It will be recollected that, when speaking of the great dagobas of Anuradhapura in Ceylon, it was pointed out (ante, p. 190) that they had three procession-paths round their bases, ascended in like manner by flights of steps opposite the four cardinal points of the compass. It is interesting to observe here, after a lapse of 2000 years, and at a distance of nearly 1500 miles, the changes have been so small. It is true the number of procession-paths has increased from three to five, and the terraces become relatively much more important than in the older examples; but, barring this and some changes in detail, the
354. Circular Pagoda at Mengûn. (From a Photograph.)
monuments are practically the same, notwithstanding all the curious varieties that have sprung up in the interval.
The other pagoda at this place was commenced by the same king, called Mentara Gyé, or Bodo Piyah, who died in 1819, and seems to have been an attempt to revive the old square forms of Pagan, in the same manner as the other was intended to recall memories of the older forms of early Indian Buddhism. “It stands on a basement of five successive terraces, of little height, the lower terrace forming a square of 450 ft. From the upper terrace starts the vast cubical pile of the pagoda, 230 ft. square in plan, and rising, in a solid mass, to the height of about 100 ft., with slightly sloping walls. Above this it contracts in successive terraces, three of which had been completed, raising the mass to a height of 165 ft., at the time the work was abandoned.”[583] From a model standing near, it is inferred that, if completed, it would have risen to the height of 500 ft.; it is even now a solid mass containing between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000 cubic feet of brickwork. Had it been carried out, it would have been the tallest building in the world. It was, however, shattered by an earthquake in 1839; but, even in its ruined state, is as large and imposing a mass of brickwork as is to be found anywhere.[584] Since the pyramids of Egypt, nothing so great has been attempted, and it belongs to the 19th century!
Monasteries.
As Burmah is a country in which the monastic system of Buddhism flourishes at the present day to the fullest extent, if we had more information regarding its monasteries, or kioums as they are called, it might enable us to understand the arrangement of the older ones. The travellers who have visited the country have been silent on the subject, principally because the monasteries are, in almost all instances, less magnificent than the pagodas to which they are attached, and are, with scarcely an exception, built of wood—a practice destructive of their architectural character, and also depriving them wholly of that monumental appearance of stability which is so essential to true architectural expression.
This peculiarity is not confined to the monasteries; all residences, from that of the poorest peasant to the palace of the king, having been constructed from time immemorial of this perishable material. The custom has now passed into a law, that no one shall have the power of erecting buildings of stone or brick, except it be the king himself, or unless the edifices be of a purely religious character. Even this exception is not always taken advantage of, for the king’s palace itself is as essentially a wooden erection as the dwelling of any of his subjects. It is, however, not the less magnificent on this account—rather, perhaps, more so—immense sums being spent on the most elaborate carvings, and the whole being lacquered, painted, and gilt, to an extent of which we have no conception in our more sober clime.