Notices on Buddhist Architecture in Western Indian Vāstusāstras

Summary

The first article reviews two rare references to Buddhist architecture in Western Indian Vāstusāstra texts at a time when Jainism dominated Maru‑Gurjara art. A twelfth‑century Vāstuvidyā describes a vihāra with a central Buddha image, a painted ceiling, a Tara chapel and Yakṣa spirits; the author emphasises that the monastery may be one to three storeys tall and evokes rock‑cut caves such as Ajanta and Ellorafile:///home/oai/share/split_articles/article_1_1-3.pdf#:~:text=jagati,jagati%20of%20the%20Jaina%20sacred. A later Vṛksāruṇa text mentions a doorless Buddha shrine with niches on the four sides and a central meditating imagefile:///home/oai/share/split_articles/article_1_1-3.pdf#:~:text=Vol.%20XLIM%2C%202020,In%20the. These sparse notices are surprising because most Maru‑Gurjara treatises discuss only Jina images and Jain temples; the author compares the architectural features of the vihāra and shrine with known Buddhist forms and argues that they reveal the continued memory of Buddhist sacred spaces during Jain ascendancy. He notes that the description of the vihāra’s painted hall and Tara chapel parallels specific cave complexes, and that the description of the doorless shrine probably refers to a stūpa enclosed by niches. The article thus highlights how two isolated passages provide valuable insights into the coexistence of Buddhist and Jain architectural ideals in medieval Gujarat. By tracing the origins of these descriptions and comparing them with archaeological evidence, the author shows that textual references can preserve information about religious buildings long after the physical structures have disappeared. He concludes that these notices, though brief, enrich our understanding of religious pluralism and the transmission of architectural knowledge in Western India.