Stupas with Cruciform Plans – a Review of Examples in Central, South and Southeast Asian Countries

Stupas with Cruciform plans – A Review of Examples in Central, South and Southeast Asian Countries

Mahua Chakrabarti and Anura Manatunga

Abstract tupa, Tope, or Dagaba is considered a sacred monument of the Buddhist people. The concept germinated in very early times and was pre-Buddhistic. After the death of the Buddha, such mounds of relics were attributed to a special significance. Preliminary constructed as a hemispherical dome thought the passing of time it became cruciform in plan and pyramidal in elevation. Buddhism had its impact on the Central, South and Southeast Asian countries, which influenced the stupa architecture beyond the country. Following this plan, a stupa had a square base, including a flight of steps in every direction. The examples are found in various countries of South and Southeast Asia such as India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Java, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Tibet, China which furthermore attached circular bastions to the four corners of the wall. The cruciform stupas situated in the vast territory of central, south and southeast Asian countries focused on the importance of the cult of remnants of the Buddha and the stupas or commemorative mounds within which they were preserved, on the relation between Buddhism and trade, and the ways in which Buddhism spread along the so-called ‘Silk Routes’. The article notes a review of such stupas.

Key words: Stupa, Dagaba, Chorten, cruciform.

Introduction that gives a sketch of a cruciform stupa, which has four staircases, three platforms and an egg-like A stupa, the ancient sacred monument of the dome (Anda), with the other common elements. Buddhist people is otherwise known as the Dagaba As a result, the appearance of the stupa changed in Sri Lanka and Chorten in Tibet. In early times, from a simple plan to a highly developed plan. at the places away from the village, a simple mass of earth and stones (tumuli) were used to bury The stupa architecture was originated in north departed kings. It was 2500 years ago when after India. In succeeding years, Buddhism had its Shakyamuni Buddha’s death, such mounds or impact on the South and Southeast Asian countries, stupas were attributed to a special significance. which influenced the stupa architecture beyond the country. As Buddhism became weakened in India After the passing away of the Buddha, stupas (c. sixth and seventh centuries), it found its route developed and with the passage of time, to Tibet and Nepal in the north and Sri Lanka in those changed from circular or square shape. the south. The religion has grown in these regions Furthermore, the foundation (Vedi) of the stupa was so a parallel development of the stupa was seen, turned into cruciform in plan and became elevated. though the original shape was preserved almost Simultaneously, a drum (Medhi) was added to entirely in the Dagabas of Sri Lanka. The basic the stupa. The height of stupas was increased representation of the anda as the universe and subsequently by raising the base (Vedi) higher and the floor plan as a cosmic diagram remained the increasing the dimensions of stupas themselves. In same as before. A number of parallel rings, which the Divyavadana, a scriptural description is found

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gradually diminished toward the top made chattra (China), Parihasapur (Kashmir), Adzihna Tepe into a spire or elongated cone. The various strata (Afghanistan), Paharpur (Bangladesh). The third of the cone relate to stages of realization on the group includes the stupas with a square plan and way to enlightenment. two projections between each flight of steps and the corner of the square plinth. Examples are the A brief review of stupas of Central, South main stupa A at Bhamala and the main stupa at and Southeast Asian countries Sahri-Bahlol G in Mardan, KP. With the passage of time, the form of the stupa The examples of cruciform stupas are found became varied and turned into an object of in various south and southeast Asian countries veneration. Scholars have two different views such as India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, about the possible origin of the Cross-planned Afghanistan, Java, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, stupas. Indonesia, Tibet, which furthermore attached According to Kurt A. Behrendt, Cruciform stupas circular bastions to the four corners of the wall. were lately innovated and those can be datable not Some of the famous examples of cruciform stupas earlier than the sixth century CE. Moreover,as a are discussed below. number of stupas in this style have been found in In Bangladesh, we may notice some stupa Afghanistan, he states that the cruciform shape is structures having cruciform ground plans. originated in Afghanistan. However, Fitzsimmons Among those, mention may be made of Bharat (Fitzsimmons, 2001) opines that, the cruciform Bhayana (Pl. 2). The site is known after the name stupa emerged indigenously in Taxila without of its village Bhayana in the Jessore district. sway from outside. Some mounds are scattered in the village and its Stupas with cruciform plans are a distinctive style surroundings and architectural pieces are sparsely of architecture. Following this plan, a stupa had lying. Bharat RajarDeul, only one of them, has a square base, including a flight of steps in every yielded the large remains of a brick-built strange direction (Nakamura & Okazaki 2016: 39-40) structure. The wall surface is starkly plain saving (Pl. 1). Franz describes this stylistic growth thus, some offsets at the base level only. The existing “They show a “star-shaped” monument, a terraced structure is roofless. The height of it is about 10m stupa with four staircases, in the ground-plan…” at its maximum. It seems that the structure had (Franz 1980: 46). According to their stylistic been much more in its earliest form. It may be features, Hameed et al classified the cruciform dated in the circa 5th-6th century CE. stupas into three groups (Hameed, Shakirullah, Rupban Mura in Mainamati (Bangladesh) is Samad and Kenoyer, 2017: 41). The first group another important archaeological site (Pl. 3). of stupas consists of a clear existence of a square Archaeologists excavated here the remnants of body at the core of the plan. Examples are mostly a medium-sized (28.2 meter east-west, 28 meter reported from Pakistan and Afghanistan, such north-south) but a notable semi-cruciform shrine, as Tope-e-Rustam, Tahkal Bala. The next group along with several minor structures, comprising of stupas consists of three projected corners an octagonal stupa and another shrine on a flanked by the staircases like, the stupas at Rawak

