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Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c11: Chapter VII: 7. Mauryan Art (325-184 B. C.)

Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c11

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Contents

Chapter VII: 7. Mauryan Art (325-184 B. C.)

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The political picture clarifies with the coronation of Chandragupta Maurya, about 323 B. C., on the throne of Magadha, with capital at Pāṭaliputra. He was an emperor, a *Chakravartī* sovereign, true to ancient tradition ruling over a large part of India, from Bāhlika te Bengal in the east and from the Himalayas to Mysore in the south. He had an extraordinary genius for political organisation and the prosperous government he established with the help of his able minister, Chāṇakya, bore lasting fruits for civilisation of the country. He was succeeded by his son Bindusāra (298-272 B. C.) and the latter by his son Aśoka (272-232 B. C.). This long period of peaceful rule and economic prosperity contributed to a national pattern of culture and art. We now enter the threshold of a mighty and creative civilisation, rich in content with lasting influence on subsequent generations.

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Strength and majesty were the hall-mark of Mauryan Institution and they are seen at best in monuments of Mauryan art. In this period we meet with two styles which may be clearly distinguished, viz. court-art as evident in the building of the city of Pāṭaliputra, the palace with its assembly hall of Chandragupta and the numerous monuments of Aśoka. The other was a folk art tradition marked by some clay figurines but more conspicuously by a group of free-standing statues of colossal *Yakṣha* and *Yakṣhīs* found at Mathura, Vidiśā, Vārāṇasī, Pāṭaliputra and Siśupalagarhj in Orissa. The court art was based for its ideas and execution on the inspiration of the emperors and the style is dominant and original and marked by a perfection of carving rarely achieved ever afterward. The planning of the monument is so vast aud grand that it has few parallels in World History. The folk art typifies an older plastic tradition in clay and wood which was now put in stone, as seen in the massive *Yakṣha* statuary which are also of exceptional value as models of subsequent divine images and human figures.

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ARCHITECTURE OF PĀṬALIPUTRA : The first project put into operation was the building of the capital city of Pāṭaliputra. Fortunately, the Arthaśāstra acquaints us with these canons under *Durga-vidhāna* (Artha. 2. 21). The town should have a deep moat (*Parikhā*), a strong city-wall (*Prākāra*) raised on broad mud foundation (*Vapra*), in which there were gateways (*Dvāra*), towers (*Koṣṭha*), and bastions (*Aṭṭālaka*). On the inside of the high wall was a broad passage (*Devapatha*) and on the top of the wall a series of battlements (*Kapiśīrshaka*). The town was to be divided into blocks by broad roads (*Mahāpatha*), streets (*Rathyā*) and lanes (*Vīthī*). In its centre was sited the royal palace (*Rāja-Prāsāda*) in the midst of an extensive park (*Uddyāna*) and possessing a large number of contingent buildings. This was the pattern of town-planning handed down from earlier times, as we have seen in the preceding chapters and it seems that the scheme was largely followed in the planning of his capital by Chandragupta. Megasthenes was the Greek ambassador of King Seleukos sent to the court of Chandragupta. He was an eye-witness of the magnificence of Pāṭaliputra. According to him the city had a length of nine miles and a width of one and half mile. Its moat was 600 ft. wide and 45 ft. deep. Its rampart had 64 gates and 570 bastions. It would not be surprising if the account of an ideal city and palace given above from the Mahā-Ummagga Jātaka along the tank of the Gaṅgā reflects the realities of the Mauryan capital and its palace.

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The actual remains of the city as explored upto now confirm the literary accounts. At Kumrahar remains of the palace and to its north at Bulandibaga a portion of the city-wall for a length of 450 ft. have been exposed. This agrees with the requirements of town-planning according to which the city-wall should have been removed from the palace area and on the outskirts of the town away from the Gaṅgā side. The partial remains of the solid city-wall consists of two rows of piles or stakes of *sāla* timber, each 18 ft. high and 1 ft. broad and both rows being bonded together by layers of cross planks about 14 ft. in length with earth tightly rammed in between them. The palisades of Pāṭaliputra are in the true sense a *Sāla-Prākāra*. No polished stones were found in the dig of the city-wall or none was needed there, whereas the Kumrahar site is full of them.

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THE PALACE—At Kumrahar, site of old Pāṭaliputra, a mighty pillared hall of Mauryan date has been found which is the first structural building of the historical period. In theory a royal palace was planned in three courts (*Tisraḥ-Kakṣyāḥ*). In the extensive first court there was room for royal stables, elephants and palace guards, in the second was the Audience Hall (*Sabhā* or *Asthāna-Maṇḍapa*) and in the third court the main palace or inner apartment (*Rājakula*), all three in one alignment. The pillared hall now discovered is the *Sabhā* proper and it is expected that the main palace should be found by extending the axial line beyond the two pillars of the throne, making allowance of some space for the palace gardens (*Bhavanoddyāna*).

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Whether the palace was built by Chandragupta or by Aśoka is a relevant question having great significance for the history of Mauryan art. The evidence is overwhelmingly in favour of Chandragupta as the author of the whole plan as well as its execution. Firstly, the primary exigencies of an empire needed a well-built capital, palace and secretariat. Secondly, the testimony of Greek writers offers incontrovertible proof that the city and the palace existed long before Aśoka for Megasthenes actually saw them and recorded a factual account of the magnificence of the structure. Thirdly, the bottom of the pillars of the hall was engraved with several symbols including a set of three rows of three circles, taurine, triangle-headed standard (*Vaijayanti*) and crescent on Chaitya, the last sign being associated, with great probability, with Chandragupta Maurya, since it is commoaly found on the Punchmarked coins of Mauryan date. This shows that the bright Mauryan polish and the tall column without base were both evolved in the time of Chandragupta. Aśoka himself refers to pre-existing pillars. Patañjali writing only about 125 years after Chandragupta refers to *Chandragupta-Sabhā*, by which name it seems the monument became known to posterity.

