Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c11.157

c11.157

The bone of contention is the Full Vase on the top of the shaft with long over-flowing leaves, the so-called *bell* of Iranian origin. We have seen above by an analysis of the several elements that it is impossible by any stretch of imagination to convert the clear representation of a full vase into a bell. The short base under the *Pūrṇa-ghaṭa* and the cordage round its neck are entirely irrational in the case of a bell, whereas they are full of meaning for a *Mekhalī Pūrṇa-ghaṭa*, i. e. a Full Vase adorned with a necking or a girdle. The long lotus leaves covering the outside of the Vase and oozing from its mouth have entirely no meaning for a *bell*. Of the numerous campaniform designs carved in Indian art there is not one with fluted exterior much less with any semblance of petals. Secondly, there is absolutely no relevance of a bell in that position on a pillar whereas the Pūrṇa-ghaṭa is put both on the top and base of sanctified pillars throughout the country upto this day. The Pūrṇa-Kumbha or Pūrṇa Kalaśa is mentioned in the Ṛigveda, Atharvaveda and in the Jaina and Buddhist literature and has been a familiar object of art decoration from the earliest times up to the present day, taken by itself and in association with a pillar the Full Vase with leaves is an essential part of Indian culture and there can be no important religious ceremony even today without the Pūrṇa-ghaṭa and the pillar. The surest testimony that this component part is a vase and not a bell comes from those artists who continued this decorative motif in the Śuṅga and Kuṣāṇ periods, and whose interpretation of the symbol should be accepted as authoritative. At Sarnath itself there are a few Śuṅga railing pillars on which the Aśokan capital is represented showing unmistakably the Full Vase on the top of the shaft.