Monasteries

If the defining element of a pilgrimage center is the central stupa or ritual foci, the defining element of a monastery is the vihara. Without a place to house the sangha, a monastery is simply not a monastery. But, just as pilgrimage centers often have secondary structures built around them, the sangha often constructed stupas—both within chaityas and

Figure 1.2: Monastery 45 (c. tenth century ce) and Temple 18 (seventh century ce) at Sanchi (not to scale; after Marshall and Foucher 1983)

As freestanding structures—adjacent to their viharas. In earlier periods, these subsidiary stupas were likely intended to draw the Buddhist laity to worship at the monasteries, though in later periods worship at monastic stupas was likely limited to the sangha themselves. In general, Buddhist monasteries became larger and their layout more homogenous over time. Where the earliest monasteries likely housed no more than 100 monks, later monasteries like Nalanda in the Gangetic Plain had resident populations in the thousands.

Buddhist textual sources suggest that the Buddha established monasteries and nunneries during his lifetime to serve as rainy season retreats. Ashokan inscriptions from the third century bce indicate that at least some Buddhist monasteries existed at that time. Two possible Buddhist monasteries, Lomas Rishi and Sudama, date to this period (Fergusson and Burgess [1880] 1988; Mitra 1971). Unfortunately, it is unclear if Buddhists or the Ajivikas built Lomas Rishi and Sudama, or even if the Ajivikas were a distinct or a divergent sect of Buddhism or Jainism (Singh 2008). With the possible exception of Lomas Rishi and Sudama, then, the earliest archaeologically known Buddhist monasteries in India date only to the first century bce. The best preserved of these monasteries are found in the Western Ghats of peninsular India (see Figure 1.3). Their preservation is a product of the medium of their construction—the sangha had these monasteries carved into cliff faces. These rock-cut monasteries provide

Figure 1.3: Bhaja rock-cut monastery in the Western Ghats (c. first century BCE-seventh century ce)

Photo by author.

An excellent venue to examine the spatial arrangement of early Buddhist monasteries due to their almost perfect preservation. Visiting these sites feels almost like walking into a fossilized monastery. Monastic cells within the viharas still contain rock-cut beds and wall niches the former residents would have used. The nearby chaityas are also almost completely intact. Given this, the Buddhist monasteries of the Western Ghats have long served as the primary foci for scholars seeking to understand the nature of early Buddhist monasticism.

In the late nineteenth century, the rock-cut temples of the Western Ghats were excavated and mapped by Fergusson and Burgess ([1880] 1988). To this day, their precise elevations and ground plans inform much of the scholarship on early Buddhist monasticism. Fergusson and Burgess’s view of the monasteries, however, was primarily informed by readings of Buddhist monastic literature that depicted monasteries as rainy season retreats—locations where the Buddhist sangha could isolate themselves and engage in extended meditation. Like other early British archaeologists (e. g., Brown 1965; Cunningham [1854] 1997), Fergusson and Burgess believed that Buddhist monasteries were supported by royal donations. Over the twentieth century, the perception of isolation and royal patronage has gradually shifted to a view of Buddhist monasteries as more active and engaged with worldly concerns. Thapar (2002) and Ray (1986) noted that much of the support for Buddhist monasteries was derived from craft guilds rather than the royalty. Thapar, while continuing to see monasteries as isolated retreats, interpreted these gifts as evidence that monasteries were the recipients of donations resulting from competitive giving between guilds, lesser elite, and the royalty. In contrast, Ray saw Buddhist monasteries as more actively engaged in economic activities, serving as nodes on long-distance trade networks (see also Lahiri 1992; Morrison 1995) and managing agricultural production in the peripheries of developing states (see also Heitzman 1997). Recently, Shaw (2000, 2007, 2013b) has argued that Buddhist monasteries fostered and promoted the construction of irrigation systems to establish patronage systems with local populations. In my own work, I have presented Buddhist monasteries as precariously balancing their public and private religious obligations with their need to provision and sustain the resident population (Fogelin 2006).

In subsequent chapters I will address the various and changing roles of monasteries, both in terms of Indian Buddhism and in terms of broader social and economic concerns. Rather than view any one of these explanations of Indian Buddhism as the best, I will argue that at different times, and in different places, Buddhist monasteries fulfilled all of these roles and more. I will also address the ways that the design and layout of Buddhist monasteries impacted the sangha themselves. Whether living in retreats or trade centers, the Buddhist sangha required mechanisms to reduce tensions and foster group cohesion within the close confines of the monasteries.