovery, as very precisely brought out by himself in our Asiatic Journal, and acknowledged by our Asiatic Society on his leaving India. This Lecture was originally delivered in the Town Hall, Bombay, to the Mechanics’ Institute, and afterwards published in the Calcutta Review, through the kindness of my friend Dr. George Smith. It now appears in a somewhat extended form, and will be found more or less applicable to the varied Excavatious of Western India, which in reality have much in common, notwithstanding the differences which exist in the religious systems which they represent. J. W. Cliff, Malabar Hill, Bombay, November 1875. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2016 https://archive.org/details/lectureonreligioOOwils THE RELIGIOUS EXCAVATIONS OF WESTERN INDIA. The East distinguished for its Antiquarian Wonders. Every country of tlie East has its own peculiar antiquarian wonders, illustrating its ancient his- tory, and the powers, resources, and occupations of the early generations of its peoples. In Egypt, £ the land of ancient kings'’ and ancient things, we find temples, obelisks, sphinxes, and excavated and structural tombs (among the last of which are the mimic mountains, the pyramids), with their no longer mysterious hieroglyphics, and with their still enduring paintings and drawings (on walls, pillars, tablets, sarcophagi, papyri, rings, seals, and other moveable objects), still recording the names, genealogies, enterprises, and exploits ot these kings, from Menes to Ptolemy j and unfold- ing the social and religious life, and manners and customs, of the people over whom they ruled, and 1 e - The East distinguished of the tribes and nations which were tributary to them or held in bondage by them, or with whom they maintained commercial intercourse. In the Mount Sinai peninsula we have the inscriptions on numerous rocks and stones (in the Written Valley and other localities), recording the names a nd simple prayers ofNabathaean and Arabian shep- herds, wanderers, and pilgrims to that hallowed locality; and the monuments and excavations and cuttings of Megharah, Sarabut al-Khadim, and the north of the Mukattab, revealing to us the mining system of the Pharaohs from the eighteenth to the eighth century before the Christian era, when the man of cunning employed by them put forth his hand upon the rock, overturned the mountains by the roots, and by his eye searched every precious thing.* On the summit of Mount Hor we find the oft-constructed and renewed tom b of the venerable Aaron, the brother of Moses ; and, embosomed in its neighbouring Seir, the pride and glory of Edom, what, so early as the times of the Israelitish David and Amaziah, was denominated Helali, the city of the rock (in Greek Petra), the name which it still bears, and whose excavated tombs, temples, cisterns, aqueducts, and private See Lands of the Bible, by the author, vol. i., pp. 183-199. for its Antiquarian Wonders. 3 dwellings, witli their beautiful facades aud colon- nades, in union with what a French traveller calls ‘ the most enchanting picture which nature has ‘ wrought in her grandest mood of creation,’ form the most wonderful combination of art and nature to be found in the world. In the land of Israel, as at Hebron at the tomb of Abraham, still bearing alike with Jew and Arab the designation of the ‘ Friend of God,’ aud in the remains of the temple enclosure at Jerusalem, we have specimens of the Phoenician masonry, procured by Solomon, more than cyclopean in dimensions. At Bhialbek in Caele-Syria, and at the neighbouring Palmyra in the wilderness, we have the remains of the boldest, noblest, grandest, and most magnificent architec- ture which, in the judgment of both science and taste, has yet been erected on the face of the globe. Mesopotamia, the seat of the most ancient empires in the world, has yielded, from its disen- tombed palaces, the records and illustrations, — graven with an iron pen on stone, or printed on clay, or painted on the facings of the walls, — of the earliest monarchs of the earth, extending to up- wards of two thousand years before Christ, and of the Assyrian or Babylonian sovereigns from Tig- lathpelezer I., b.c. 1 150,down to Nabonidus, of the sixth century before our own era. At Behistun, in 4 "Research of the Nineteenth Century. Persia, the history of the Achtemeuian kings has been found briefly written, in an. autobiogra- phical form, with more than the precision, though with less than the simplicity, of Herodotus ; while Persepolis and its neighbourhood furnish memo- rials of their enterprise which are not to be de- spised either by genius or art, though they are not altogether of an original character. India has its structural temples, its stupas or ‘ topes’ its pillars, its laths, its tablets, and its shasanas, and above all its rock excavations, which reveal its character and resources in the days oi old, indicate its early advancement in a peculiar civilization, and throw great light on the history of its varying religion, and the manner and means of its susten- tation and propagation. Research of the Nineteenth Century. These wonders, so far as they have been observ- ed, we need scarcely say, have for many ages, till lately, been addressing more the imagination than the intelligence of man. Though the