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45-461: Bairat Temple is a freestanding Buddhist temple , a Chaityagriha , located about a mile southwest of the city Viratnagar , Rajasthan , India , on a hill locally called "Bijak-ki-Pahari" ( lit.   ' Hill of the Inscription ' ). The temple is of a circular type, formed of a central stupa surrounded by a circular colonnade and an enclosing wall. It was built during the time of Ashoka in

90-675: A 100 BCE relief sculpted on the railing of the stupa at Bhārhut , as well as in Sanchi . From that period the Diamond throne remains, an almost intact slab of sandstone decorated with reliefs, which Ashoka had established at the foot of the Bodhi tree . These circular-type temples were also found in later rock-hewn caves such as Tulja Caves or Guntupalli . Buddhism is the second oldest religion in Indonesia after Hinduism , which arrived from India around

135-662: A Chinese Buddhist monk I-tsing on his pilgrim journey to India, witnessed the powerful maritime empire of Srivijaya based on Sumatra in the 7th century. A number of Buddhist historical heritages can be found in Indonesia, including the 8th century Borobudur mandala monument and Sewu temple in Central Java , Batujaya in West Java, Muaro Jambi , Muara Takus and Bahal temple in Sumatra, and numerous of statues or inscriptions from

180-698: A circular-letter to a selected number of British residents of Calcutta with a view to establish a society for the Asiatic studies. At his invitation, 30 British residents met in the Grand Jury Room of the Supreme Court (in Calcutta's Fort William ) on 15 January 1784. The meeting was presided over by Sir Robert Chambers. At this meeting, Jones explained the aims of the Society he would establish. The Memorandum of Articles of

225-405: A flourishing Buddhist centre from this region is very significant. Bairat temple has been given attention by several archaeologists such as Cunningham and later by Carlleyle, Bhandarkar and Dayaram Sahni. The significant structures at the site of Bairat include a monastery and numerous remnants of Asokan pillars beside the circular temple. The circular temple is constructed on the lower platform. It

270-574: A huge wall. A Chaitya , Chaitya hall or Chaitya-griha refers to a shrine, sanctuary, temple or prayer hall in Indian religions . The term is most common in Buddhism , where it refers to a space with a stupa and a rounded apse at the end opposite the entrance, and a high roof with a rounded profile. Strictly speaking, the chaitya is the stupa itself, and the Indian buildings are chaitya halls, but this distinction

315-498: A museum of its own which possesses a rock edict of Asoka (c. 250 BCE) and a significant collection of copper plate inscriptions, coins, sculptures, manuscripts, and archival records. Some masterpieces, like Joshua Reynolds ’ Cupid asleep on Cloud , Guido Cagnacci 's Cleopatra , Thomas Daniell 's A Ghat at Benares, and Peter Paul Rubens ’ Infant Christ are also in the possession of this museum. The Society's journal has had several changes of name, sometimes reflecting changes in

360-542: A rich collection of about 47,000 manuscripts in 26 scripts. The most notable amongst them are an illustrated manuscript of the Qur'an , a manuscript of the Gulistan text, and a manuscript of Padshah Nama bearing the signature of Emperor Shahjahan . The number of journals in the possession of the library is about 80,000 at present.The library also has coins issued by Chhatrapati Shivaji Mahraj. The early collection of this library

405-547: Is known to you, Sirs, how great is my reverence and faith in the Buddha , the Dharma (and) the Samgha . Whatsoever, Sirs, has been spoken by the blessed Buddha, all that is quite well spoken. But, Sirs, what would indeed appear to me (to be referred to by the words of the scripture): "thus the true Dharma will be of long duration", that I feel bound to declare: The following expositions of

450-673: Is often not observed. Many of the early Chaitya were rock-cut , as in Karla caves or Ajanta . Some of the earliest free-standing temples may have been of a circular type. Ashoka also built the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya circa 250 BCE, a circular structure, in order to protect the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha had found enlightenment. The Bairat Temple is also a round structure, which can be seen through archaeological remains. Representations of this early temple structure are found on

495-454: Is surrounded by a circumambulatory path. It is a structural temple that had made use of fire burnt bricks. It has crevices that indicate that it was surrounded by wooden pillars. The lime-plastered panels of brickwork in the shrine alternate with twenty-six octagonal pillars of wood. It shows two circles in plan and has no precedent of the kind. Dayaram Sahni has suggested that Bairat temple is the oldest structural temple and it served as model for

