Studies in Indian Art c12.s1.t2.2

c12.s1.t2.2

We have above referred to the purse carved in the left hand of the Parkham (only the purse still remaining), Pawāyā and Patna Yakshas. The purse was a characteristic symbol of the Yaksha-rāja Kubera in the iconography of the Kushāṇa period and no wonder if this feature is traceable to a much earlier epoch. Then the protuberant belly (Kumbhodaratva) was also the mark of the Buddhist god Jambhala, and this feature is conspicuous in the two Mathura statues, as also in a number of other images found at Mathura. The costume is always a dhoti tied with a belt on loins and another girdle tied round the chest, while later on we also find a scarf thrown over and passing on the back. Of ornaments we recognise a flat torque, triangular necklace, armlets, and very dumpy earrings. We may perhaps be justified in recognising the mention of the torque in the following sūtra of Pāṇini:—