monuments and memorials of those who made the earth to tremble, who did shake kingdoms, they had long ceased to tell the story, or even to indicate the names, of their authors. h\one of the sons of the countries in which they are found could unfold their 5 Research of the Nineteenth Century. mysteries. Though patent to all, they were but little understood, even h}' the curious travellers and antiquarians from the lands ot light. Their re-interpretation, after ages of forgetfulness, was reserved for the nineteenth century, i'lie hieroglv- phical engravings and enchorial writings ot Egypt were unbroken mysteries till our own age pro- duced its Youugs, Chainpollions, Wilkinsons, Ros- selinis, Lepsiuses, and Bunsens. The written rocks of Sinai only set their beholders a-dreamiug (as they still do in the case of some visionaries), till deciphered and translated by a Beer and a Tuch within little more thau a quarter of a century. It was in our own childhood that the enterprising Burckhardt entered the natural gateways of Petra, and who by his descriptions allured to it at a later day a Laborde and aLinaut and others, who have given us the veritable picture of the whole locality, with rational explanations of most of its peculiari- ties. Pilgrims to Jerusalem could point us to innumerable spots for the identification of which no data are to be found, as that at which the cock crew to the apostle Peter; but they could not even observe till a short time ago the gigantic founda- tions and structures of the ages of Solomon and of Herod. The pencil and pen of a Wood and a Dawkins, in 1751, could most accurately pourtray 6 Research of the Nineteenth Century. the temples of B’aalbek and the palaces of Pal- myra; but historical light on these unsurpassed structures has, in any considerable degree, been a late communication to the curiosity of Europe. The excavation and interpretation of the tablets and sphinxes and stcllm of Nineveh was only accomplished, a few years ago, by our Bottas and Layards. The inscriptions of Behistun, though partially copied and deciphered by others, were not read till the appearance of our own Eawlinson. The antiquities of India were all ascribed by the natives of the country to the warrior Pandavas in their mythical and heroic character, and viewed as homogeneous embodiments of Hinduism, till their special and varied characters as belonging even to different religious systems, Buddhist, Brahmani- cal, and Jaina, were pointed out and expounded by the learned William Erskine of Bombay; and till their inscriptions began to be deciphered by a Prinscp, a Wathen, and their friendly associates. The antiquities of India were not only not under- stood, but completely misinterpreted, till they passed under observation and research in our own time. Natives and Europeans alike fell into what must now appear the most palpable errors respecting them. With the Brahmans, the Buddhist Dhdgobs (symbols of greatness or Marvellous Narrative of De Couio. 7 receptacles of relics) at Karla and other places were only enormous Lingas. With the same parties, at Elora, the Therawada or monastery, the residence of the Theros (monks), was the Dhedawddd, or abode of the outcast Dhedas ; Buddha himself in his deepest abstraction was the Brahmanical artificer, Vishvaharma holding his cut finger in his workshop ; and the Buddhist and Jaina temples to the north were the Brah- manical Jaganndtha Sabhu, the Indra Sabhd, and so forth. Buddhism, to which the most extensive and magnificent remains belong, was completely ignored by them. Europeans made scarcely more absurd descriptions and interpretations of •what fell before their notice, or entered the sphere of their research. Marvellous Narrative of De Conte. The Portuguese historian De Couto, founding on the accounts given by his countrymen resident in India, thus speaks of the caves of Kan her i in Salsette : — 'In the centre of this island there * exists that wonderful Pagoda of Canari, thus 1 called from its being supposed to have been the * work of the Cauaras.* It is constructed at the * Kanheri is the native name of the place, from Kanhd + g iri = the Hill of Ivan ha, now contracted and corrupted. Marvellous Narrative of Be Couto. ‘ foot of a great hill of stone, of light grey colour j there is a beautiful hall at its entrance, ' and in the yard that leads to the front back-door there are two human figures engraved on the ‘ same stone, twice as big as the giants exhibited ‘ on the procession on the Corpus Christi Feast ‘ i 11 Lisbon, so beautiful, elegant, and so well exe- cuted, that even in silver they could not be better wrought and made with such perfection. c This front door has some cisterns hewn out of 4 the same rock, which receive the rain-water, and 4 it is so cold in the summer that there is no hand ‘ that can bear it. From the foot to the top of f the hill there are more than three thousand ‘ small rooms like cells, cut out of the same rock, ‘ the shape of snail-shells, and each of them ‘ has a cistern with the same water at the door ; 4 and what is more to be wondered at is, that there is an aqueduct constructed so ingeniously that it passes through all the three thousand ‘ apartments, receives all the water from that hill, and supplies it to the cisterns that are at the doors of the room. During the residence of the Rev. Fre Antonio de Porto in the church of St. Aiichael, he was told by the ‘ Christians whom he had converted that there 4 was a labyrinth in that hill whose end had Marvellous Narrative of De Couto. 