32 PAKISTAN HERITAGE 11 (2019) Stupas with Cruciform plans – A Review of Examples in Central, South and Southeast Asian Countries quadrangle base. The main cruciform shrine was by Bikrampur Foundation of Bangladesh being initially constructed as the concrete stupa on patronized by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs a square base. In the eighth century CE, it was and Archaeology Division of the Bangladesh further changed into a semi-cruciform shrine. Government in collaboration with China at The square stupa courtyard and other subsidiary Nateshwar Deul, Tongibari sub-district unearthed shrines are enclosed within a periphery wall. Its some mark of this ancient civilization. These customary doorway is on the east, which faces stupas may be ascribed to around 1,000 years the door of the monastery. Three main periods of back. The architectural style of these stupas is building and repairs and rejuvenation have been aesthetically unique. These sixteen stupas are revealed after intensive excavations, the earliest situated in four interrelated “Stupa Hall Rooms”. occurred to circa sixth-seventh centuries CE. Each stupa is square-shaped and has a boundary wall made of bricks of 16-m in length and 3.5-m Rupban Mura is distinctive in its architectural in width. plan. Rather than a solitary chapel constructed in each of the extended wings of the cross, a group of However, the most significant of all monasteries three chapels was built on the eastern side of the in Bangladesh was Sompura Vihara at Paharpur shrine. In the mid chapel, a colossal stone Buddha of Rajshahi district in north Bangladesh (Pl. 5). was found that is now preserved in Mainamati These substantial remains had been unearthed Museum. by the British archeologists in the early 1900s. This Mahavihara is a unique example of ancient The neighboring Itakhola Mura grand stupa has temple architecture. It was established during the the same oddity. On the eastern side, there is its Pala Dynasty (eighth to eleventh centuries CE) entrance. Remains of bronze images discovered and it may be taken as the largest monument in in other shrines imply that those images were Asia. The monument has long been celebrated originally installed there. The Stupa with a as the Dharmapala Mahavihara, or Somapura cruciform ground plan has a large entrance Vihara, founded by Dharmapala, the second ruler complex (12.5m x 6.9m) in the mid of the northern of the Pala dynasty in the late eighth century. The wing. The shrine was constructed in the distinctive external boundary of the site is a large quadrangle; square plan. Initially, it had twenty-four chambers over nine hundred feet on each side and small in four wings; the number of chambers afterward chambers are on it. The temple proper raises in in the second period, decreased into eighteen. The the centre. It is a cruciform edifice of brick with southern wing covered an area of 11.7m, which a colossal central substance and four extended was deserted, owing to irreversible destruction, wings. The quadrangular structure contains cells and a chain of new chambers was built in front numbering one hundred seventy-seven and a of the shrine, for which the monastery looks large conventional Buddhist Stupa in the center rectangular (34.1m x 24.8m) in the plan. along with numerous Stupas. The shrine is raised Sixteen Buddhist stupas have recently been on a cruciform basement, with two tall terraced excavated at Nateshwar (district Munshiganj, structures having inset chambers and gradually Bangladesh) (Pl. 4). The excavation conducted diminishing pyramid form. A low hall is enclosed within it. The upper portions have been ruined,

