There are at least four Viharas which we know for certainty were excavated before the Christian Era. There are probably forty, but they have not yet been edited with such care as to enable us to feel confident in affixing dates to them. The four that are known are those attached to the chaityas at Bhaja and Bedsa (Woodcuts Nos. [45], [49]), and the two oldest at Ajunta, Nos. 12 and 11. Those at Karli are probably coeval with the great chaitya itself, but, strange to say, they have never been drawn or investigated, so that we really know little or nothing about them. At Junir there are several, which are very old, and at Sana and Tulaja, in Gujerat, there are several of very ancient date, but they, like those at Junir, are too imperfectly known to be quoted as authenticated examples of the period.
The oldest of these is that attached to the chaitya at Bhaja (ante, Woodcut No. 45). It is five-celled; three of these have single stone beds in them, one is double-bedded, and one, apparently the residence of the superior, is without that uncomfortable piece of furniture. In front of these are two long stone benches at either end of a hall 33 ft. in length. It is not clear whether this hall was always open as at present, but, if it was closed, it was by a wooden screen like the chaitya beside it, which is undoubtedly of the same age. They are indeed parts of one design. The same may be said of the Bedsa vihara, though placed a little further apart. In this case, however, there are three cells with stone beds in the verandah of the chaitya, and a fourth was commenced when apparently it was determined to remove the residence a little further off, and no instance, I believe, occurs afterwards in which they were so conjoined, till at least a very late date, when, as at Dhumnar ([Woodcut No. 65]), all the parts got again confounded together. As will be seen from the plan ([Woodcut No. 49]) it is exceptional in form, being apsidal like the chaitya itself. It is not clear whether this is a copy of any existing wooden erection, or whether it was that, being the first attempt at an independent vihara in the rock, they thought it ought to resemble a chaitya in plan. My impression is that the latter is the true explanation; such an arrangement in a free-standing structure intended for a residence would be absurd, but we are here assisting at the “incunabula” of the style, and must not be surprised at anomalies.
Number 12 at Ajunta is merely a square hall, measuring 36 ft. 7 in. each way. It has no pillars, and its only ornament consists of seven horseshoe arches, four of which are over the doors of cells, the other three only ornamental. Unfortunately, the rock over its front has given way, and carried with it the façade, which probably was the most ornamental part of the design.
74. Cave No. 11, at Ajunta.
(From a Plan by the Author.) Scale 50 ft. to 1 in.
Number 11 is a step in advance of this one, there being four pillars in its centre ([Woodcut No. 74]). It has nine cells, but is without any sanctuary or ritual arrangement. In age, it seems to be contemporary with the chaitya No. 10, to which it evidently belongs, and like it may be considered as a transitional example, dating about the Christian Era, or rather before that time.
The most marked characteristic of these early viharas on the western side of India, is that unlike their eastern contemporaries, they are wholly devoid of figure-sculpture: no bassi-relievi, not even an emblem, relieves the severity of their simplicity. Over the doorways of the cells there are the usual horseshoe arches, copied from the windows of the great chaityas, and the invariable Buddhist rail repeated everywhere as a stringcourse, with an occasional pillar or pilaster to relieve the monotony.
There do not at present seem to exist any data sufficient to account satisfactorily for this curious difference between the exuberance of figure-sculpture in the east, and its total absence in the west in the pre-Christian Era caves, and the problem must be relegated for further inquiries. Looking, however, at the progress made of late years in these subjects, there is little doubt that its solution is not far off, and will, when reached, throw fresh light on the early history of Buddhism. Meanwhile, it may be worthy of remark, that the only living representation that is common to both sides of India, is the presence of the three-headed Naga on the façade of the Nassick chaitya ([Woodcut No. 52]), and its appearance in a similar position on the Chulakarma and Ananta caves at Udayagiri in Orissa. It points to an important feature in early Buddhist history, but not exactly what we are now looking for. Besides this the three, five, or seven-headed Naga occurs so frequently at Bharhut, Sanchi and elsewhere, that his presence here can hardly be called a distinctive peculiarity.