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THE ASSEMBLY HALL—The asrembly hall discovered at Kumrahar was a mighty and imposing structure without parallel in Indian art. The building consisted of 80 pillars arranged in 8 rows of 10 each aligned east-west with two extra pillars at the eastern end most probably to accommodate the royal throne. The pillars have been found in a miserably broken condition due to the action of fire but the remains help us to reconstruct a fairly good picture of the original building. Each pillar stood exactly 15 ft. apart from the other. None of the columns had any pedestals and the pillars rested directly on the floor of the hall which together with the roof seems to be a timber construction of maximum finish and grandiose execution, as shown by the surviving seven wooden platforms of great neatness and accuracy still found in marvellous preservation. Three bigger fragments of the pillars were exposed; but a fourth one 14 ft. 3 in. in height was almost the pillar with only its top missing, the probable total height was about 21 ft. and the girth as well as the shaft which is smooth and polished right down to the base are like those of an Aśokan pillar. In some of the top-fragments there are socket holes for metal bolts to hold the super-structure which show signs of burstings due to fire action. Under the bottom of each pillar was found a circle of deep ashes, pointing to the hypothesis that each pillar was erected on a wooden basement embedded in the earth. [Fig. 45.]

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One noteworthy feature found on the bigger columns is the presence some 5 ft. above the actual bottom of four roughly-square bosses projecting slightly from the surface of the pillars, one on each of the four sides. Three of these are flushed with the column, and show a roughened surface which seems to be the result of breakage. The fourth projects a little more and bears unmistakeable signs of a fracture and on its neck is the bright polish as on the rest of the column. The bosses were intended either for fixing mirrors, different decorative motifs of birds and animals to which Greek writers make reference and the account in the Sabhā Parva also lends support.

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ASSEMBLY HALL IN THE SABHĀ PARVA—The Sabhā Parva describes the assembly hall of Yudhishṭhira with five others, viz. Indra, Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera and Brahmā (Sabhā Parva, 6. 11). It is clearly stated there that the assemblage of motifs observed in the divine halls was present in the human assembly hall of Yudhishṭhira which was the best in the world of men (*Mānushe loke sarva-śreshṭhatamā*, Sabhā. 11. 42). There are several striking features in this description hinting at significant parallels :

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(1) The plan of the assembly hall was rectangular, the length being greater (*Ayatā*) than breadth (*Vistīrṇā*).

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(2) It resembled a *Vimāna* floating in the sky (*Vaihāyasī*, Sabhā Parva, 7.2; *Khe vishaktā*, ibid, 10. 3; *Plavamānā*, ibid, 10. 4).

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(3) It is a feature exemplified in the Mauryan art since the pillars only rest on the floor and not inserted in the ground. Even it is said that the general impression created by the stracture was that of an ever suspended canopy not resting on pillars (*Stambhair na cha dhṛitā śāśvatī......nāka prishṭhasthā*, ibid. 11.11-12).

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(4) It was a hall made of bright polished stones (*Maṇimayī-sabhā*, ibid, 6-10). Indeed the most characteristic feature of this *Sabhā* was its mirror-like finish which is expressed in about a dozen different terms (*Bhāsvarā, Taijasī, Arka-samaprabhā, Bhrājishṇu, Raśmivatī, Aprameya-prabhā, Svayam-prabhā, Sarvatejomayī*). It was beautified by many a decorative motifs, e. g. bejewelled trees (*Ratna-maya-vriksha*), golden plants (*Hema-maya-pādapa*, ibid, 10.3), studded shrubs (*Gulma*) and creepers (avatāna, ibid, 9.4), laden with flowers and fruits (*Phalapushpa-prada*) and blossoming sprigs (*Pushpa-mañjarī*) which were designed with gems of blue, yellow, red, white and black colours. On their dense foliage were birds of many forms (*nānārūpāḥ śakunayaḥ*) and of unknown shapes (*Anirdeśya*, Sabhā. 9.2-4), all wrought in semi-precious stones (*Divya-ratna*). This almost literally agrees with what the Greek writers have said about the assembly hall of Chandragupta :—"The palace is adorned with gilded pillars, clasped all round with a vine embossed in gold, white silver images of those birds which most charm the eye, diversify the workmanship."

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A special architectural feature ot the pillard hall is given in the Sabhāparva, viz. that it was furnished with compartments for palacement of seats for its members (*Veśmāsanavatī*, 7.3, 9.5), a term of which the exact significance has been missed. If we have a view of the spacious hall (*Bhūyasī, Vipula*) divided into 8 rows of 10 pillars, the exact impression is that of its division into 63 squares plus the one on the side of the throne towards the east. Each of these squares, separated from the other by stately stone columns, was used for placing a seat for each member of the Sabhā and hence the name Veśmāsanā.

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Another feature of architecture is a reference to the Atlantes or crouching dwarfs (Guhyaka, Sabhā, 10.3), also Kiṅkara (3.25), who as it were supported the building on their heads and hands, which seems to be moving in the sky (Antariksha-charā, ibid, 3.26; Khe-chara, 10.2) and being huge in size (Mahākāya) of grotesque shape (ghora) with ears pointed above like oyster-shelf (śukti-karṇa, ibid, 3.26). This architectural element has not been traced at Pāṭaliputra, but is a recognised feature in Chaitya halls of western India. There is no doubt that the pillared halls of the rock-excavations also followed the same ideal pattern.

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In the epic description the greatest emphasis is laid on the lustrous polish which was a distinguishing feature of this hall. It turned back by its brightness the lustre of the sun and was as if burning (Jvalamāna) with unearthly brilliance:—

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pratighnativa prabhayā prabhām arkasya bhāsvarām, prababhau jvalamāneva divyā divyena varchasā (Sabhā. 3.21).