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but the nature of the walls is still unmistakably Indonesia. Sewu was built prior to neighboring noticeable. Somapura Mahavihara totally covers ‘Loro Jonggrang’ temple at Prambanan (c. 900 the area of 27acres (110,000 m2). A copper plate CE). This shrine complex includes 249 temples, inscription discovered at the site refers to a Jain however, the Javanese name Sewu means to ‘one vihara of caturmukh or four-faced type, which thousand temples’, which derived from prevalent possibly situated on the site in the pre-Pala period. indigenous folklore (The Legend of Loro Jonggrang). The structural design of this Vihara has influenced the style of monasteries in Southeast Asia. In The diameter of the main shrine is 29 meters and Indonesia, the colossal Borobudur Temple of Java it rises up to 30 meters high. The main shrine has a has been constructed following the Somapura cruciform twenty-sided polygonal-shaped ground Vihara. However, connoisseurs suppose that plan. There are four structures projected outward Borobudur’s architecture, particularly the on each of the four cardinal points of the main gradually diminishing cruciform plan of its shrine. Each structure has its individual staircase, main shrine, had influenced the architecture of entrance, and rooms, and has a stupa on its top, the nearby countries. Buddhist architectures in which take shape of a cruciform design. those countries, constructed in the thirteenth and In Thailand, the stupas with a cruciform ground fourteenth centuries, appear to have followed the plan are also found. The architecture of Thailand Paharpur example. is primarily Buddhist. The influences of the other Borobudur, a ninth-century Mahayana Buddhist Buddhist countries are closely discernible in its shrine in Magelang Regency in Central Java, character. In Thailand there are different styles of Indonesia is a World Heritage site built during the architecture, of which, the stupa in its Thai form rule of the Syailendra Dynasty. The main shrine is is the most unique. The p’ra-prang style of stupa a stupa around a hill, erected in three levels (Pl. architecture shows a rectangular plan, which is 6). Borobudur has a pyramidal foundation, above similar to the spire or sikhara of the Indian temple which there are concentric square terraces, five in in the Indo-Aryan style. In Chiang Mai, Thailand number, and the shaft of a cone with three rounded there is situated Wat Chedi Luang, a Buddhist platforms. At the peak, there is a grand stupa. The temple (Pl. 8). Along with Wat Chedi Luang, walls and balustrades cover a total surface area the existing temple ground was initially made of 2520 square-meter and those are adorned with up of two more temples, Wat Ho Tham and Wat fine reliefs. Throughout the rounded platforms, Sukmin. there are seventy-two stupas, opened at the top, In the fourteenth century, King Saen Muang Ma each includes a sculpture of Buddha. started constructing the temple in view to bury The next example is the Chandi Sewu, (859 CE) the ashes of his father. After ten years, it was a Mahayana Buddhist temple (Pl. 7). It is situated left incomplete. After the death of the king, the 800 meters north of Prambanan in Central Java, construction again started by his widow queen. Indonesia. After Borobudur, Candi Sewu is However, it was complete in the mid-fifteenth the second largest Buddhist shrine complex in century during the reign of king Tilokaraj. At

34 PAKISTAN HERITAGE 11 (2019) Stupas with Cruciform plans – A Review of Examples in Central, South and Southeast Asian Countries that time, its height was 82 m and the base had Empire (Pl. 10). Between 928 – 944 CE, Koh Ker a diameter of 54 m. It was then considered the was the state capital for Kings Jayavarman IV biggest structure of all Lanna style of architecture. and Harshavarman II. Situated in a dense forest, In 1468, an Emerald Buddha was established in Koh Ker has 180 sanctuaries, amongst which the the recess of the eastern face. In 1545, 30-m of the imposing seven-tier pyramid temple of Prasat top of the temple broke down after an earthquake, Prang was used as Jayavarman’s state temple. and soon after that, in 1551, the Emerald Buddha The principal edifice at Koh Ker is otherwise was moved to Luang Prabang. known as Prasat Thom. It has a step pyramid that The chedi was restored in the early 1990s, with is called Prasat Prang with a boundary wall of its the financial support by the Japanese government own; the edifice was lying in an east-west linear and UNESCO. However, the outcome is rather plan. controversial. According tosome of the scholars, The temple-mountain is of 62-m width and 36-m the restored components are not following the height, constructed out of sandstone. There Lanna style rather following the Central Thai areseven well even terraces of regular height, style. and their ends create the elevation of a roughly Wat Mahathat in Bangkok (Thailand) is another equilateral triangle.It is taller and leanerin grand temple complex in Sukhothai Historical comparison to the earlier pyramidal state temples Park (Pl. 9). ‘Wat Mahathat’ interprets as ‘temple such as Bakong in Roluos and Bakheng in Angkor. of the great relic’ and Wat Mahathats are frequently The Prasat Prang resembles in shape to some met with in various Thai cities, where remnants ofthe Mesoamerican step pyramids of the Maya. of the Buddha were preserved. According to the On the south face of the sixth terrace,there is a Sukhothai stone inscriptions, the Wat Mahathat dug-in false door. Each side of the topmost terrace in Bangkok was constructed in between 1292 and measures 12-meters. Asingle flight of steps of the 1347. pyramid is situated on the easternface.

The core structures at Wat Mahathat contain a At present, there exists no Prasat tower, which lotus-bud shaped chedi, four smaller stupas at its could make the pyramidal plan even more accurate. four corners and four prangs of Khmer style in the Perhaps, like that of Bakong, a temple tower on cardinal sides. Moreover, there was a congregation the very apex was designed but not made in time. hall to the east having a seated Buddha image. Otherwise, it might be of wood-like perishable One can notice two square buildings or mandapas materials, or it might be the Lingam as the only located north and south of the central shrine, both edifice on top. If a Prasat has been constructed on with lofty standing Buddha sculptures and an top to house the Linga, the height of this pyramid ordination hall to the north, with seated Buddha perhaps would be of 64 metres, which is similar image. to the breadth on the ground level. It would have been of the same elevation as Angkor Wat. Prasat Prang, a Khmer ruin is located in modern Ban Prang Ku, (ancient Koh Ker) Thailand, The Wat Ku Kut is a less known temple situated which was known as Lingapura during the Khmer in Lamphun in Thailand. It consists of a viharn,