9 ‘ never been traced, and it was moreover stated ‘ that it extended as far as Cambay. The priest, ‘ desirous of getting in to see this wonder and ‘ the magnitude of this work about which so ‘ much was said, took one of his companions, ‘ and collected twenty persons with arms and ‘ matchlocks to defend themselves against wild ‘ beasts, and some servants to carry the necessary ‘ provisions for the journey, viz. water, rice, ‘ biscuits, vegetables, etc., aud some oil for the ‘ torches which were taken to light the place ‘ in order that they might see their way through ; f and they also took three persons provided witli 1 bundles of strong ropes for the purpose of ‘ laying alongside of their way as they proceeded, ‘ as was done by those who entered the labyrinth ‘ of Crete. Thus prepared, they entered the caves ‘ by an entrance about four fathoms in breadth, ‘ where they placed a large stone, to which they * fastened the point of the ropes. They travelled ‘ through the caves for seven days, without any ‘ interruption, through places some of them wide, ‘ and others narrow, which were hollowed in the ‘ rock, and on each side thej 7 saw small chambers ‘ like those in the Pagoda above mentioned, each ‘ of which had at its entrance a cistern, but no ‘ one could say whether these cisterns contained 10 Marvellous Narrative of Be Couto. any water, or liow they could receive any, for m all these passages they could not discover any hole, crevice, or anything which could throw ‘ au J light on the subject. The upper part of the building was cut out of the same rock, and the walls on each side of these roads were done in ‘ tiie same ^ay. The priest, seeing that they had f expended seven days without being able to find any opening, and that the* provisions and water f had been almost consumed, thought it necessary to return, taking for his clue the rope, without knowing in these windings whether he was pro- ‘ ceeding up or down, or what course they were * steeriug, as they had no compass for their ‘ guidance. Having seen that these priests tra- ‘ veiled through it seven days without taking any f rest, except at dinner and sleeping hours, they ‘ must have travelled at least six leagues every ‘ day, which in seven days would amount to forty - * two leagues, it appears to me that what the ‘ Hindus say, that it reaches as far as Cambav, ‘ may be true, because the island of Salsette at ‘ most is only four leagues long, and the labyrinth * is in the centre of the island. To say that the ‘ roads could have many windings, and be so in- ‘ tricate as to make them spend seven days, is ‘ impossible, the island (as I said) being very Nonsense of Faber. 11 ( small and narrow/ Here are chambers and tunnels with a witness ! —tunnels which, in their length and windings, reduce those on the Bhor and Thai Ghats (so eloquently discoursed of by the learned president of the Mechanics’ Institute, their great inventor and superintendent) to com- paratively small dimensions ! Credat Judaeus- Apelles, non ego.* Nonsense of Faber. Even our own learned Eaber, so late as 1803, founding on the descriptions of Elephanta given by Mr. Maurice and others, could indite the fol- lowing nonsense : — f The five-headed Brahma ‘ [two heads are imagined to be behind the three ‘ of the trimurti seen by visitors] is an hierogly- ‘ phical representation of Noah, his three sons, ‘ and his allegorical consort the ark. At the ‘ termination of the deluge, the patriarch lost * The passages in De Couto referring to the Religious Excavations were first brought to our notice by the late Bishop Prendergast. The passage quoted above is from the Jour, of the Bomb. Br. R. As. Soc., to which it was com- municated by the Rev. \V. K. Fletcher. The excavations at Kanheri have been found by the Messrs. West, who have published accurate delineations of them (including their inscriptions), showing them to be only a hundred in number. From none of them is the light of day excluded. 1 2 Most important Antiquities of India. ‘ his fifth head, the ark [as Brahm£ did in the Hindu legendry], which in the language of ‘ fable was said to have been cast off by him that ‘ moves upon the waters ; but from the blood r which flowed from it the whole race of animals ( was reproduced ; or, in other words, the animals ‘ which were destined to stock the new world ‘ issued from the womb of the ark. The cavern of Elephanta, then, being nothing more than a ‘ helio-arkite grotto, we shall find no difficulty in discovering the reason why the compound ‘ bust of Noah and his three sons was placed f within it ; why precisely eight figures guarded ‘ the doors ; and why the disgraceful symbols of Bacchus, Attis, Osiris, or Mahadeva occupied ‘ so conspicuous a place in the sacellum.’ Most important Antiquities of India. d he most important of all the antiquities of India are its Excavations, and the topes and rock inscriptions which are associated with them. They are the greatest works of the ancient, though not the most ancient, Indians, who, it appears, both from the paintings at Ajanta and the inscriptions at Karla and Kanhei f, had the partial assistance of Greeks or of Bactrians in their execution. Thev are all, with few exceptions, in the mountainous Most important Antiquities of India. 