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No modern writer has praised the Mauryan polish with greater zest. Its rectangular spacious shining form (Āyatā, Vipulā, Ślakṣṇā) pleased everyone (praharṣiṇī) and produced the impression as if it was made of crystal (sphaṭikam cha sabhā-dravyam, ibid. 3-16). Spooner has mentioned the existence of two tanks to the north and south of the palace. ‘At one point near the actual village of Kumrahar and to the west of it, an old tank cuts into this high ground on the southern edge of the main road. This is called Kālū tank. Some hundred yards south of this is another tank, the Chaman-Ṭālā’. This situation of the tank forming an integral part of the palace architecture agress quite well with the accounts both of the Greek writers and of Sabhā Parva. An extensive park and lotus pond were essential components in the planning of the royal Palace. The latter is mentioned in the Sabhāparva as Nalinī overgrown with beautiful and fragrant lotus flowers (Padma-saugandhikavatī), birds of many forms and aquatic fish and tortoise in the clear waters. There were well-formed landing steps on all sides (Upatīrtha). The Sabhāparva particularly mentions that the lotus pond and the royal groves were on the two sides of the assembly hall (Taṃ sabhām abhitaḥ, ibid. 3.31). It was full of tame geese, peacocks and phasants (Haṃsa Kāraṇḍava-yutās Chakravākopaśobhitaḥ, ibid. 3.32), shady groves and trees set in clumps with branches woven together by some special tricks of horticulture, trees that are always green (Nityaṃ puṣpavantah), that never grow old and never shed their leaves. In any future excavation of the sites the position of the royal pleasance and their tanks should also be a guide in fixing the relative orientation.

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Wooden Platforms—The Seven wooden platforms lying to the south of the pillared hall, 30 ft. in length, 5 ft. 4 in. in width and 4½ ft. in height, have been adjudged to be wonderful structures showing much neatness and precision. The logs are staked one above the other bound together by accurately dressed planks. The ancient wood is in marvellous preservation and the edges are so perfect that the very lines of jointure are indistinguishable. The whole was built up with a precision and a reasoned care that could not possibly be excelled today.

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We have seen enough details to convince that the planning of the capital and the palace was entirely in accordance with the canons of architecture received from olden times and clearly mentioned in the Jātakas, Epics and the Arthaśāstra. It is also testified that halls of a hundred and a thousand pillars were within the conception of the architects of Vedic times. But as the Greeks have said, all the cities on the banks of rivers were built of wood and this was also reflected in Pāṭaliputra except an innovation of stone pillars of the assembly hall, where the floor and the roofing were also of wood. Some ascribe the design and execution of the assembly hall and its columns to a foreign origin, viz. Iran, but that view will be examined later in the light of the evidence available. There is a world of difference between the Achaemenian pillars and the Mauryan pillars and the overall accomplishment of the palace at Pāṭaliputra was much superior to those in Iran; according to Aelian, “neither Memnonian Susa with all its costly splendeur nor Ekbatana with all its magnificence” could vie with the royal palace of Pāṭaliputra.

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Mauryan Art under Aśoka—Aśoka was a great idealist in the planning of human relationships, both amongst his own people and also his foreign neighbours. On the other hand, he was also intensely practical minded which expressed in recasting his administrative set-up in a manner to be of maximum service to his subjects, and what was no less important was his deciding upon a building programme of the most stupendous nature. The surviving monuments, diverse as they are, show that he had in his mind the whole country or his vast dominion (mahālaka vijita) extending from Kandahar to Dhauli and from Girnar to Mysore. This wide area was within the orbit of his positive planning and therefore he sited his fourteen rock-edicts at suitable points punctuating the perimeter of his kingdom. The next point in his plan was to plot the holy-spots associated with Buddha and Buddhism and to mark them with commemorative stone columns. These monolithic pillars constitute the most brilliant and original class of Aśokan monuments, and the lasting glory of Dharma and Saṅgha (chila-thitike) is still made manifest through them. As in the rock-edicts so in selecting the spots for erecting the stone pillars there appears to be a two-fold plan in the mind of the Emperor. The columns at Pāṭaliputra, Lauriā Nandangarh, Lauriā Ararāj, and Bakhirā mark the stages in the Pilgrim's Progress to Lumbinī, the birth place of Buddha, where a pillar with a definite announcement was raised and nearby another column to commemorate the enlargement of a previous Buddhist Stūpa, both executed in the 20th year of his reign when he personally visited these places. The repairs to the Stūpa of Konākaman had been executed six years earlier (thuve dutiyam vaḍhite). At Lumbinī, besides the stone pillar (silā-thabhe cha usapāpite) he also ordered the building of an enclosure-wall or railing (bhichā) carved of stone (silā-vigaḍa = Sans. śilā-vikṛita). In the same scheme the stone pillar at Sarnath marks the spot of Buddha's Turning the Wheel of Law (Dharma-Chakra-Pravartana). A pillar also stood at Bodhagaya showing the place of Buddha's Enlightenment. The other plan included the pillars to mark the boundaries of Madhyadeśa and the capital of its principal Janapada divisions, e.g. the pillar at Saṅkisā for Pañchāla, at Meerut for Kuru, at Rupar in Ambāla for Kurukshetra the region of Sarasvatī, at Sāñchī for Chedi on the grand route from Mathura to Pratiṣṭhāna, at Śrāvastī in Basti district for Kosala, and at Kauśambī for Vatsa. Thus the capital cities and the boundaries of Āryāvarta, the heart of the Empire, were clearly distinguished.

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The next two problems which exercised his mind were those relating to the idea which he wanted to convey and the form in which the same were to be concretised. The problem of transport, of course, was there, but tackled by his engineers with success in carrying huge monoliths of about 50 ft. to remote places from the central quarry at Chunār, where the imperial workshop for fabricating the tall shafts and capitals was situated. The smooth long shaft without basement had already been tried in the Pillared Hall of Chandragupta but the idea of crowning it with a magnificent capital was original to Aśoka. He had conceived one supreme message for his generation and for mankind, viz. the message of Dharma which had dawned on his mind out of a sincere and profound conversion. He had pondered over it deeply and discovered its many facets which he himself names as Dhamma Kāmatā, Dhamma Ghoso, Dhamma Chalana, Dhamma Niyama, Dhamma Dāna, Dhamma Paṭipati, Dhamma Maṅgala, Dhamma Vijaya, Dhamma Saṃchava, Dhamma Susūsā, Dhammānusastu, Dhammānuggaho, Dhamma Silana, etc. Underlying these multiple forms he had discovered the supreme truth that Dharma is one and indivisible and that it constitutes the Eternal Wheel of Cosmic Order which rolls on for ever in the moral, social and political spheres as Brahma Chakra, Brahmāṇḍa Chakra, Bhava Chakra, Kāla Chakra, etc. and which was essentially the same as the Mahā Dharma Chakra of the Buddha.

