Arenas and Halls

Another difference between monastic and pilgrimage complexes illuminates the style of ritual conducted within the different ritual spaces. The

Courtyards at pilgrimage complexes completely encircle the stupa, while in monastic complexes stupas are placed at one end of a long hall (see Figure 4.4). In Chapter 2, I compared the more communal participation in ritual fostered by Quaker meetinghouses in contrast to the more directed and mediated form of ritual found in a Catholic church. While both layouts promoted social solidarity between participants, Quaker meetinghouses promoted a communal identity and limited the elevation of ritual leaders. Catholic churches, on the other hand, fostered the authority of priests by placing them at the end of a hall, with all the parishioners facing him. The same differences can be seen in pilgrimage centers like Sanchi and Bharhut and monastic chaityas like Kondivte, Bairat, and the wooden chaityas in which they were modeled.

The large courtyards surrounding the anda at pilgrimage complexes allowed worshipers to engage and participate with other worshipers while maintaining a focus on the stupa, which rose above the railings defining the circumambulatory path. The courtyard areas at pilgrimage complexes would have allowed for interaction, celebration, and worship. Given this, Sastri’s (1966) claim that early Buddhist ritual had an important ecstatic component is also possible. This claim is reinforced by evidence from some reliefs at Bharhut and Sanchi depicting more ecstatic forms of ritual. For example, one frieze from the railing at Sanchi depicts devotees individually engaged in circumambulation within the paths, while more festive

Figure 4.5: Sanchi frieze (c. first or second century BCE; after Cunningham 1854)

Forms of ritual—including music and dancing—were conducted in the courtyard surrounding the stupa (see Figure 4.5). Given this level of activity in the assembly area, the need for the railings to define a segregated circumambulatory path becomes more critical.

Over the next millennia, the early stupas at Sanchi, Bharhut, Dharmarajika, and Amaravati continued to be used as pilgrimage sites. Other pilgrimage stupas, of roughly similar design and signification, continued to be constructed throughout India. To this day, stupas in Sri Lanka and Nepal follow the same general layout of Indian stupas from the second century bce. As such, the large pilgrimage stupas frequented by the Buddhist laity can be viewed as a particularly robust and long-lasting assemblage of signs. However, pilgrimage stupas were not the only type of stupa constructed in the first few centuries bce. Across India, the sangha also constructed stupas in the primary worship halls (chaityas) of Buddhist monasteries. An examination of Buddhist monasteries and chaityas demonstrates that the ritual practices of the Buddhist sangha began diverging from the ritual practices of laity beginning in the first century bce. These differences centered on the different ways that the sangha sought to balance their individual and communal desires.