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two ancient chedis, an ubosot, and a sala (Pl. The 57 m high Buddhist stupa itself is covered 11). There is the Mahabol chedi within the Wat with gold over its terraces. In the foundation of the Ku Kutwhich represents the last extant instance pagoda, there are 729 caves with stone inscription of Mon Dvaravati architecture of Thailand. It is or kyauksagu. In each cave, there is a marble slab otherwise known as the Suwan Chang Kotchedi. inscribed on both sides with a page of text from the It is a well-preserved stepped pyramid chedi. The Tripitaka, the complete Pali Canon of Theravada chedi was constructed by King Athitayarat of the Buddhism. Hariphunchai Kingdom as a war memorial over Bagan, on the other hand, is an old city with an the Khmer in the mid-twelfth century. important archaeological area that accommodated The chedi is 21 meters high; it was constructed thousands of Buddhist monuments. Among the with brick and eventually plastered with stucco. remarkable pagodas in Bagan, Lawkananda Five square tiers of gradually diminishing Pagoda is one, which preserves a replica of the sizeswereconstructed on a square foundation. Buddha tooth relic. Another one is the Shwesandaw There are three niches on each side of every Pagoda, which was constructed in 1057 to house tier enshrining a standing Buddha, diminishing some sacred hairs of Buddha. in dimension towards the peak. The mold cast Lawkananda Pagoda was constructed on the bank images are showing the Abhayamudra in the right of the Ayeyarwaddy River, during the rule of King hand. Elaborate stucco embellishment has been Anawrahta (Pl. 13). The dome of the pagoda is noticed at arches on top of the niches. situated on an octagonal base of three diminishing The stupas in Myanmar, well known as the zedi, storeys. The lower two storeys have steps on three also endured many transformations. The umbrella sides. The cylindrical dome is ornamented with on top of the dome was lengthened, which looked elaborate floral motifs. The solid brick pagoda, like a cone. The disks of the parasol increased in which was formerly white, has been gilded. Its number and their size diminished, as preceded core preserves a Buddha tooth relic, but it is not to the top of its dome. The square base was also reachable. A finial in the shape of a multi-layered modified, which resulted in complex geometry. It umbrella, locally known as hti, frequently seen included various planes with terraces and formed on Burmese temples is placed on the apex of the the shape of a pyramid. Lawkananda. The hti is decked with jewels. It is one of the typical buildings erected by Anawrahta There are cities in Myanmar that are famous and is still used as a place of veneration. for their pagodas, among those Mandalay and Bagan (formerly Pagan) are the most renowned King Anawrahta built another notable pagoda i.e. ones. Earlier, Mandalay was the royal capital of Shwe Sandaw (Pl. 14). “Shwe” means “gold” and the country and the historic Kuthodaw Pagoda “sandaw” is a “hair relic of Buddha”. Unfortunately, is situated here. It is famous for its many marble the umbrella or the apex of the pagoda was slabs inscribed with Buddhist scripture. collapsed by the 1975 earthquake. Still, it can be seen on the southern face of the pagoda. Initially, Kuthodaw Pagoda (literally means Royal Merit) is the shrine was adorned with beautiful terracotta otherwise called as Mahalawka Marazein (Pl. 12).

