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Studies in Indian Art c12.s8: 21. Nativity Sculpture at Lumbini

Studies in Indian Art c12.s8

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English

21. Nativity Sculpture at Lumbini

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It is worthwhile reproducing what Babu Puran Chandra Mookerji who made a survey of the ancient sites in the Tarai wrote about this group-statue of Māyādevī.

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"I may bring to prominent notice the sculptured group of Māyādevī. Its size is about 5½' by 3½' in height and breadth. Though it is completely defaced, yet, from what remains, it appears to be once an excellent example of the ancient art, being of the style of workmanship which is generally associated with the time of Ashoka the Great. This group-statue is of the yellowish kind of stone, which was employed in the edict pillars and in the two famous Yaksha door-keepers (Dvārapālas) of Pāṭaliputra, now in Calcutta Museum. The composition of the group is no less spirited than artistic. The group consists of four female figures, of whom that on the right is Māyādevī. She stands in a graceful attitude, holding the branch of a Śāla tree with her right hand, while with her left she adjusts her lower garments. The head and body are defaced, but the background above shows delicate gradation of relief in exhibiting the branch and the leaves of the tree, contours of the head and hands show the skill of a masterhand, and her hair falling on wavelets on her left shoulder maintains the balance with the right hand raised up to hold the branch. Dignified action is exhibited in her whole attitue.

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On the right of Māyādevī, and immediately below her right hand, stands, close by a female attendant of younger age and smaller stature, with her right hand raised to help her. Her pose bespeaks considerate action, while the third figure, probably Prajāpati Gautami, the younger sister of Māyādevī, energetically comes in bringing water, presumably from the tank of the Śākyas, and bends her person to give it to her, thus reminding us of the suddenness of the delivery. But the fourth figure stands as a spectator talking and meaning business in her own way of aiding the queen. The queen, however, is already free from the pains of delivery; an infant Boddhisattva descending on the earth from her right side, and having taken the first seven steps indicative of the seven-fold initiation before the attainment of Buddhahood, stands triumphant knowing full well that this was his last birth, and that henceforth he was free from the miseries of further re-incarnation. It would be well if the missing fragments that have peeled off are recovered from the ruins and reflexed in their proper places to convey the full meaning of this most interesting and, I should say, historical group-statue, which was probably executed under the orders of Aśoka in the second century, after the death of Buddha."*

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The nativity group is reproduced by P.C. Mookerji on plate XXIVa of his book by wood-cut block. Mr. Dube's photograph is so far as I know the first photographic illustration of this important sculpture, although one wishes that this photo were more distinct. I have not seen the original myself, but on stylistic grounds I do not think it can be assigned to the reign of Aśoka. The oblique fold of the *Dhoti* running from the knee of the proper right leg to the thigh of the left leg of Māyādevī is a typical Kushāṇa feature. The wavy flowing locks of Mahā-Prajāpati Gautamī also cannot be a Mauryan feature. Although the details of the Indra’s head are defaced, there is a suggestion of the projecting high crown on his head as seen in Kushāṇa representations of this deity. The fourth figure on left is not a female but male attendant wearing a foliated *mukuṭa* typical of the male figures in Kushāṇa art. In Mookorji’s wood-cut illustrations he is bearing a cloth band round the chest (*Vaksha-Bandhana*) which is seen on other Kushāṇa sculptures also. On grounds of style, therefore, I think it is warranted to assign it to the early Kushāṇa period, or more precisely the reign of Kanishka.

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∗ P.C. Mookerji, A Report on a tour of Exploration of the Antiquities in the Tarāi, Nepal, the region of Kapilavastu, during February and March, 1899, Calcutta, Superintendent, Government Printing 1901. (Pp. 37 & 38).

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Babu P. C. Mookerji’s remark about the stone calls for attention. I take that stone is not that of the Aśokan pillars—which is pinkish Chunār sandstone, but the same as that of the famous statue of Kanishka, a yellowish rather buff-coloured stone which is used in the case of a limited number of Mathura sculpture beginning from the statue of Parkham Yaksha to the Kanishka portrait and other images of the reign of Kanishka. It seems to me that the famous Buddhist places of pilgrimage were surveyed, identified and marked more definitely in the reign of Kanishka and statues of Mathura origin were sent to sacred spots at Sārnāth, Kasia, and Śrāvastī and Lumbinī where the present Nativity group has been found. The sculpture however, requires to be published from better photographs and to be examined more closely. Other fragmentary sculptures hoarded up at the site should also be examined for ascertaining their stylistic affinites with Mathura art.