13 ranges and insular* lulls in tlie neighbourhood of Bombay ; and they are there as if for the very purpose of being compared with our own gigantic railway works now proceeding.* There are about fifty large groups of them in the Sahyadri range of mountains and in their offshoots, to make the ascent and descent of which the resources of our engineering and mechanical skill are at present so effectively and boldly applied. We have in- cidentally heard the natives actually making for us a comparison of them with the railway works, and giving the preference to these railway works on the ground of extent, labour, ingenuity, and utility. It is no longer a difficulty to the mission- ary, which we have all often felt, to make mani- fest to the Indians the mex*e human origin of the excavations, unless indeed -with such parties as we have seen specimens of, who consider the railway engineers themselves a species of demi- gods. Yet the excavations are wonderful, all things considered, for their number, magnitude, and artistic execution. To this remark those es- pecially who have visited Elephanta, Sashti (»Sal- sette), Kuda, Ivarla, Junlr, Nasik, Elora, Auranga- bad, Ajanta, and other localities will readily as- * Sec Appendix (A). 14 Caves of India. sent. Thousands of men, directed by skilful con- trivers and superintendents, must have been em- ployed upon them for many years, nay for centu- ries, as will appear when their origin and age are considered. The origin of consecrated Caves it is not diffi- cult to understand. Natural grottoes made by the fissure and abrasion of rocks, both vertical and horizontal, and the introduction into them of water currents, have doubtless in all countries suggested the idea of artificial grottoes, especial! v after the use of them by various classes of partial troglodytes in different countries, as the earlier races of men spread themselves over the face of the world. Both classes of grottoes early became associated with the mysteries of religion and superstition ; and were converted into the shrines of idols and oracles and into the dens of sibvls, as is well known to all who are acquainted with the literature of Greece and Rome. Caves of India. The artificial excavations of India, — and which in their inscriptions are denominated Selgharas (S. Shailgrihof, Rock-Mansions, and Lenas (from the S. Layanam), Ornamentations, so called from their images and figures, — are all of a religions character, belonging to three distinct religious B uddh ist Excavations. 15 systems, the Buddhist, the Brahmanical, and the Jaina, as was at first proved by their mythological figures, and is now most satisfactorily established by their inscriptions. Natives of intelligence have of course all along understood the figures in the Brahmanical caves, because they are in accordance with the latest developments of their recognized mythology, — though they sometimes went wrong in their interpretation of their groups, and had forgotten their history. Their desire to claim the merit of the Buddhist and Jaina exca- vations, coupled with their slight acquaintance with the history and symbols of these systems, tempted them, in violation of their palpable indi- cations, to associate them with Brahmanism. Buddhist Excavations. The Buddhist excavations are the most ancient, numerous, and diversified. They are principally of the following species : — 1. Chetyagliaras (S. Chaityagrihas) or Temples. These are generally of an oblong form, with lofty roofs, of a semicircular or horse-shoe curve, and in some instances associated with wooden rafters, — sometimes, as at Karla (where the best specimen of a Ghaitya is to be found), in a won- derful state of preservation. In the front of each 16 Buddhist Excavations. Chaitva, there is a wall or screen with a gallery above' (perhaps devoted of old to musicians), and pierced by a principal and two side doorways, end also sometimes an outer screen. A colon- nade, with the pillars generally highly ornament- ed with sculpture on their capitals, thong sometimes plain, goes round the Cliaitya. its inner extremity, but exterior to the colonnade, is a Dh&gob (from the Sanskrit receptacle of elements) or Vehag^ta (the holder or concealer of a bodyj-a mass of rock or elec- tion, enclosing, in an interior hole hid from vie ; some supposed relic of Skilaj * ■ .» Buddha, or of some of his more distinguished followers. The screen here referred to, as a Karla and KSnheri, has sometimes interesting "roups in alto-relievo representing Buddha him- telf and parties, principally of the aboriginal tribes, come to do him obeisance. Two recesses bounded by this screen in front, but wdh lofty sides, with two gigantic figures as „t Kanhe , or with elephants with numerous figures sur- mounting them as at Karla, or without ornament, form the porch of the temple. Exterior to t.s porch at the principal Chaityas are ’ orn ™™ or commemorative Stambhas - pillars, gener ally monoliths hewn like the temples out Buddhist Excavations. 