36 PAKISTAN HERITAGE 11 (2019) Stupas with Cruciform plans – A Review of Examples in Central, South and Southeast Asian Countries plaques, which showed “Jataka” stories – the and said thereafter “It remains as mysterious Buddha’s previous incarnations and some figures and puzzling a building as ever” (Quoted by of the Hindu gods. However, due to some major Bell 1903). It was the perfect representation of restorations by some donors, nearly all of the Seven-storied temple and attempted to link it sculptures are now difficult to see. Its architecture with Assyrian prototypes (Manatunga 2018: 311). follows the pyramid style with five square terraces This exceptionally shaped stupa was built during to the circular stupa summit. the Polonnaruwa Period (eleventh to thirteenth century). This edifice is considered an excellently The Ananda Temple, situated in Bagan, Myanmar preserved monument though the top of it has is another Buddhist shrine built in 1105 CE by slightly collapsed. The height of the structure at King Kyanzittha of the Pagan Dynasty (Pl. 15). The present is 53 feet from the terrace on which it was temple’s ground plan is cruciform; some terraces built. This was a square of 28 feet 6 inches at the direct to a diminutive pagoda at the top having an bottom. The ground storey is 11 feet in height and umbrella known as hti. The Buddhist shrine has other storeys are diminishing in height and width four standing Buddhas, each one facing the four proportionately. cardinal directions. The temple is a synthesis of Mon and it adopted the Indian style of architecture The foundation of the Sath Mahal Prasadaya is a and said to be an architectural marvel. solid square, each side of which is 32 feet long. The lower storey has openings like arches on all From Southeast, now we turn to south Asia. There four sides but the building is a solid structure from are four stupas with a cruciform plan in Sri Lanka. the first floor onwards. One can find the outside The most famous is the Sath Mahal Prasadaya. flight of steps by the left-hand side. This stairway The other three stupas can be noticed in the ancient must have been used to arrive at the first floor Anuradhapura kingdom, which are seldom paid a but no way to go above that though some early visit by the pilgrims. antiquarians mistakenly believed that there was a Mention may be made of the Sath Mahal passage to go upwards from inside the building. Prasadaya, situated in Polonnaruwa Dalada In the middle of each side of every storey above Maluwa in Sri Lanka (Pl. 16). It is a rare type of the ground floor, there are niches inserted by a brick structure. The monument was first noticed by stilted pseudo arch of ‘horseshoe’ design. These John Forbes in 1830s, refereed to it as “Sat-mahal niches diminish in size according to the size of the Prasada”, and added that it was “a neat pyramidal storey and the largest ones on the first floor are 7 building of no great height, although its name feet by 4 feet and smallest ones in the uppermost implies that it was seven storied high” (Forbes storey, 4 feet by 2 feet in size. It seems that there 1840: 391-393). Emerson Tennent introduced were twenty such niches originally with a god-like it as an “extraordinary building” and published standing figure made of stucco but only eleven a sketch of it as a Woodcut image (Tennent remain at present with considerably worn and 1860). S.M. Burrows who initiated excavations broken condition. at Polonnaruva in 1885 has thoroughly cleared As mentioned earlier, this type of Pagodas is found it and the debris removed from the lower story in other Buddhist countries namely Cambodia and

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Thailand. However, it is not apparent who created remains today together with some remnants of the this and the motive behind the creation of this Image House. type of pagoda. May it be owing to a consequence The most impressive of all the stupas in the of some kind of international relations at that Asian countries having the cruciform base is the time or even sway from Mahayana Buddhism. Bhamala Stupa in Pakistan (Pl. 19). It is now a Coomaraswamy was in the opinion that this damaged edifice and declared as World Heritage building represents Mount Meru as well as similar Site along with other monuments of Taxila valley. Khmer monuments (Coomaraswamy 1965: 165). It is situated near Haripur, Pakistan, datable to the The next stupa is the Nakha Vehera of fourth century CE. The Bhamala Stupa is situated Anuradhapura (Pl. 17). It is an out of sight place, within the Bhamala Buddhist Complex. The Stupa which is seldom visited in Anuradhapura. The has a typical cruciform plan, with staircases in the other two are situated within the Abhayagiriya four key directions and a Chakra on the eastern Monastic Complex. One stupa is known as side exactly facing the eastern stairway. The main Prasada Stupa. The other one is situated on the stupa is encircled by nineteen miniature votive west of Eth Pokuna on the western periphery of stupas and chapels to the East. The ground level the Abhayagiriya Monastery. was lined with terracotta plaques ornamented with floral and geometric motifs. As per the recent The Nakha Vehera belongs to the late Anuradhapura research, it is the largest existing instance of this era (seven to tenth centuries) and follows the form in the Taxila and Gandhara regions. This Mahayana tradition like all other cruciform stupas. cruciform stupa appears reminiscent of an Aztec The square foundation is about 9×9 square meters. Pyramid. The upper levels have broken down; the niches in the first Terrance are preserved slightly. From the The Zar Dheri Stupa, situated in district Mansehra votive objects found in the relic-chamber at the (Pakistan) was revealed by H. Hargreaves in centre it may be suggested that this building was a 1922. This Stupa has a number of same features stupa, perhaps of the pyramidal type. No date has as of the stupa of Bhamala. It is also cruciform- been assigned to this structure yet. (Silva 2004: based and has four staircases one on each side. In 111). Remains of an image house and a few other Zar Dheri, the stair is the widest at the lowest part structures have been revealed in the surrounding of it and it gets narrow near the platform. All the area of this stupa. constructions along with the monastery are built in diaper masonry. The Prasada Stupa of the Anuradhapura Kingdom is a diminutive stupa that is situated in between The cruciform design observed in the Bhamala the Ratnaprasada and the third Samadhi Statue of Stupa further developed to the soaring plan of the Abayagiriya Monastery in Anuradhapura (Pl. 18). second stupa of Kanishka or Shah-ji-ki-Dheri, It is erected adjoining a small hillock and belongs situated in the Peshawar basin in Pakistan. This to the Prasada type of stupa resembling the Sath great stupa was constructed by Kaniska (Pl. 20). Mahal Prasadaya in Polonnaruwa. This has a It was built during the second century CE. As a square foundation. Only a fragment of the stupa result of excavation, it became obvious that this