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The second truth clear to him as basic to Dharma Chakra was the fourfold pattern of individual life, society and cosmos symbolised as the four sides of the Anotatta or Mānasarovara lake, each marked by one Great Animal (Mahā Ājāneya Paśu). The tradition of the four animals had come down right from the Indus Valley and was deeply ingrained in popular consciousness and accepted by them as an essential element of cult-worship.

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The philosophical idea behind the column and the capital having been determined by the Emperor himself with a clear conception of the tradition and of his own outlook, the problem of execution was no matter of difficulty. There were workers both in wood and stone who were past masters in making such columns. It is undisputed that the technique of fabricating them in wood was known from older times and it was merely the question of a change in the medium involving a transition from wood to stone. The lithic pillars in the Hall of Chandragupta Sabhā already preceded Aśoka as borne out by the testimony of Greek writers. Aśoka, therefore, was truly the author of both the idea and the form that his monumental capitals represent. The Stūpa, railing, parasol, Bodhi throne, pillar, capital, rock-cut Chaitya Hall and the huge stone figures like the elephant at Dhauli, each one of these was completely indigenous both in its form and meaning. To separate the stone pillars only from this imposing list of Aśokan monuments and to ascribe them to foreign imported workmen, is not justified by facts at our disposal, and not fair to their author.

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The monuments of Aśokan art as preserved comprise the following:

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(1) Stūpas of brick and mortar which have undergone subsequent enlargement.

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(2) Monolithic stone pillars with large animal capitals. [Fig. 46].

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(3) Monolithic stone railing preserved at Sarnath. [Fig. 47].

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(4) Fragmentary parasol (Chatra) found at Sāñchī.

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(5) Rock-cut Chaitya Hall or cave dwellings (Guhā) in the Barābar hills in Gaya district. [Fig. 48].

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(6) An elephant carved from the rock at Dhauli in Orissa.

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(7) Elephant figure engraved on rock at Kalsi. [Fig. 49].

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Aśoka himself mentions in the Lumbinī inscription that he had in addition to a stone column also erected a stone railing which it appears followed the model of the Sarnath railing. He also refers to an enlargement to twice its size of the original Stūpa of the previous Buddha Kanaka Muni at Niglīvā (Buddasa konākamanasa thuve dutiyaṃ vaḍhite). Tradition ascribes to him the foundation of two cities, viz. Śrīnagara (Rājatarangiṇī, I, 101-7) in Kashmir and Devapattana in Nepal (CHI, p. 501). His choice of a royal site in the Kashmir valley bespeaks his patronage of that beautiful valley possibly as opening a new territory or for resort near the western province of Gandhāra. He also seems to have taken interest in the development of the river valleys of Nepal lying to the north of the central part of his empire. He is credited with the opening of the original eight Stūpas containing the relics of the Buddha and redistributing them over the ideal number of eightyfour thousand Stūpas traditionally mentioned as his Vaistārika activity. The Stūpas at Sarnath, Sanchi and probably Bharhut also were enlarged in Asoka's time by adding a brick casing round an earthen core, i.e. converting a small (alpeśakhya) Stūpa into a large one (maheśākhya).

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The monolithic stone railing (ekāśmaka vedikā) found at Sarnath once crowned the dome of the so-called Jagat Singh Stūpa round its Harmikā. It is a square structure consisting of upright posts with three cross-bars between each pair, the whole cut out of a single huge mass of stone and distinguished by the bright Mauryan polish in all its parts. [Fig. 47].

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Aśoka himself had lived at Vidiśā and married the daughter of a marchant there. He thus had a love for the Mahā Chaitya at Sanchi and enlarged it by providing a beautiful brightly polished Chhatra Yaṣṭi or umbrella with a post now preserved in pieces in the Sanchi museum.

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Barabar Cave Dwellings—Sixteen miles north of Gaya are several granite hills with Buddhist remains. There are three caves in Barabar (= Pravaragiri), four in the Nagarjuni group, together known as Sāt-ghar. These were the gift of Aśoka and his grand son Daśaratha to the Ājīvaka monks. In Barabar the first is Karṇa-chopar (33½ ft. × 14½ ft. × 6 ft.), the second Sudāmā Cave excavated in the year twelve of Aśoka having two chambers, one circular (19 ft. 11 in. in diameter with a hemispherical domed roof) and an outer apartment (32 ft. 9 in. × 19 ft. 6 in. × 6 ft. 9 in. with a vaulted roof having a total height of 12 ft. 3 in.). Both the roof and walls of the two caves are finished with a bright enamel-like polish. This shows that the basic plan of a Chaitya-Ghara with a rectangular Maṇḍapa and an apse at its inner end was evolved in Aśoka's time which later on received a complex development in the numerous Chaitya Halls about 1200 in number and ranging in date over about a 1000 years.

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The third is the Lomas Ṛiṣhi Cave, similar to Sudāmā in the size and arrangement of the two chambers, but the interior of the circular roof has been left rough and both the floor and the roof of the outer apartment remain unfinished, the straight wall being highly polished. The most important feature is the doorway, a rectangular opening with sloping jambs and beautified by an overhanging entrance porch, carved with ornamental features possessing not only the perfection of articing skill but also detailed architectural design which provided the norm for the façades (ghar-mukha) of the rock-cut caves. On the top of it is the finial (stūpikā) with the front arch under it supported on two huge sloping door-jambs and showing the ends of the beams of the roof. The lower ends of the arch and the upper half of the jambs were held together by three cross bolts on each side. Under the arch are a pair of concentric lunettes, the upper one decorated with lattice work (vātāyana) and the lower filled with a row of exquisitely carved elephants paying homage to the Stūpa. All the above elements although carved in stone have been inspired by wooden prototypes in which centuries of experience had accumulated both for details of architecture and careful sculpture as well as ornamentation. The high polish combined with sharply chiselled carving and the perfect preservation make it look as if it is the work of today and its beauty so attractive that it looks like an adorned mantle round a lady's face.