17 die living rock. That at Karla is denominated, on au inscription which it bears, the ‘ Lion-pillar,’ a designation easily understood from the ligures forming its capital. Near the entrances to the Chaityas are often small Dahgobs, either mono- liths or structures of the form of the interior Dahgobs, but devoted to the commemoration of parties inferior to Shakya Muni himself. At various places in their neighbourhood are Stupas, or ‘ topes/ resembling these Dahgobs — mounds covering the ashes of distinguished Buddhist teachers. The most remarkable f topes 5 in India are of a structural kind, as those of Manvakali in the Punjab, described by the late Professor Wilson in his learned work entitled Ariana An- ti qua, and at Bhilsa, so full and ably described by Colonel Cunningham of the Bengal Engineers. 2. Yihuras, or Monasteries. These were designed for the accommodation of the Buddhist Bhikshus, or mendicant monks, dwelling 1 together as cenobists ; the individual cells, or smaller abodes of the monks, being- denominated Bhihshu-grihas. They are often very capacious, with large halls in their centre, and are sometimes of two or three storeys, as at Elora and Karla, where they are called the 13 Buddhist Excavations. Dontdl, Tinted , etc. The villages near the caves sometimes bear the name of Vihargium or Ye- hergaum (corrupted iuto Yedagaum), as was formerly the case with the village in Salsette now covered with the Yih;ir lake, from which the water-pipes in Bombay are supplied, and is still the case with the village below the hill in which the caves of Karla are situated. 3. Detached Bhikshu-Grihas, Hermitages , — liter alhj Mendicants’ Houses. These were intended for the monks who lived not as cenobists, but hermits. Their cubicula, or couches, as well as those of the cenobists, are all of the living rock, and must never have been of a luxurious character. 4. Buddha- Shdl as or Bhilcshu- Sangha Bnddha-Grilias , or Halls of Buddha. These are generally square or oblong Halls, with or without cells, for the public instruction or consultation of the monks, whose common audieuces were probably addressed sub claro cade, or in temporary tabernacles — on the oc- casion of their great festivals, or at their own residences when the monks wandered abroad. B uddJi ist E.cca va tiuiis . 19 Dharmasliulds, or Charitable Lodjinrj- Houses. These were intended for the temporary accom- modation of the pilgrims and other parties who visited the monks on festival occasions or at other seasons. An example of this class of exca- vations is contiguous to the Chaitya at Kanheri in Salsette. 0. Annasatras, or Food Dispensaries. These were excavations, or apartments of ex- cavations, devoted to the issue of food to pil- grims and travellers. Hospices of this character, greater or smaller, are still to be found in all parts of India, though frequently in a decayed or decaying state, from the appropriation by their administrators of their regal and other endow- ments. 7. Pondhis , or Cisterns. These are reservoirs for the supply of water, brought to them by numerous small drains and cuttings extending over the hills on which the excavations occur, hi any of them are but little reached by the sun. Hence the comparative coolness of their waters, noticed iu such an exaggerated form by the Portuguese annalist whom we have already quoted. 20 B uddliist Excavations. It is many years since we substantially made this arrangement of the Buddhist excavations. It was afterwards confirmed their inscriptions, as read both by my learned friend the late Dr. Stevenson and myself. 9. The Idols or Figures of the Buddhist Ex- cavations. The figures of Buddha (Shakya Muni, the most effective propagator of intellectual atheism predominant in Buddhism), of course, abound in the Buddhist excavations. They are exactly similar to those in use in the present day in the different countries to which Buddhism has been carried from India, — in Nepal, Tartary, Ceylon, Barmah, Siam, China, and even Japan, as appears from wood engravings lately received from that distant country. They are represented in a vari- ety of postures, — standing-, sitting, or squatted, — sometimes with the feet drawn up and the knees protruded, sometimes with one foot up and an- other down, and sometimes with both feet on the ground ; and as receiving worship and enthroniza- tion, as dispensing blessings, or as engaged in con- templation. They are almost uniformly destitute of such monstrosities as a plurality of heads, legs, arms, etc., — as are noticed in Brahmauical images. They are all of one type, as far as the expression Buddhist Excavations. 21 of intellect is concerned ; and the conception of them indicates little life, genius, or reflection. Ab- straction seems to be their general characteristic. Though of stone, they have all the stiffness of wooden models, which may have been brought from afar to be copied when they were hewn. According to the Buddhist conceit of beauty, many of them have curled hair and pendant lips, as of an African type.* One of the most interest- * Mr. Hodgson of the C.S. (long Resident at Nepal), to whom we are indebted for the first acquisition of the Buddhist literature, when examining the priest whose answers form the substance of his most interesting ‘ Sketch of Buddhism,’ put to him the question, ‘ What is the reason for Buddha being represented with curled locks?’ and he received the following answer: — ‘Adi Buddha was never seen. lie is merely light. But in the pictures of Kairo- china and the other Buddhas we have the curled hair ; and since in the limbs and organs we discriminate thirty-two {lakshanas ) points of beauty, such as expansion of forehead, blackness of the eyes, roundness of the head, elevation of the nose, and archedness of the eyebrow ; so also the having curled locks is one of the points of beauty, and there is no other reason for Buddha’s having been ^represented with curled locks.’ Mr. Hodgson adds in a note : — ‘ This is the true solution of a circumstance which has caused much idle speculation ; though the notion is, no doubt, an odd one for a sect which insists on tonsure.’ The colours of the five Dhyani-Buddhas are as follows : — Kairochina’s appropriate colour is white; Akshobya’s blue ; Ratno Sam- bhava’s yellow or golden ; Amiraba’s red ; and Amogba Siddha’s green. B uddh isl Excavations. ing of them, at Ajanta, of gigantic dimensions, represents the death of Buddha. The sage in the scene is lying in a horizontal position. His earthly servants, standing round his couch, are overcome with sorrow and grief, while a bard of heavenly choristers above are frantic with joy at the supposed liberation or extinction of his spirit* The figures attendant on or doing obeisance to Buddha, which are introduced into the sculp- tures for the purposes of ornament, indicate more liberty and art than we see in the case of their master, the original images of whom seem to have been followed without variation, — though some of them are in forms and attitudes of a gro- tesque character. On the ceilings and walls of some excavations, as those of Ajanta, are very remarkable paintings, evidently of Grecian or Bactrian origin, — for the figures are far superior to those which we find on the Hindu coins of the same age. These paintings, the copying of which occupied Major Gill and his assistants for many years, illustrate the occupations and manners and customs of the former inhabitants of this country, and even of the foreign peoples with whom they held intercourse. It is evident from them that, though the Buddhist monks withdrew their own consecrated persons from the evil world, when Buclclh ist Exeat a t ions . they betook themselves to their monasteries and hermitages, they liked to be surrounded in their solitude by the pictures and images of its pomps and vanities. Mr. Griffiths, of the Bombay School of Arts, has lately most successfully copied some of the most striking of the Ajanta figures. Structural Buildings associated with Buddhist Excavations. We have no doubt that there were originally structural buildings associated with the Buddhist excavations. One used as a stable for elephants is referred to, in a fragmentary inscription in the cave character, in a large stone found at Kanheri by the late lamented Mr. Henry West. There are remains of extensive foundations, in some instances with holes for wooden pillars, on the Kanheri hill, or, as it is called in the inscrip- tions, the hill of Kanlia -Kanheri (to which we formerly diffidently gave another etymology), being probably a contraction of Kunhdgiri, the mountain of Kanha. Situation of Buddhist Excavations. The Buddhist excavations have generally an interesting situation, amidst picturesque, or wild, or sublime scenery. They had sometimes gardens in their neighbourhood for the raising of vegeta- bles and the culture of flowering and fruit treesv, 24: Characteristics of Brahmanical Excavations. the representatives of which, as known to our botanists, to some extent exist to the present day. The grove at Loruilu or Lonavali (corrupted from Lend vali) the Grove of the Lena, was probably connected with the establishment at Karla, distant from it only three or four miles. It was a favour- ite resort of the late accomplished and observant Mr. John Graham, who found trees and bushes at it but now seldom seen in other parts of the country, some of which were probably introduced into the locality by Buddhist pilgrims and monks. The general Characteristics of the Bbahmanical Excavations. The Brahmanical excavations are principally Temples — either representing the interior of such places of worship, as at Elephanta, or both their interior and exterior, as is the case in the example of the superb temple of Kaildsa at Elora. They are all, without exception, dedicated to Shiva, and distinguished by the different forms of that deity and of the members of his family, and of the later gods of the Hindu pantheon subordinated to Shiva. To understand them, we have to attend to the Hindu conception of the deity to whom they are dedicated, philosophically and mythologically considered. Shiva is not a god of the ancient ATya people, from whom the Brahmans and the Characteristics of Brahmanical Excavations. 25 whiter races of the natives are sprung, who were general types of the visible powers of nature. He is not once mentioned in the ancient Vedas, though the Brahmans wish to find him in Budra, there set forth as the god of storms. He is not even ob- served in the collection oflaws attributed to Manu. His name etymologically means ‘ he of whom growth, increase, or prosperity is.’ Hence he is the god of the productive power of nature, in some respects not unlike Savifri of the Vedas, Vash upati, lord of beasts, with the trisliula or trident, puslia, or net, and the bull called Nandi as his vdhana or conveyancer; and Shanlcara, the god of pros- perity. As the material prosperity of the inhabit- ants of the Indian plains and valleys was depend- ent to a great extent on the rivers issuing from the Himalaya mountains, he was viewed as Girtsha, the lord of mountains, his wife being Pdrvati, the ‘ mountain-born ’ (from Parvata, a mountain), and Burrja, the ‘ daughter of mountains/ Asso- ciated with the eternal snows of these mountains, he was viewed as a penitent or ascetic, and tin- chief of ascetics, with a great many corresponding names. Conceived to be located among constant storms, he easily absorbed the name of Budra found in the Vedas, though, as we have already hinted, it did not originally belong to him ; and he thus -G Characteristics of Brahmanical Excavations. became the god of destruction and deatli, adorned with a necklace of skulls or human heads, and pos- sessed of a third eye or most prominent brow. He became also Hava, an ancient god of power, and is known by the name of Mahubaleshvara, the ‘ lord of great power.’ The lingo, (or sexual symbol) is not mentioned as one of his images or symbols in either of the epic poems, the Ruma- yana or Mahabhurata, or in the Aniarlcosha, the dictionary of Amar. This symbol seems to have been transferred to him from the aborigines of the south of India He was originally a popular god, adopted by the Brahmans, like Vishnu, in the non- Vedic sense; and hence the name of MahaJevo, or the great god, and its various synonyms. Perhaps the original idea of him was got from the Sun, viewed, not as the lord of day, but as the great source of nourishment, increase, and decay. Mythological analogy is in favour of this conjec- ture, the bull in Egypt and other countries having been sacred to the Sun. In later times the Brah- mans having found the three functions of creation, preservation, and destruction, attributed in the Upauishads and other philosophical treatises to Brahma, conceived of as the original and universal self or spirit, gave one of them to Brahma, the god whom they had invented as the god of prayer Brahmanical Caves at Elephanta. 27 and sacrificial rites; another of them to Vishnu, also in his general characters a new conception ; and the third to Shiva. The followers of Shiva in the south were dissatisfied with this arrange- ment ; and they claimed all these functions, — yet paying deference to their respective personifica- tions, — for their preferred popular god Shiva, whom they exalted in their sectarial zeal to the highest honour, as set forth in the Shiva, Linga, and other Purunas of the same class. Brahmanical Caves exemplified at Elephanta. A characteristic example of the Brahmanical caves is to be found at Elephanta, the well-known, beautiful, and easily accessible island in the Bom- bay Harbour, with the form, size, and appearance of which very many are doubtless familiar. We confine our remarks upon these caves at present to their principal mythological sculptures and their import. I. Fronting the entrance of the large temple, but at its extremity, is the great trimurti, or image with three heads combined together, about nine- teen feet in height, though it extends only from the shoulders upwards. This is Shiva possessed of the three functions — of creation, preservation, and destruction just alluded to, and personified with the 28 Brahmanical Caves at Elephanta. active attributes ascribed respectively to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. The front face is that of Shiva as Brahma, the god of prayer or the word, in whom the creative energy is thought to centre. The face to the right of the spectator is that of Shiva as Vishnu, the god of preservation, recog- nized by his purer appearance and his symbol, the lotus. The face to the left of the spectator is that of Sltica, as the destroyer, recognized by his fiercer aspect, the feline moustache, the slabbering lip, the terrific serpents in his hand and forming his hair, his prominent brow, and the skull near his temples. This composite bust, which is unique in point of size aud execution, is remarkable for- its head-dresses representing simple royal mukatas or diadems with pearl pendents and precious stones set in gold or silver, and necklaces and earrings and other ornaments mixed with curled locks, which throw light on the capital and tho- racic adornments of the kingly natives before the introduction of the turban. It was almost pei’fect till a few years ago, when some thoughtless or mischievous visitors broke off a portion of the noses of two of the figures. Though it represents a ti-iad of comparatively modern invention, it is in unison with such a triad of deities as the Hindus, like other ancient peoples, have been Brahma nical Caves at Elephanta 29 familiar with, from the earliest times. We say distinctively a triad, for the detachment of the figures from the rock above shows plainly that no more than three faces were intended. Four-armed Shiva and his wife Farvati. 