38 PAKISTAN HERITAGE 11 (2019) Stupas with Cruciform plans – A Review of Examples in Central, South and Southeast Asian Countries

Stupa, originally with a rounded base altered its enth centuries (Pl. 22). The central plan is square. form three times, next into a square and ultimately Close to the longer side of the highest tower of a cruciform. This stupa is the single example to the central plan, there are four towers with square become archetypal in talking about the change of plans of about the same area raised into the sky. the stupa form. There were flights of steps in every direction. Four cuboid towers were erected next to the lofty As stated earlier, the Second stupa of Kanishka cuboid central tower. This form lets us experience was restructured under the Kushana rule in the the axiality to the upward. Surrounding the main 4thcentury CE into a cruciform ground plan with a stupa, a hundred miniature stupas are situated in towering superstructure. The reconstructed stupa an organized row. had four flights of steps and four corner bastions, and probably pillars at each angle. The plinth of Another stupa with the cruciform ground plan is the Stupa is symmetrically cross-shaped measur- the Rawak Stupa that represents a development ing 53-m. The plinth had big stairs at each side from the stupa on a square base (Pl. 23). It is a of the Stupa. Altogether, the base of the stupa Buddhist stupa situated on the southern border of may have extended over 83-m on each side. The the Taklamakan Desert in China, down the well- plinth was probably decorated with carved reliefs, known trade road known as the Silk Route in the whereas precious stones were inlaid with nich- first millennium Kingdom of Khotan. Surround- es built into the four cardinal points of its dome. ing the stupa, there were other minor edifices, There was a decorated stone base on which a lofty which were formerly bedecked with many huge wooden superstructure was erected, and it was sculptures. The quad of the temple was encircled crowned with a copper-gilded chatra of thirteen by a wall, which had terracotta reliefs and a few layers. Modern researches imply that the stupa wall paintings. Thus, a three-dimensional mandala had a height of 120-m. was formed by the stupa and other structures.

One of the most well-known examples of Asia’s ar- The brick made structure of the stupa was planned chaeological treasures is Hadda, a fifteen-square- with a cruciform base over which the square mile complex near Jalalabad, in eastern Afghani- plinth was created; the spherical drum and dome stan (Pl. 21). Hadda was one of the chief Buddhist were to be found over the square plinth respec- temples and pilgrimage sites in the world between tively. It was provided with four flights of steps, the first and third centuries CE. It is situated on the one on each side protruding out from the base. way to Bamiyan. Archaeologists have discovered Around the stupa, there was a courtyard enclosed a number of monasteries and hundreds of dome- by double periphery walls. shaped Buddhist stupas, along with numerous It is assumed that it was built between the fourth sculptures made of limestone, stucco, and clay. and fifth centuries CE, supported by archaeologi- In the westernmost part of Xinjiang, China re- cal evidence like coins, and stylistic features of the mains of a gigantic stupa has been unearthed, it sculptures in the rectangular ambulatory, as well is otherwise known as Jiaohe Stupa ruins, which as recommended by some features, for instance, is supposed to be built between the fifth and sev- the relic chamber placed far above the ground, in

39 Mahua Chakrabarti and Anura Manatunga

the dome. This feature is frequent from the fourth the towering stupas in India. Excavations were and fifth centuries in stupas at Taxila and noticed done only at the West walls and the South walls in the Maura-Tim Stupa at Kashgar. in part, which marks that the walls of the four main directions at the bottom are each 32-m long. The Kumbum Stupa, Tibet is a great pagoda Between each side, the wall has a zigzag pathway temple (Pl. 24). ‘Kumbum’ means ‘Place of with fourteen re-entrant and thirteen outer hundred Thousand Images’. It is the central shrine angles. The walls pertaining to the upper terraces of Palkhor Chode Monastery and an important were round. Afterwards, the four upper walls site of Gyantse. As the great stupa is octagonal were restored and new round walls were made. in plan and it has nine levels, so it looks like a However, the polygonal base and the first terrace terraced stupa with a multi-layered inner chapel. were left untouched. There is a pradakshina-patha Its height is 35 meters; the Stupa has 108 cells, (circumambulatory corridor) on the top of each and 75 chapels. This most stunning architectural terrace, though no stairway was found to arrive at wonder in Tibet was built and decorated by the the top in the excavated portion. prince Rabten Kunsang Phak. The architectural style is known as Tashi Gomang or Kumbum. This stupa is 3.6 m high. The nucleus of the Stupa contains a solid mass of earth. After excavation, In Tibet, the stupa and the body of the Buddha is a small copper container with a lid fixed firmly well known as Chorten. The Chorten at Ganze in to it by a wire was yielded from its core. Within Tibet is situated to the northeast of the town (Pl. the container, there was a long strip of a birch 25). On top of the harmika of the Chorten, there is a leaf manuscript, which has been stored in it. The thirteen storied stepped pyramid, originated from manuscript was very brittle and it was not possible the idea of the ‘Tree of Life’ or ‘enlightenment’ to spread it out and examine carefully without and symbolizing the thirteen heavens of the damaging it. The small pieces that could be devas. This consecutively was surmounted by an straightened out confirmed Buddhist text, possibly honorific umbrella or flame finial. the Pratītyasamutpāda because the word “nirodha” In India, the example of the cruciform based stupa has been found sometimes, written in lettering is the huge ruined stupa at Lauriya Nandangarh, of the fourth century CE. There were plenty of Bihar (Pl. 26). Its highly indented plinth indicates human and animal figurines belonging to the similarity with Borobudur and with some of Sunga and Kushana periods, a few punch-marked the Burmese stupas, but its upper portions have coins and cast copper coins, terracotta sealing of almost destroyed. This ancient funereal mound is the second and first century BCE and iron objects. made of bricks and is supposed to be Ashes stupa, The objects are reasonably not stratified because the stupa in which ashes of the Lord Buddha were the earth was brought from outside, apparently preserved. from a part of the surrounding area to the South of the Stupa where a pond is still visible. Excavation revealed that Nandangarh was a colossal Stupa having a multilateral base. Its upper It is thought that the Chaukhandi Stupa at Varanasi portion is lost, which must have been lofty in ratio (India) initially have been constructed as a terraced with its base. The Stupa may be taken one as of temple in the Gupta period between the fourth and

