Harmica
The term harmika is used to describe a fence-like or cube-shaped structure on Buddhist stupas , which later could also take on a closed box shape.
etymology
The origin of the term harmika is ultimately unclear; Most researchers bring the Sanskrit word hammiya (= "house" or "pavilion") into play, because small blind windows ( chandrasalas ) can still be recognized on some early harmikas , which can be interpreted as an abbreviation for 'house'.
History and function
Even if such things have not survived, it can be assumed that pre-Buddhist tree sanctuaries, altars, shrines etc. were protected from free-roaming animals by means of wooden or woven fences. Moreover, in this way the sacred area was separated from the secular. In the form of stone fences ( vedikas and harmikas ), such fences have been preserved on the stupas of Sanchi .
From Bharhut Stupa still parts of the outer enclosure (are Vedika ) obtained; these are now in the Indian Museum in Calcutta .
A screen ( chhatra ), which rests on a central pole ( yasti ) and was fenced in by a square harmika , was regularly placed on the stupas . At the many stupas located within Chaitya halls as well as at the later Nepalese stupas of Bodnath and Swayambunath ( Nepal ), a cube-shaped element - stepped upwards and protruding outwards - was created, which encloses the central pole and is sometimes interpreted as a reliquary container ( see also Anuradhapura , Sri Lanka ).
Harmika or Vedika as a decorative motif
Gradually, the fence-shaped harmikas and vedikas became a kind of religious emblem or emblem without any practical meaning or a decorative motif, which can be found in many Buddhist cave monasteries ( Ajanta , Ellora , Karli , Bhaja , Bedsa , Nashik , Aurangabad ) both on the stupas and Outside facades of some Chaitya halls as well as on the walls of several viharas .
symbolism
As Buddhism became more intellectual or esothermic, the square or cube-shaped harmika essay was interpreted as an 'altar', 'world tree' or as 'enclosure of the world axis' ( axis mundi ) and / or equated with the elements 'fire' and 'earth' .
literature
- Adrian Snodgrass: The Symbolism of the Stupa. Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi 1992, pp. 246ff, ISBN 81-208-0781-2 .
- Le Huu Phuoc: Buddhist Architecture. Grafikol 2010, p. 149ff, ISBN 978-0-9844043-0-8 [1] (engl.)
- Robert Knox: Amaravati. Buddhist Sculpture from the Great Stupa. British Museum Press, London 1992, ISBN 0-7141-1452-9
Web links
- Harmika to stupas - Photos and brief information (Engl.)
- Harmika the Great Stupa of Sanchi - Photo + tooltips (Engl.)
- Harmica from the stupa of Bharhut - photo
- Reliefs of various stupas - photos
Individual evidence
- ^ Adrian Snodgrass: The Symbolism of the Stupa. M. Banarsidas Publ., Delhi 1992, p. 154 (Fig. 89a and b), ISBN 81-208-0781-2 .