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TRIBES IN ANCIENT INDIA upon a large number of pillars instead of walls, and on the top there was a küța or peak, so that there were two galleries, one below and the other above, and from the upper storey rose a pinnacle, as we see in the vimānas or rathas referred to by Buddhaghosa. Hsüan Tsang, who visited the city more than 200 years after Fä-Hien, found this great vihāra in ruins. He adds, “To the east of the tope of the Jātaka narrative was a wonder-working tope on the old foundations of the "two-storey Preaching Hall”, in which Ju-lai delivered the P'u-men-t'o-lo-ni and other sūtras. Close to the remains of the Preaching Hall was the tope which contained the half-body relics of Ananda.'2 The story of the parinirvāna of Ananda and the division of the remnants of the body has been told by Fā-Hien, and the same account is also given in the Tibetan works. 3
Hsüan Tsang's account of the country of which Vaiśāli was the capital agrees pretty well with the tradition of its prosperity preserved in the Buddhist books. The Vaiśālī country is described by the pilgrim as being above five thousand li in circuit, a very fertile region abounding in mangoes, plantains and other fruits. The people were honest, fond of good works, lovers of learning, and both orthodox and heterodox in faith.
In the Tibetan works, a similar account is given of the prosperity and opulence of Vaiśālī, which is invariably described in the Dulva as a kind of earthly paradise, with its handsome buildings, its parks and gardens, singing birds and continual festivities. The Romantic Legend of Śākya Buddha, translated by Beal from Chinese sources, gives an account similar to that in the Lalitavistara.
The identification of Vaiśāli, the capital of the Licchavis, has been much discussed by scholars. General Cunningham identified the present village of Basārh in the Muzafferpur district in Tirhut as marking the spot where Vaiśāli stood in ancient days, and M. Vivien de Saint Martin agreed with him. Dr. W. Hoey sought, though on very insufficient evidence, to establish the identity of Vaiśāli with a place called Cherānd, situated on the northern bank of the Ganges about 7 miles south-east from Chāprā. This identification was proved to be untenable by V. A. Smith,' who succeeded
1 Evidently the Kütāgāra Hall. 2 Watters, On Yuan Chwang, Vol. II, p. 71. 8 Legge, Fa-Hien, pp. 75-7. 4 Beal, Buddhist Records of the Western World, II, 66. 5 Rockhill, Life of the Buddha, p. 63.
6 P. 28. 7 Arch. S. Report, Vol. I, pp. 55, 56 and Vol. XVI, p. 6. 8 J.A.S.B., 1900, Vol. LXIX, Pt. I, pp. 78-80, 83. 9 V. A. Smith, J.R.A.S., 1902, p. 267, n. 3.