40 PAKISTAN HERITAGE 11 (2019) Stupas with Cruciform plans – A Review of Examples in Central, South and Southeast Asian Countries sixth centuries (Pl. 27). It commemorates the site The course of the building of stupas with cruci- where Lord Buddha and his primary disciples met form plan traced the swell of Buddhism from the roaming from Bodh Gaya to Sarnath. Afterward, Indian subcontinent toward the Northwest, into Govardhan, a prince, adapted the Stupa to its territories in modern days Pakistan and Afghan- existing form by building the octagonal tower to istan, and subsequently further over the mountain celebrate the visit of Humayun, the Mughal ruler. routes into Central Asia, whereas eastward toward western China. It focused on the importance of the Nowadays the Stupa is a lofty earthen mound en- cult of remnants of the Buddha and the stupas or veloped with a brick-and-mortar edifice with an commemorative mounds within which they were octagonal tower on its top. preserved, on the relation between Buddhism and The Keshariya Stupa, Bihar (India) is the largest trade, and how Buddhism spread along the so- in the world, its height was 104 ft. it was excavat- called ‘Silk Routes,’ that is the famous trade routes ed in 1998 (Pl. 28). The Stupa is an exceptional which eventually connected Rome and China. At- instance of Buddhist architecture and archaeo- tention was also given to the importance of taking logical preservation. The Stupa vies with that of care of the deceased in Buddhism, the purpose of Borobodur in Java. It is believed that the Stupa religious figures, and their visual representation, has further submerged into the soil after the 1934- especially on Central Asian cruciform stupas. earthquake before which, the height of this Stupa was 123 ft. Reference: Conclusion Behrendt, K. A. (2004). The Buddhist The cruciform plan is said to have been employed Architecture of Gandhara. Brill Leiden- only for representative buildings, specifically Bostan. made by great emperors, and local rulers. The fun- Behrendt, K. A. (2009). The Ancient Reuse damental concept of four elements can be noticed and Recontextualization of Gandharan in all traditions and religions of the world (Samad, Images: Second to Seventh Centuries Keyoner, Hameed & Shakirullah 2017: 7). The CE. South Asian Studies (25:1), 11-27. most important representations of the cross plan: the ‘Cosmic Cross and its cosmic centre’ are asso- Bell, H.C.P. Archaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Reports for 1902, 1903, 1906, ciated with the four cardinal points. The percep- 1908 and 1910: Government of Ceylon. tion of ‘four’ geometrically changed in the Cos- mic Cross, and it was implemented in the building Burrows, S.M. (1905). The Buried Cities of of cross-planned architectures such as Buddhist Ceylon. Colombo: Ferguson. stupas. This cruciform plan with truncated pyra- Coomaraswamy, Ananda K. (1972). History of mid design also denoted the development from the Indian and Indonesian Art. New Delhi: aniconic stupa built to serve the cult of relics, to Munshiram Manoharlal. the iconic shrine with many images of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas. This plan influenced the devel- Fitzsimmons, T. (2001) Report of the Research Project on the Formation of Gandhara opment of later Hindu temples. Buddhist Monastries carried out

41 Mahua Chakrabarti and Anura Manatunga

between 1992 and 1997 Under the Samad, A., M. Kenoyer, A. Hameed & Auspices of the Asian Atchaeology Shakirullah. (2017). The Bhamala Section of the Koyoto University Buddhist Complex: A Review of Institute For Research in Humanities Earlier Investigations at Bhamala. (Vol. No. 2): Institute For Research in Frontier Archaeology. Volume 9. pp. Humanities, Koyoto University. 1-10.