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The Gopi cave in the Nagarjuni group (44 ft. x 19 ft. x 10 ft.) is like a tunnel in plan, with two apsidal ends and a vaulted roof, excavated in the time of Aśoka's grandson Daśaratha and proving the continuity of Aśokan tradition in later times.

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AŚOKAN PILLARS—The cream of Aśokan art consists of his monolithic stone pillars with imposing capitals, which bespeak not only artistic excellence combined with technical skill but also much originality of thought on the part of the emperor. Under the twofold scheme as explained above, of marking the sacred spots of Buddhism and the centres and boundaries of Madhya Deśa, Aśoka erected many pillars of which a full catalogue would be helpful to obtain a complete picture of his art, but all the pillars do not seem to have survived.

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Fa-Hien (399-413 A.D.) noticed only six pillars and Yuan Chwang (629-645 A.D.) who travelled more extensively, observed fifteen of them; but they seem to have missed quite a lot for the actual number now discovered exceeds what they have recorded. Of the six seen by Fa-Hien two stood on each side of the door of the Jetavana Vihāra at Śrāvastī, one with a wheel and the other with a Bull as capital; one at Sāṅkāśya, erected behind the monastery, 50 (sic. 30) cubits high, with a lion on the top of it, shining and transparent, as it were, of lapis lazuli; the fourth, an inscribed one, on the way to Vaiśālī from Kuśinagara (most probably the Lauriā-Ararāj pillar) bearing Pillar-Edicts (1-6); the fifth at Pāṭaliputra, 30 cubits high bearing an inscription saying: Aśoka made a gift of Jambudvīpa to the Saṅgha and then redeemed it from them with money, repeating it three times, from which the pillar became known as the Jambudvīpa Pillar; the sixth also at Pāṭaliputra, more than 30 ft. high, with a lion capital and erected by Aśoka to mark the building of a city named Ne-Le and with an inscription recording the year and circumstances of the city's foundations. The Jambudvīpa Pillar appears to be the same as found to the south of Kumrahar village near old Pāṭaliputra, only two large fragments of it being discovered. Of the second Pāṭaliputra Pillar Mukherjee found innumerable fragments to the north of Mauryan palace and it is inferred that the pillar was destroyed by fire.

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We now pass on to Yuan Chwang who mentions distinctly no less than fifteen pillars as having been set up by Aśoka :—

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(i) Kapittha Pillar (same as Sāṅkāśya) of a "lustrous violet colour" and very hard, with a crouching lion (sic, elephant) on the top facing the stairs of the Stūpa, both built by Aśoka, the shaft of the pillar having quaintly carved figures on each side (Watters, i. 334).

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(ii and iii) Śrāvastī Pillars: "At the east gate of the Jetavana Vihāra were two stone pillars, one on each side of the entrance; these, which were 70 ft. high, had been erected by Aśoka. The pillar on the left side was surmounted by a sculptured wheel and that on the right side by an Ox". (ib. 1.383).

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(iv) Pillar near Kapilavastu erected in front of a Stūpa of the previous Buddha Krakuchhanda, with a carved lion on the top and an account of his Parinirvāṇa engraved on it, and the whole being about 30 ft. high, (ib. 2.5).

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(v) Kanakamuni commemorative pillar near Kapilavastu, above 20 ft. high crowned by a lion and inscribed with the record of Kanakamuni's decease (ib. 2.6). This is definitely the same as the Aśokan column at Niglīvā on the north-east side of Kapilavastu bearing an inscription about the enlargement of the Stūpa and the erection of the Silā-thabha, the latter event in the 20th year of his reign (c. 250 BC, Hultzsch, CII. 1. 165).

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(vi) Pillar in Lumbinī Garden (modern Rummindei) "with the figure of a horse on the top" which Yuan Chwang saw broken in the middle by lightning. He does not mention the inscription but the Fang-Chih refers to it as connected with the Buddha's birth. This is the famous Aśokan Pillar to which he gave the highest honour amongst his similar monuments as 'it marked the spot of the birth place of the Buddha (hida Buddhe jāte Sākya-muni ti). So the emperor came to this spot, paid homage to it, raised a pillar (Silāthabhe usapāpite) and built a railing carved in stone.'

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(vii) Pillar at Kuśinagara, being the Nirvāṇa Pillar, with an inscription recording the circumstances of Buddha's decease (not yet discovered), (ib. 2. 28). Kuśinagara is modern Kassiyā near Bhavasār-ghāṭ at the confluence of Hiraṇyavatī (Gaṇḍaka) and Achiravatī (Little Rāptī) rivers.

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(viii) Another pillar at Kuśīnagara marking the site of the division of the Buddha's relics among the eight claiments; not discovered (ib. 2. 42).

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(ix) A pillar on the way to Sārnāth identified by V. A. Smith with the pillar known as Lāṭ Bhairo in the compound of the Sanskrit University. This was smashed during a riot in 1908. It was "of polished green stone, clear and lustrous as a mirror in which the reflection of the Buddha was constantly visible (ib. 2. 48).

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(x) Pillar at Sārnāth, "above 70 ft. high", which had the softness of jade and of dazzling brightness"; erected at the spot at which the Buddha, having obtained enlightenment, first preached his religion (ib. 2. 50). There is discrepancy in the height estimated by Yuan Chwang, for the total height is calculated to have been about 49½ ft. This is the well known Mahā-Dharma-Chakra Pillar discovered by Oertel.