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540-460: The Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya circa 250 BCE, also a circular structure, in order to protect the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha had found enlightenment. Representations of this early temple structure are found on a 100 BCE relief sculpted on the railing of the stupa at Bhārhut , as well as in Sanchi . From that period the Diamond throne remains, an almost intact slab of sandstone decorated with reliefs, which Ashoka had established at

585-691: The Phutthawat and the Sangkhawat . The Phutthawat ( Thai : พุทธาวาส ) is the area which is dedicated to Buddha. While the Sangkhawat is the area which is dedicated to Sangha Buddhist monastic community. Buddhist temples in Sri Lanla are known as 'Pansala' or 'Viharaya' in Sinhalese . Common features in Sri Lankan temples include Stupa , Bo Tree and Temple Buildings. Oldest living human-planted Bodhi Tree in

630-536: The 3rd century BCE, and near it were found two of Ashoka's Minor Rock Edicts , the Bairat and the Calcutta-Bairat Minor Rock Edicts. It is the earliest circular Buddhist shrine and therefore, Bairat temple is an important marker of the architecture of India . It is situated in the ancient region of Matsya Janpad, a centre of vedic sacrifices in early literary and epigraphic references. Thus evidence of

675-513: The Asiatic Society, prepared by Jones said: The bounds of investigations will be the geographical limits of Asia, and within these limits its enquiries will be extended to whatever is performed by man or produced by nature. Notable early members were Charles Wilkins and Alexander Hamilton (the cousin of the American statesman). Initially, the Grand Jury Room of the Supreme Court was used for

720-459: The Buddhist monks. There must have been a considerable presence of the Buddhist monks in Bairat. But the centre must have declined in later period and a change in situation is recorded in the travelogue of Hieun-tsang who wrote that the popularity of Buddhism in Bairat was not what he had imagined it to be. Some of the earliest free-standing temples may have been of a circular type. Ashoka also built

765-482: The Dharma and may reflect (on them). In the same way both laymen and laywomen (should act). For the following (purpose), Sirs, am I causing this to be written, (viz.) in order that they may know my intention. This edict was the basis for the efforts at deciphering Brahmi , led by James Prinsep in 1837. A commemorative plaque is visible at the Asiatic Society. The inscription of Asoka found from this region addresses

810-1018: The Dharma, Sirs, (viz.) the Vinaya-Samukasa ("The Exaltation of Discipline"), the Aliya-vasas ("The Ideal Mode of Life"), the Anagata-bhayas ("Fears to Come"), the Muni-gathas ("The Songs of the Hermit"), the Moneya-Suta ("Discourse on the Hermit Life"), the Upatisa-pasina ("The Questions of Upatishya"), and the Laghulovada ("The Sermon to Rahula ") which was spoken by the blessed Buddha concerning falsehood, — I desire, Sirs, that many groups of monks and (many) nuns may repeatedly listen to these expositions of

855-523: The Society was founded in 1814 under the superintendence of Nathaniel Wallich . The rapid growth of its collection is evident from its first catalogue, published in 1849. By 1849, the Society had its own museum consisting of inscriptions in stone and metal, icons, old coins, and Sanskrit manuscripts etc. When the Indian Museum of Calcutta was established in 1814, the Society handed over most of its valuable collections to it. The Society, however, still has

900-433: The Society. In 1829, at the initiative of H.H. Wilson , a number of Indians were elected members, which include Dwarakanath Tagore , Sivchandra Das, Maharaja Baidyanath Roy, Maharaja Bunwari Govind Roy, Raja Kalikrishna Bahadur, Rajchunder Das, Ram Comul Sen, and Prasanna Coomar Tagore. On 12 December 1832, Ram Comul Sen was elected 'Native Secretary'. Later, Rajendralal Mitra became the first Indian President in 1885. Both

945-569: The circular stupa at the Bijak hills were definitely majestic. They evidence that Buddhism existed here in a developed stage. Early Chaitya halls are known from the 3rd century BCE. They generally followed a circular or apsidal plan, and were either rock-cut or freestanding. Temples —built on elliptical, circular, quadrilateral, or apsidal plans— were initially constructed using brick and timber. Some temples of timber with wattle-and-daub may have preceded them, but none remain to this day. Today, only

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990-731: The earlier history of Indonesian Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms. During the era of Kediri , Singhasari and Majapahit empire, Buddhism—identified as Dharma ri Kasogatan —was acknowledged as one of kingdom's official religions along with Hinduism. Although some of kings might favour Hinduism over another, nevertheless the harmony, toleration and even syncretism were promoted as manifested in Bhinneka Tunggal Ika national motto, coined from Kakawin Sutasoma , written by Mpu Tantular to promotes tolerance between Hindus (Shivaites) and Buddhists . The classical era of ancient Java also had produces some of

