Question
Write a note on the Buddhist Monuments in India from 200 B.C. to A.D. 300.
Solution
Buddhist Monuments:
(i) In the towns, the merchants and the leaders of the guilds or artisans prospered and had money to spare. Most of them were Buddhists. So they donated money to the Buddhist monasteries. The money was used to decorate Chaitya halls where the Buddhists worshipped and the stupas.
(ii) Stupas were large semi-circular mounds in which were placed the relics of either the Buddha or Buddhist monks. The stupas were, therefore, sacred to the Buddhists. The railings and gateways around the stupas at Sanchi (near Bhopal) were built through such donations.
(iii) The stupa at Amaravati (in Andhra Pradesh) was also built with money given by merchants and land-owners. Never the stupas were the Viharas, or monasteries, where the monks lived. Many of the Buddhist monasteries were built close to big cities as for example, the monasteries at Taxila (near Peshawar) and Sarnath (in the vicinity of Varanasi). This made it easier for Buddhist monks to go into the cities every morning and beg for alms.
(iv) Some of the Buddhist monks lived in monasteries which were huge caves cut into the halls, and these were also decorated with sculpture such as those at Karle and Bedsa (in the Western Ghats near Pune).