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(xi) A Pillar surmounted by a lion in front of an Aśokan Stūpa at Mahāśāla where Yuān Chwāng saw a Nārāyaṇa temple with halls and terraces beautifully adorned and with sculptured stone images in the highest style of art. An epigraph on the pillar stated how the Buddha here subdued and converted a certain Yaksha (ib. 2.60). There was an Aśokan Stūpa here in front of which the stone pillar was raised as was the practice of Aśoka to combine the two monuments.

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(xii) Pillar at Vaiśālī about 50 ft. high, surmounted by a lion, standing by the side of a Stūpa erected by Aśoka. Cunningham identified this with the uninscribed Aśokan pillar at the village of Bakhirā, or more properly Kolhuā, (ASR, 1903-4, p. 88).

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(xiii) Pillar at Pāṭaliputra about 30 ft. high, same as the Jumbudvīpa Pillar of Fa-Hien (Ib. 2. 93). Fragments of this pillar have been found.

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(xiv) A second pillar at Pāṭaliputra, some tens of feet high, marking Asoka's hellish prison named Ramaṇīya-Bandhana.

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(xv) Pillar at Rājagṛiha, beside a Stūpa near the Kalandaka-Nivāpa or tank, 50 ft. high, with an elephant capital and inscribed with a record relating to the foundation of the Stūpa. (Ib. 2. 162).

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PILLARS FOUND UP TO NOW—Up to now the following Aśokan pillars have been discovered : Sārnāth (with a capital of four lions), Sānchī (capital with four lions), Rāmpurvā (with lion capital), again Rampurvā (bull-capital, uninscribed), Lauriā Nandangarh (with lion capital), Lauriā Ararāj, Allahabad (probably removed by Akbar from Kauśāmbi), Kosam (uninscribed but with Mauryan polish), Rummindeī, Niglīvā, Bakhirā (Vaiśālī, with lion capital), Saṅkisā (uninscribed with a lion capital) and two pillars at Delhi removed by Sultan Firoz Tughlak in 1356, of which one originally stood at Meerut and the other at Topra in Ambala district.

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Besides these fourteen pillars, ten inscribed and four uninscribed, the following more recent finds may be added to this :

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(i) Fragment of bull capital found in Sadargali, Patna.

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(ii) Lion capital in Patna Museum with Mauryan polish, acanthus leaf, a crude example. It was found at Masadh village in Arrah district.

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(iii) Capital with four addorsed bulls in Patna Museum, having a socket in the centre above, most probably for fixing a Dharma-chakra, bearing bright Mauryan polish.

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Besides the above, a fragmentary capital was found by Shri Amarnath in Basti district and other fragments were acquired for the Lucknow Museum. It is also reported that some pillar fragments were recovered by the Department of Archaeology, Jaipur.

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Amongst older records of finds, P. Mukherji reported the discovery of an Aśokan pillar which was again covered up (this is the same as the pillar with Bull capital found in Sadargali, Patna). Mukherji claims to have found six Aśokan pillars at Pāṭaliputra including one large capital with abacus 3 ft. 7½ in diameter.

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The sculptures on the capitals comprise the four great animals, viz. Lion, Elephant, Bull and Horse, which are the same as depicted on the abacus of Sārnāth capital.¹

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¹ For a complete inventory of Aśokan columns and their capitals, see V.A. Smith. The Monolithic Pillars or Columns of Aśoka, ZDMG Vol. LXV, 1911, pp. 221-240.

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The pillars consist of a long tapering shaft ranging from about 40' to 50' in length, and a capital generally in the form of an animal, fixed on the top of the shaft, both being carved out of single blocks of stone. The pillars represent the highest skill of the Mauryan artists by their noble stature, pleasing proportions, high finish, gloss-like polish and above all, by the magnificence of the capitals executed with skilled mastery of long training. If to this is added the depth of meaning that goes with the symbolism of the capitals, we have something which is unique in the entire field of Indian art activity, and to which there is hardly a parallel in world art. A study of the style of these capitals reveals some kind of chronological sequence as follows :—

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1. the earlist one is the Lion-capital at Bakhirā; followed by the Elephant-capital at Saṅkisā.

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2. the next stage is represented by the Rampurvā Bull-capital followed closely by the Lion-capital of Lauriā Nandangarh; in both of these, the earlier clumsiness gives place to a dignity of form, naturalness and proper harmony in the different elements of the composition.

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a

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d

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e

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b

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i

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j

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k

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l

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h

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m

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c

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f

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g (i)

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g (ii)

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g (iii)

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g (iv)

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a

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V Gopika or Nagarjuni

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Inscription

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b

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VII Vadathi

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VI Vapiya

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c

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II Sudama

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d

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III Lomus Rishi

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e

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IV Viswamitra

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f

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I Karna Chopar

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Fig. 47

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Fig. 51

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Fig. 50

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Fig. 49

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Fig. 53

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Fig. 52

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Fig. 50 x

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Fig. 50 y

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Fig. 50 z

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3. the final stage is represented by the Lion-capital of Rāmpurwā and the Lion-capital at Sanchi, following closely the Lion-capital of the pillar at Sarnath,

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THE BAKHIRĀ LION-CAPITAL :—The shaft of the pillar is ponderous and somewhat dwarfish in proportion ; the lion figure is clumsy and crude in style, the animal being uncomfortably balanced on the abacus, the attitude being wooden and artificial. No doubt the sculptor has handled the monolithic mass, still he misses to evolve an ascending rhythm in the several parts of the pillar as distinguished by the best of Aśokan art. [Fig. 46 a].

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THE ELEPHANT-CAPITAL AT SAṄKISĀ :—The capital is composed of three parts, viz. an elephant on the top, abacus in the middle and a vase with lotus below. The decoration on the abacus consists of the honeysuckle (*muchukunda*) flanked by stems with lotus flowers and buds and the whole alternating with a *triratna* symbol, somewhat conventionalised. The drum is framed on the lower side by reel-and-bead design. The abacus and the inverted lotus are much more improved. [Fig. 46 b].