1035-621: The east and the west. The temple was burnt down sometime in the 2nd century BCE. This type of apsidal structure was also adopted for most of the cave temple ( Chaitya-grihas ), as in the 3rd century BCE Barabar Caves and most caves thereafter, with side, and then frontal, entrances. A freestanding apsidal temple remains to this day, although in a modified form, in the Trivikrama Temple in Ter, Maharashtra . Buddhist temple Its architecture and structure varies from region to region. Usually,

1080-401: The elaborate structures indicate sincreasing visibility of Buddhist sites. The remarkable presence of structures like the Bairat temple can be linked to increasing popularity of Buddhism at the time. Mauryan king Asoka's support and interest led to extraordinary development of Buddhist art. It appears that Rajasthan did not remain untouched with this wave of Buddhism. The sangharam of Bairat and

1125-476: The exquisite examples of Buddhist arts , such as the statue of Prajnaparamita and the statue of Buddha Vairochana and Boddhisttva Padmapani and Vajrapani in Mendut temple. In contemporary Indonesian Buddhist perspective, Candi refers to a shrine, either ancient or new. Several contemporary viharas in Indonesia for example, contain the actual-size replica or reconstruction of famous Buddhist temples, such as

1170-485: The foot of the Bodhi tree . These circular-type temples were also found in later rock-hewn caves such as Tulja Caves or Guntupalli . Another early free-standing temple in India, this time apsidal in shape, appears to be Temple 40 at Sanchi , which is also dated to the 3rd century BCE. It was an apsidal temple built of timber on top of a high rectangular stone platform, 26.52x14x3.35 metres, with two flights of stairs to

1215-417: The foundation of the temple remains. The circular temple was located inside a rectangular enclosure wall, and had an outer diameter of 5.6 meters. It was built around a small stupa at the centre, with a diameter of 1.6 meters. There was also an internal circle of 26 wooden octagonal columns surrounding the stupa. The layout created two pradaksina circular paths for devotional deambulation. The global shape of

1260-614: The latest dated from the 12th century. Subsequently, significant numbers of Buddhist sites were found in Jambi , Palembang and Riau provinces in Sumatra, as well as in Central and East Java . The Indonesian archipelago has, over the centuries, witnessed the rise and fall of powerful Buddhist empires, such as the Sailendra dynasty, the Mataram and Srivijaya empires. According to some Chinese source,

1305-485: The major languages of the world. It has also a collection of 293 maps, microfiche of 48,000 works, microfilm of 387,003 pages, 182 paintings, 2500 pamphlets, and 2150 photographs. The earliest printed book preserved in this library is Juli Firmici's Astronomicorum Libri published in 1499. It has in its possession a large number of books printed in India in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The library also possesses many rare and scarcely available books. The library has

1350-404: The meetings of the members, who had to pay a quarterly fee of two mohurs . The members were elected through ballot-voting. On 29 September 1796, the Society decided to have its own building. J.H. Harrington, then vice-president, selected the corner of Park Street and Chowringhee Road (present location) for the Society's house. The site was granted to the Society on 15 May 1805. The original plan for

1395-470: The new building was prepared by Captain Thomas Preston . The French architect Jean-Jacques Pichou made certain modifications to it and constructed a two-storeyed building at the site. This 15,071 ft² building was built at a cost of Rs. 30,000. The first quarterly meeting of the Society for 1808 was held at its new building on 3 February 1808. From 1784 to 1828, only Europeans were elected members of

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1440-431: The numerous rock-cut temples of Western and Eastern India. The monastery attached to the shrine is elaborate with cells being large enough to accommodate just a single monk or nun. It is situated on the upper platform. Many portable antiquities like pottery jars, lamps etc have also been found on the site. All the evidence indiacate that Bairat temple was highly revered in the contemporary Buddhist world. Sahni suggests that

1485-452: The orientalist Brajendranath De , and one of his grandsons, the historian Barun De , were for some time vice-president of the Asiatic Society. One of the main activities of the Asiatic Society was to collect the old manuscripts of India. There was an enormous collection of Sanskrit manuscripts with the society. At present , the library of the Asiatic Society has a collection of about 117,000 books and 79,000 journals printed in almost all