Forbes, J. (1840). Eleven Years in Ceylon. Silva, Roland. (2004). Thupa, Thupaghara London: Richard Bentley. and Thupa-Pasada. Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon, Vol Franz, H.G. (1980). Stupa and Stupa – Temples X, Part II, Colombo: The Department in the Gandharan Region and in Central of Archaeology. Asia, The Stupa, Its Religious, Historical and Architectural Significance (pp Tennent, Emerson. (1860) Ceylon - An account 39-59). Wiesbaden: Beitage Zur of the Island. Volumes 1 & 11, London: Sudasienforschung Student-Institut Longman, Green, Longman and Universitat Heidelberg. Roberts.

Hameed, A., Shakirullah, Samad, A. & Kenoyer, M. (2017). The Origin and Development of Cross-planned Stupa: New Perceptions based on Recent Discoveries from Bhamala. Khan, M.N. (ed). Gandhāran Studies, Research Journal of the Centre for Gandharan and Buddhist Studies, vol. 11, pp. 35- 46.

Manatunga, Anura. (2018). Cambodian influences in architecture of Buddhist monasteries of Polonnaruva, Sri Lanka. Buddhism in Southeast Asia. Jasrotia, S. (Ed). Gurugram: Shubhi Publications. pp. 307-315.

Manatunga, Anura (2009) Excavations at the World Heritage City at Polonnaruva, Sri Lanka. Abhijnan: Studies in South Asian Archaeology, Art History and Artefacts Felicitating A.K.M. Zakariah. Ed. Shahnaj Husne Jahan, Oxford: BAR International Series, No. 1974.

Nakamura, Yuuka & Shigeyuki Okazaki. (2016). The Spatial Composition of Buddhist Temples in Central Asia, Part 1: The Transformation of Stupas. Intercultural Understanding, Volume 6, pp. 31-43.

42 PAKISTAN HERITAGE 11 (2019) Stupas with Cruciform plans – A Review of Examples in Central, South and Southeast Asian Countries

Pl.1: Ground plan of a Cruciform based stupa Pl. 4: Buddhist stupas at Nateshwar, Bangladesh (courtesy: Yuuka Nakamura and Shigeyuki Okazaki) (courtesy: Star)

Pl.2: Bharat Bhayana, Bangladesh (Courtesy: A. Pl. 5: Sompura Vihara at Paharpur, Bangladesh Amin) (courtesy: Wikimedia)

Pl. 3: Rupban Mura, Bangladesh (courtesy: Facebook) P. 6: Borobudur stupa (courtesy: Wikipedia)

43 Mahua Chakrabarti and Anura Manatunga

Pl. 7: Chandi Sewu, Indonesia (courtesy: Wikipedia) Pl. 10: prasat Prang, Thailand (courtesy; Internet)

Pl. 8: Wat Chedi Luang (courtesy: Internet)

Pl. 11: Wat Ku Kut, Thailand (courtesy: Internet)

Pl. 9: Wat Mahathat, Thailand (courtesy: Internet) Pl. 12: Kuthodaw Pagoda,Myanmar (Photograph by M. Chakrabarti)

44 PAKISTAN HERITAGE 11 (2019) Stupas with Cruciform plans – A Review of Examples in Central, South and Southeast Asian Countries

Pl. 15: Ananda Temple, Bagan, Myanmar (photograph by M. Chakrabarti)

Pl. 13: Lawkananda Pagoda (replica, Bagan Archaeological Museum), Myanmar (photograph by M. Chakrabarti)

Pl. 16: Sath Mahal Prasadaya, Sri Lanka (courtesy: Internet)

Pl. 14: Shwe Sandow, Myanmar (courtesy: Pl. 17: Nakha Vehara, Sri Lanka (courtesy: Wikipedia) amazinglanka.com)

45 Mahua Chakrabarti and Anura Manatunga

Pl. 21: Hadda Stupa, Afghanistan (courtesy: Anura Manatunga)

Pl. 18: Prasada Stupa, Sri Lanka (courtesy: lankalive. info)

Pl. 19: Bhamala Stupa, Pakistan (courtesy: Pl. 22: Jiaohe stupa, China (courtesy: Wikimedia) Facebook)

Pl. 20: Shah ji ki Dheri, Pakistan (courtesy: Pl. 23: Rawak stupa, China (courtesy: Wikimedia) Wikipedia)

46 PAKISTAN HERITAGE 11 (2019) Stupas with Cruciform plans – A Review of Examples in Central, South and Southeast Asian Countries

Pl. 27: Chaukhandi Stupa, Varanasi, India (courtesy: Wikipedia Pl. 24: Kumbum stupa, Tibet, China (courtesy: Wikimedia)

Pl. 25: Chorten at Ganze, Tibet, China (courtesy: Wikipedia)

Pl. 28: Keshariya Stupa, Bihar, India (courtesy: Internet)

Pl. 26: Stupa at Lauriya Nandangarh, Bihar, India (courtesy: Facebook)