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A red sand-stone pillar in the Lucknow Museum (No. J. 533; ht. 4' 8½" × 10" × 11") unearthed in 1890 by Dr. Führer in the ruins of the Kankali Tila, Mathura, is worthy of special attention. It was published by Smith on Pl. XXVII of the *Jaina Stupa of Mathura* and also in the *Journal of Indian Art and Industry* for October 1893 (Pl. 86 of No. 44 of Vol. V), but without any explanation of the scenes depicted. From the cultural point of view the sculpture is a worthy document of the rich and picturesque life of the Kushāṇa period illustrating scenes of dance, music, sports, drinking and toilet past-times. Although the spiritual faith of the people was grounded in the teachings of the Buddha, Mahāvīra or Bhāgavata Vaishṇavism during the early centuries of the Christian era at Mathura, yet behind the religious facade we meet with a free and frank enjoyment of life in all its aspects.

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The pillar is carved on the back and front sides, each containing four superimposed panels. [Figure: Figs. 89-96]. The eight scenes taken together represent the palace amusements (प्रासाद-विहार) of a young loving couple—in this case Nanda and his beautiful wife Sundarī, a suitable subject for poetic description and sculptural illustration. Aśvaghosha who lived in the reign of Kanishka (1st-2nd century A.D.) was deeply touched by the story of Nanda and his peerless wife and has immortalized the charm and pathos of their life in his poem, the *Saundarananda*. Nanda shut up in his palace and absorbed in love enjoyed and lived with his mistress like a *chakravāka* bird with its mate—

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प्रासादसंस्थो मदनैककार्यः प्रियासहायो विजहार नन्दः ॥४॥ १
स चक्रवाक्येव हि चक्रवाकस्तया समेतः प्रियया प्रियार्हः ॥४॥ २

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From the art point of view the pillar is a remarkable specimen of the Kushāṇa school of Mathura sculpture. The scenes are treated in a very simple and natural style and are full of vivid expression. The happy balance between the direct rendering of the subject-matter and the simplicity of execution as evident in this pillar was the hall-mark of the early Kushāṇa style.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE SCENES.

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FRONT SIDE.

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Scene 1.—Propitiation of the proud lady (मानापनोदनः—Fig. 89). Aśvaghosha distinctly refers to Sundarī as a type of *Māninī nāyikā*:

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लक्ष्म्या च रूपेण च सुन्दरीति स्तम्भेन गर्वेण च मानिनीति ।
दीप्त्या च मानेन च भामिनीति यातो ब राषे त्रिविधेन नाम्ना ॥

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'Three were the names by which she was known—Sundarī on account of her majesty and beauty; Māninī for her obstinacy and pride; and Bhāminī for her radiant loveliness and high spirits.' (*Saundarananda*, IV. 3).

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Fig. 89 Propitiation of the proud lady

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Fig. 88 Rishyśringa

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Fig. 93 Music

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Fig. 90 Sundrī at toilet

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Fig. 94 Dressing her hair

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Fig. 91 Dance

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Fig. 92 Drinking Scene

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Fig. 95 A Palace-amusement Scene

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Fig. 96 Dance

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The scene in this panel illustrates Nanda reconciling or propitiating his proud and spirited wife. Both are seated on a long bench. Sundarī's head is turned away from Nanda and her back is turned towards him. The weight of her body rests on the right hand placed on the bench. The pose of the left hand shows that it was placed against her cheek or head. The left leg is placed on the right one as of interlocking and fixing it. Sundarī is wearing profuse armlets (valaya), heavy anklets (nūpura), a dhoti and a broad girdle over it. Under the bench is a garland basket (माल्य-चंगेरिका).

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Scene 2.—Toileting (मण्डन, Fig. 90). Sundarī seated on a round chair of wicker work (vetrāsana) is holding a toilet-mirror in her left hand and painting her face with the right. A female attendant is standing at the back and is in the act of arranging her locks. Nanda is standing in front of her holding a lotus garland in right hand. Behind the lady in a corner is a water jar placed on a high fluted stand.

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Scene 3.—Dance (नृत्य Fig. 91). Nanda and Sundarī are dancing together. A female attendant is standing in the background.

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Scene 4.—Drinking (मधुपान, Fig. 92). Nanda and Sundarī seated together on a bench are enjoying intoxicating drinks. 'In the intervals of exhaustion the pair sportively intoxicated each other by way of mutual refreshment.' (कलमान्तरेऽन्योन्यविनोदनेन सलीनमन्योन्यममीमदच्च, Saundarananda, IV. 11).