1530-451: The replica of Pawon and Plaosan 's perwara (small) temples. In Buddhism, the role of a candi as a shrine is sometimes interchangeable with a stupa , a domed structure to store Buddhist relics or the ashes of cremated Buddhist priests, patrons or benefactors. Japanese Buddhist temples typically include a Main Hall . A distinctive feature is the chinjusha , a Shinto shrine devoted to

1575-557: The second century. The history of Buddhism in Indonesia is closely related to the history of Hinduism, as a number of empires influenced by Indian culture were established around the same period. The oldest Buddhist archaeological site in Indonesia is arguably the Batujaya stupas complex in Karawang , West Java. The oldest relic in Batujaya was estimated to originate from the 2nd century, while

1620-484: The temple consists not only of its buildings, but also the surrounding environment. The Buddhist temples are designed to symbolize five elements: fire, air, water, earth and void (space). The design of temples in India was influenced by the idea of a place of worship as a representation of the universe. For Buddhist temple complexes one tall temple is often centrally located and surrounded by smaller temples and walls. This center surrounded by oceans, lesser mountains and

1665-504: The temple has been inferred from more or less contemporary reliefs of such buildings from Bharhut , or from rock-cut temples at Kondivite , Tulja Caves or Guntupalli Caves . It has been suggested that this circular design with columns was derived from the similar design of the Greek Tholos . However local circular hut designs are a more probable source of inspiration. A Minor Rock Edict of Ashoka (the unique Minor Rock Edict No.3)

1710-543: The temple with a high level of certainty, as well as confirm its Buddhist affiliation. The Edict, relocated since the 19th century to the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta (hence the name "Calcutta-Bairat Edict)", is the only one of its kind, describing Buddhist scriptures recommended by Ashoka for study. It reads: The Magadha King Priyadarsin, having saluted the Samgha hopes they are both well and comfortable. It

1755-693: The temple's kami . Buddhism co-existed with Shinto , but in the 8th century Buddhism became the state religion and Buddhist temples were built. High concentration of important Japanese Buddhist temples can be found in Japanese culture heartland of Kansai region , especially in Nara and Kyoto . Buddhist temples in Thailand are known as wat , from the Pāḷi vāṭa, meaning "enclosure". Wat architecture adheres to consistent principles. A wat, with few exceptions, consists of two parts:

1800-515: The world Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi and some of the largest Stupa in the world including Ruwanwelisaya , Jetavanaramaya and Abhayagiri vihāra located in Sri Lankan temples. Asiatic Society The Asiatic Society is an organisation founded during the Company rule in India to enhance and further the cause of " Oriental research " (in this case, research into India and the surrounding regions ). It

1845-806: Was a gift from the Seringapatam Committee on 3 February 1808 consisting of a collection from the Palace Library of Tipu Sultan . The library received the Surveyor-General Colonel Mackenzie's collection of manuscripts and drawings in December 1822. Since 1849, the Society has printed Bibliotheca Indica , a collection of rare and unpublished works belonging to or treating of Oriental literature and containing original text-editions as well as translations into English, and also grammars, dictionaries, bibliographies, and studies. The museum of

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1890-417: Was enriched by the contributions it received from its members. On 25 March 1784, the library received seven Persian manuscripts from Henri Richardson. The next contribution came from William Marsden , who donated his book The History of Sumatra (1783) on 10 November 1784. Robert Home, the first Library-in-Charge (1804) donated his small but valuable collection of works on art. The first accession of importance

1935-759: Was found in close proximity to the Temple: the Bairat-Calcutta Edict, also called the Bhabru Edict, from the name of a nearby village. Dating to circa 250 BCE, the edict was found just in front of the remains of the Bairat Temple, on the lower platform located between the temple and the cannon-shaped large rock, by Major Burt in 1840 ( 27°25′02″N 76°09′45″E  /  27.417124°N 76.162569°E  / 27.417124; 76.162569 ). The presence of this inscription, its date and its Buddhist content, help date

1980-471: Was founded by the philologist William Jones on 15 January 1784 in a meeting presided over by Justice Robert Chambers in Calcutta , the then-capital of the Presidency of Fort William . At the time of its foundation, this Society was named as " Asiatick Society ". In 1825, the society was renamed as "The Asiatic Society". In 1832 the name was changed to " The Asiatic Society of Bengal " and again in 1936 it

2025-547: Was renamed as " The Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal ". Finally, on 1 July 1951, the name of the society was changed to its present one. The Society is housed in a building at Park Street in Kolkata (Calcutta). The Society moved into this building during 1808. In 1823, the Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta was formed and all the meetings of this society were held in the Asiatic Society. In January 1784, Sir William Jones sent out

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