2. To the spectator’s right, from the trimurti, Shiva, in the form of the Ghatarhhujahdr or four- handed, and his wife Farvati, appear standing up- right with their attendants, some of whom below are jovial rjanas and pishdchas, mythological demons belonging to their suite,* while those in the aerial regious above are specimens of famish- jn Brahma, with his four faces (three only of which are visible), seated upon his vahana (wagon) of geese (emblems of wisdom) ; Indra, upon hiselephant Airavati ; and 1 ishnu, mounted * See Appendix B. t There seems to be no monstrosity in any ot the pcrtect female forms in these caves. 30 Brahmanical Codecs at Elephanta. \ upon tlio personified Garvda, the lord of eagles, by whom he is thought to fly through the sky. Shiua — united with the Triraurti. 3. To the spectator’s left, from the trimurti, Shiva and Parvati appear as Arddhanareslivara in a half-male and half-female form (agreeably to a well known Hindu legend), with the gods above noted, and male and female attendants allotted to them respectively, and withadoring ascetics above. In this group, Xandi, the vahana or conveyancer of Shiva, appears, not in the species of the domestic bull, but that of the forest Go.va, the Bos Gavoeus of naturalists, mentioned in the Vedas as an arti- cle of food. There is more poetry in connecting Shiva with the Gava than with the domestic bull, as commonly done. In but few of the Shiva sculptures in general does the tiger, the vahana of Parvati or Durgd, appear. Marriage of Shiva to Parvati. I. The spectator, passing Xo. 2 to the left, now finds, behind the sacellum containing the symbol of Shiva, a group representing the marriage of Shiva to Parvati, with the bashful bride pushed forward by a ministering attendant on the right of the bridegroom, a position which she occupies only on the day of marriage. Close to Shiva is a Brahman ical Caves at Elephant a. : 31 priest holding a vessel with the substances for the bridal uuctiou. The other gods, etc., are here (as in the other groups), with Brahma sitting in the corner. This group, with others to be noted, has its counterpart connected with the domestic life of Shiva, in the Dumc'ir Lena at Elora. Shiva as Bhairava, the Formidable. 5. Close to the sacellum on the opposite wall of the temple is Shiva in his character of Bhairava, the formidable, fierce in countenance, with swollen eyes, and set lips ; with a garland of human heads suspended from his neck, instead of the Brah- manical string; with eight hands (now partly broken), all employed in effecting, horribile dicta vel visa, a human sacrifice, that of a child. This child he holds upraised in one hand, while he has a bare sword to strike the fatal blow in another, a bell to intimate the appointed moment in a third, and a vessel to receive the blood in a fourth. A fifth hand, with its arm now wanting, holds a screen to be dropped when the awful event occurs. The ascetics above, represented with considerable art, are in horror and amaze- ment at this development of the destructive powers of their master. This group is seen to most advantage when the sun is upon it. In the 32 Brahmanical Caves at Elephanta. centre of their row occurs the mystical trisyllabic symbol A am ( Om ), applied as comprehending each person of the triad, as if the essence of Hinduism were here concentrated in it. J. Scene in Kailasa. 6. Crossing- the temple, to the corresponding- apartment on the other side, we have a scene of a very different kind, — Shiva and Pdrvat't in the enjoyment of connubial bliss in their heaven or ccelum, the Kailasa of the Hindus, upheld, when shaken by the many-headed and many-handed Havana, the demon king of Lanka. Shiva and Pdrvat't in another aspect. 7. Directly opposite to this group is another, also illustrative of the domestic life of Shiva and Parvati, husband and wife showing signs of dissatisfaction with and aversion to one another. Both these personages appear in superior and less injured form, at the Dtnndr Lend at Elora, from the inspection of v T hich their real character is to be ascertained. Shiva as an ascetic. 8-9. In the great temple, the groups at the entrance represent Shiva sitting as an ascetic, with accompaniments the same as in other in- stances. The position in which he is squatted is a Brahmanical Caves at Elephant a. 33 favourite one with Hindu devotees, even with the Buddhists. The Side Chapels. We pass over the symbolic Sacellum with its gigantic guardians. Of the two Chapels, that to the left hand as we enter is the more impor- tant. In the court before it, which was long filled up with earth, there is a low circular platform, where the bull doing honour to the distant sacellum of the great temple, and that of this chapel, must have been placed, — not a vestige of it now remaining (sic transit gloria Nandi ! ). The lcogriffs at the sides of the steps leading to the chapel were lately dug out of the accumulated earth now referred to. One of them is unfinished (as is the case with the exterior exca- vations on the way to the eastern landing-place of the island). To the right hand of the chapel is an apartment showiug a procession of womeu carrying infants, etc., as on the occasion of a marriage, with Shiva, in his proper person, con- fronting his corpulent son Ganapatt, with his large belly and elephant’s head, — the substitute for his natural one, which he is said to have lost at his birth by the consuming glance of the god Shani , the planet Saturn, who clapped that of a passing 3