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THE RĀMPURWĀ BULL-CAPITAL :—It consists of three component parts, viz. an animal sculpture at the top, a round decorated abacus in the middle and an inverted lotus below. The young bull with modelled muscles plastered on its body is a specimen of natural beauty of form in Indian animal sculpture. It stands gracefully poised on its pedestal. The artist has perfect mastery in rendering the vertical rhythm of the shaft and the three parts of the capital. [Fig. 46 c].

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LION-CAPITAL OF NANDANGARH :—This capital consists of a sejant lion, a round drum, decorated with a row of *Haṃsas*, like that on the Rāmpurwā lion-capital and finally, an inverted lotus below. On the upper portion of the inverted petals is a cable design and on the lower a double zone of reel-and-cord. The figure of the lion is vigorous and full of dynamic strength, still marked by a somewhat stylised expression. [Fig. 46 d].

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RĀMPURWĀ LION-CAPITAL :—It is similar to the lion-capital at Lauriā, consisting of the same three elements, lion, row of *Haṃsas* and inverted lotus. The lion figure is naturally poised on its base and all its parts possess an inherent quality of symmetrical execution, perhaps even better than the Sarnath lions. [Fig. 46 e].

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SARNATH LION-CAPITAL :—This is the famous monument in which Aśokan art has reached its highest perfection. It is a sculpture of monumental planning, rich in composition, of rare harmony in the execution of its lateral and vertical parts. Its elements conceived singly to face four directions and as an integrated whole, show the highest skill of the sculptor's art. Its lines of composition in segments and diagonals and verticals appear to have been conceived and controlled by a great master with rare assurance and with clarity and self-confidence. Its greatest virtue lies in the meaning imported to its symbolism with which we will deal later.

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The capital once crowned the shaft of the pillar about 50' high, but due to some natural accident, it fell down, fortunately escaping with only minor bruises. [Fig. 46 f].

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COMPONENT PARTS :—Analysed on the basis of form, the whole monument is comprised of the following components :

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(1) Undressed foundation-block which supports the shaft, and into which a portion of the shaft is inserted.

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(2) The shaft (*Stambha-yashti*) or the tall tapering column.

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(3) *Pūrṇa-ghaṭa* with a large *Padma-kośa* shown in the form of overflowing inverted petals (*Nilotpala-patra*).

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(4) Round drum or abacus (*Aṇḍa* or *Dik-Maṇḍala* or *Chakravāla*) carved with Four Great Animals (*Mahā Ājāneya Paśu*) and four Chakras.

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(5) Four addorsed lions.

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(6) The Great Wheel (*Mahā-chakra*)¹. [Fig. 46 g].

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We find that the tradition of these six components of Sarnath Lion capital was of great antiquity handed down from the Vedic period. The tall shaft is the *Stambha*, a Vedic pillar considered to be the support of the world, abode of all the gods, raised aloft by the Creator as the World Axis (*Axis Mundi*, *Yasmin stabdhvā Prajāpatir lokānt sarvān adhārayat, Sakmbhaṁ tam brūhi*, AV. 10. 7. 7). The *Yūpa* in the *Yajña* was the type of that pillar and so also the *Sthūṇa* in the burial mound. From the conception of the *Skambha* (Pillar) as identical with Brahman or Prajāpati we find an expansion of idea to the *Yūpa* of the *Yajña*, and to the *Śmaśāna Yūpa* or *Chaitya Yūpa*, all of them leading to a universal cult of pillar worship regarding the *Skambha* as a deity. The pillar at Lauriā Nandangarh is still worshipped as *Laur Bābā* and the one at Besnagar *Khām Bābā*. For about three thousand years

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(1) Measurements of the Sarnath Lion-capital :— Height of the stump in situ 6 ft. 8 in., total height including all the fragments or broken pieces of the shaft 37 ft., ht. of the lotus 2 ft., ht. of the abacus 1 ft. 1½ in., diameter of the round drum 2'-10'', ht. of the Lions 3 ft. 9 in., ht. of the Dharma-Chakra 2 ft. 8 in., internal diameter of the Dharma-Chakra 2 ft. 5 in. to 2 ft. 1 in., width of the rim of the Wheel 3. 65 in., thickness of the rim varies from 2. 65 in. at the inner end to 1 inch at the outer end.

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Indian workmen were making long wooden pillars for religious purposes and the question for Aśokan sculpture was just a change of material.

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The pillars infront of shrines were known as *Prāsāda-stambha* and infront of rock-cut Chaitya halls as *Kirti-stambha*, where *Kirti* means a rock excavation. A Yaksha shrine or Buddhist Stūpa came to be associated with a pillar as shown by the Sarnath and Sanchi pillars and by the description of the Nikumbhilā Chaitya in Laṅkā which had a large pillar by its side. The tall stature of the shafts (*Varshman*) and their being erected as banners of sacrifice (*Adhvarasya ketu*) are both mentioned in the Ṛigveda (RV. III. 8. 3, II. 8. 8). Such pillars were raised for welfare of the whole community (*Mahate Saubhagāya* RV. III. 8. 2.).

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The next element in the upward form (*Ūrdhva Chhanda*) of the Sarnath pillar is the *Pūrṇa-ghaṭa* covered with inverted foliage.

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There is some controversy about the nature and nomenclature of this motif. Western scholars generally interpret it as a bell and regard the parts as bell-shaped or campaniform. There are several cogent objections in accepting this interpretation :-

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(1) In a bell design there is hardly any place for the overflowing conspicuous leaves which form the decoration of the exterior surface.

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(2) The smaller sepals—even upto now the traditional artists in rendering the flowers depict both the petals (*Paṅkhaḍi*) and sepals (*Bachheḍi*).

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(3) If we explain the motif as a bell there is no point in the corded or rope design or plain moulding which we see in the neck of the object. It is only in the case of the pot and foliage or vase and flower motif that we get a consistent explanation of these various decorative features.