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Nanda is holding the goblet between the fingers of his right hand and offering it to the lady. Sundarī is wearing a big garland round her neck and shoulders and grasping it with the left hand. Similar conspicuous garlands occur in other scenes at Mathura and are suggestive of special amorous moods. In the background are two female attendants, one of whom a surāhārī is bearing the wine-jar (surā-bhāṇḍa) in her left hand.

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Scene 5.—Music (संगीत, Fig. 93). Both Nanda and Sundarī are seated on circular wicker stools facing each other. Sundarī is holding a vīṇā in her lap and playing on it. Her eyes are intently fixed on the instrument. Two female attendants are standing at the back.

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Scene 6.—Coiffure of the lady (वेणीप्रसाधन, Fig. 94). Sundarī is standing in profile looking sideways. She is holding a mirror in right hand and is looking her face in it. With her left hand she seems to be painting her face, most probably the scene of painting tattoo marks (विशेषक रचना) to which reference is found in Aśvaghosha (Saund., IV. 13, 20). Nanda is standing on the right side and is in the act of dressing her hair. He is holding her long braid (veṇī) in his left hand, and with the right he is lifting a garland from a basket supported on the head of a dwarf servant. On a railing pillar in the Mathura Museum (186) a similar scene is represented (A Handbook of Sculptures in the Mathura Museum, p. 40), and there also it appears to be a scene depicting the love sports of Nanda and Sundarī. Aśvaghosha gives a detailed description of the facial decoration of Sundarī, but with this difference that in the poem Sundri is said to have transferred the mirror to her husband whereas in the carved scene she is holding it herself. (Cf. Saund. IV. 13, 20).

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Details of a railing pillar showing palace-life. Mathura. Kushana.

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Scene 7.—A palace-amusement scene showing a lady and jester (उत्तरीयाकर्षण Fig. 95). Sundari is seated on a vetrāsana with right leg placed on a foot-stool. In front of her stands a jester wearing a quaint skull-cap marked with a front knot or plume. From his shoulder hangs a scarf. The lady is pulling the scarf which the jester is holding against her. A female attendant is standing at the back. All the three figures are looking mirthful.

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This was a favourite palace amusement in ancient India. Besides its artistic representation on this pillar and elsewhere literary reference to it also found in the Kādambarī of Bāṇabhaṭṭa. A detailed description of a similar scene on a terracotta panel from Mathura was given by me in an article in the J.I.S.O.A., 1942, pp. 69-73. The inmates of the harem regaled themsleves by practising such light jokes on the palace chamberlains (kanchuki), jesters (vidushaka) and such other attendants (cheṭa, viṭa). The cap with a frontal plume and the conspicuous pricked ears projecting at right angles from the head are intended to emphasise the humorous character of the male figure who appears to be a Vidūshaka. The scene on this Kushāṇa pillar presents an earlier version of the scene on the Gupta terracotta panel, both from Mathura.

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Scene 8.—Dance (नृत्य, Fig. 95). Nanda and Sundari are dancing together. A female attendant is standing in the background and a dwarf by his side.

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The discovery of a Buddhist pillar from the predominantly Jaina site of Kankali Tila requires some explanation. Unfortunately there is no record left of the excavations conducted by Dr. Führer in 1890-92, at this very important site, nor does it appear that the dig had any well-defined scientific purpose other than that of collecting mere stone antiquities. There is, however a very strong Jaina tradition which records that the Buddhists for some time entered into a dispute with the Jainas for the possession of the Stūpa at the Kankali site, and that after about six months of controversy during which time the Buddhists appear to have remained strong the issue was decided by the king in favour of the Jainas. This tradition is preserved in the Vyavahārasūtra Bhāshya (V. 27-28), Bṛihatkathākosha of Harisheṇa (931-32 A.D.), Yaśastilakachampū of Somadeva (959 A.D.) and the Vividhatirthakalpa of Jinaprabha Sūri (1325-1351 A.D.) of which the Mathurāpurikalpa gives a detailed account of the legendary history of the Jaina Stūpa. There is no doubt that originally the site was sanctified by the construction of a Jaina Stūpa. Subsequently when the sopt gained in importance the Buddhists who were powerful at Mathura during the first and second century A.D. seem to have appropriated a portion of the site for building a monument sacred to their own religion. This temporary trespass by the Buddhists on an avowedly Jaina site explains in some manner the discovery of some Buddhist sculptures, amongst which the Nandasundari pillar is one, from the site of the Kankali Tila.

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