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Firstly, the idea of *Pūrṇaghaṭa* or *Maṅgala Kalaśa* had been known since the time of the Ṛigveda for which continuous literary evidence is available. The Buddhist literature refers to it as *Puṇṇaghaṭa*. More than literature actual religious as well as art tradition is full with this motif of the *Maṅgala Kalaśa*. It is universal in Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. It is popular with all ranks of people, both rich and poor. There is practically no festive occasion in which the *Pūrṇaghaṭa* is not installed either as a religious symbol or for beautifying purpose. This can really be said to have been a universal, accessible and readily understood of all symbols. Its auspicious character is so obvious and patent as hardly to need any argument. Moreover, there is another fact to be considered. A motif does not suddenly appear in art and disappear without leaving any trace in subsequent art. It is not an exotic phenomenon which is introduced for a while and then discarded. It is rather a natural thing which grows from inside the tradition and is the fruit of an intelligent acceptance by the people.

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Its appearance in art in subsequent years is linked in a perfect manner with the tradition that follows. In the case of the *Pūrṇaghaṭa* motif this condition is perfectly satisfied, for in the couple of centuries after the Mauryan art under Aśoka we find this motif forming a very natural element of pillar decoration in the Buddhist art at Bharhut, Sanchi, Karle, Kanherī, etc.

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That it was intended by the Mauryan artists to be a *Pūrṇaghaṭa* is made certain by the form of this motif as interpreted by their Śuṅga successors on the railing pillars found at Sarnath itself, e. g. pillars No. D (A1) and D (A7) illustrate two *Chakra-stambhas* in which the shafts are inserted inside a *Pūrṇaghaṭa* at the lower end and are topped by another *Pūrṇaghaṭa* with overflowing leaves.

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On the round drum (*Aṇḍa-phalaka*) are carved four smaller *Dharma Charkas* and Four Noble Animals (*Mahā Ājāneya Paśu*), viz. Elephant, Bull, Lion and Horse. The four animals have a long tradition from the Indus Valley right up to our own times and over a wide area covering India, Ceylon, Burma, Siam and Tibet. They are depicted marching in a file on a prismatic seal of the Indus Valley from Mohenjo-daro, on the moon stones in Ceylon belonging to the Gupta period, in a Rajasthani Painting of the 18th century preserved in National Museum and on a *Kanthā* cloth from Bengal (19 century) now in the Bhārat Kalā Bhavan. In the Buddhist conception of the Anavatapta Lake they are the guardians of four outlets which are the source of four great rivers. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa includes them amongst auspicious objects assembled for the coronation of Rāma and Keśavadāsa (17th century) places them on the four portals of Rāma’s palace. We have been able to trace about 40 references to them both in art and literature and there may be still more showing that they formed part of popular consciousness and the belief in their sacred character belonged to the Buddhists, Jainas and Hindus alike. The four smaller *Chakras* on the abacus face the four cardinal points and we find their true interpretation as the wheel of a Chakravartī king rolling in four directions upto the ends of the earth. Indeed, the four-fold pattern of creation as vitalised by the principle of Dharma of an ideal Chakravartī king is exemplified in the eight representations on the drum.

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The four lions above the abacus are illustrative of the royal power of a Chakravartī emperor like Aśoka himself. The Buddha also combined in himself the two ideals, viz. that of a Chakravartī and a Yogin and both of them are juxtaposed in the Lion-capital.

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On the head of the lions was a Mahā Dharma-Chakra fixed by a tenon in a socket in the centre of the lion-heads. It had 32 spokes but only half a dozen fragments bearing the same Mauryan polish have been preserved which allow the original wheel to be reconstructed. We have ample evidence in the various traditions of Indian art and literature that the great wheel in this position was a symbol of deep meaning standing for Brahmāṇḍa Chakra, Bhava Chakra, Kāla Chakra, Dharma Chakra, Sudarśana Chakra, etc. The Jaina art in Mathura shows several Chakra pillars and the art of Bharhut, Sanchi, Bodhagaya and Amarāvatī is full of them. In Hindu tradition the Perfect Wheel (Vṛitta Chakra) was conceived as a symbol of Viṣṇu and of the revolving Wheel of Time even in the Ṛigveda (RV. I. 155. 6, I. 164. 11-13).

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All authorities are agreed that the Sarnath lion capital represents the perfection of Mauryan art and testifys to the undisputed mastery of technical execution as attained by the Mauryan stone-cutters. Sir John Marshall considers it as the finest carving that India has yet produced and unsurpassed by anything of its kind in the ancient world. Dr. V. A. Smith has observed, "the skill of the stone-cutter may be said to have attained perfection and to have accomplished the task which would perhaps be found beyond the powers of the 20th century. Gigantic shafts of hard sandstone, 30 ft. or 40 ft. in length, were dressed and proportioned with the utmost nicety, receiving a polish which no modern nation knows how to import to the material."

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Commenting on the art of the lion-capital Sir John Marshall has observed, "The Sarnath capital, on the other hand, though by no means a masterpiece, is the product of the most developed art of which the world was cognizant in the 3rd century B. C., the handiwork of one who had generations of artistic effort and experience behind him. The masterful strength of the crowning lions with their swollen veins and tense muscular development and in the spirited realism of the reliefs below, there is no trace whatever of the imitations of primitive art. So far as naturalism was his aim, the sculptor has modelled the figures direct from nature and has delineated, their form with bold faithful touch, but he has done more than this, he has consciously and of set purpose infused a tectonic conventional spirit in to the four lions, so as to bring them into harmony with the architectural character of the monument. Equally mature is the technique of his relief work. In early Greek sculpture it was the practice to compress the relief between two fixed planes, the original front plane of the statue and the plane of the background. In the reliefs of the Sarnath capital there is no trace, whatever of this process; each and every part of the animal is modelled according to its actual depth without a reference to an ideal front plane, with the result that it presents the appearance almost of a figure in the round which has been cut in half and then applied to the background of the abacus".

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THE SANCHI LION-CAPITAL :-The Sanchi lion capital is similar to that of Sarnath consisting of four lions seated back to back, a round abacus with pecking geese like those of Rāmpurwā capital. The treatment is much more conventionalised, perhaps it was later in date than Sarnath capital. [Fig. 46 h].

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