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Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12: Chapter VIII: 8. Śuṅga-Kāṇva Art (C. 184 B. C.-27 B. C.)

Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12

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English

Contents

Chapter VIII: 8. Śuṅga-Kāṇva Art (C. 184 B. C.-27 B. C.)

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The Śuṅga period of Indian history begins with the coronation of Puṣyamitra Śuṅga (c. 184 B. C.). He was a mighty emperor who assumed the title of Senāpati and cleared Madhyadeśa from the dangers of Greek invasions. Patañjali, the great grammarian, author of the Mahābhāṣya commentary, lived in his time and was most probably the chief priest in his Yajña. It seems to have been a period of Sanskrit revival and of great religious movement and literary creation. In the domain of art we find the use of stone adopted on a country-wide scale. The tradition of building monumental Stūpas realised in great splendour seen as at Bharhut, Sanchi and Amaravati, and the art of carving transferred from wooden to lithic medium in established convention which set the norm for the evolution of the classical art of India. The religious beliefs about the worship of Yakṣas and Nāgas and other folk deities on the one hand and the popular faith in Buddhism on the other were transferred to the medium of art with lasting perfection and beauty. The art of the Śuṅga age is distinguished not only by monumental quality and grandeur of conception but by a rare harmony and feeling of great joy in which many popular motifs were admitted with utmost natural simplicity. A detailed analysis of Śuṅga art motifs puts in our possession the main springs of Indian decorative art rooted in the utmost antiquity. It appears that the leaves of an ancient and traditional textbook are being opened illustrated with traditional motifs like Śrī-Lakṣmī, Pūrṇaghaṭa, scenes of Uttarakuru, Dharmacakra, Triratna, Kalpavṛkṣa, Kalpalatā and a hundred other motifs of great variety and richness. The assemblage of motifs in Śuṅga art is like a vast epic in which the entire religious life of the people may be seen as if reflected in a mirror for all time to come. Aśoka had started the building of the Stūpas as a movement on a big scale and the same fructifies in full glory in Śuṅga art.

The Stūpa

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The Stūpa, literally a mound (Hindi thūhā, Pali thūbha), was a sepulchral monument generally made of earth on the site of the funeral pyre (citā) owing to which it was also known as caitya. The practice was to mark the spot of cremation raising a mound of earth or planting a Pipala tree both of which came to be termed caitya. The mound of earth was associated with a wooden post which was therefore termed as caitya-yūpa, the like of which are known in the burial mounds of Lauriā Nandangarh. The original mound of earth served as a core to be encased later by bricks and in the next stage by stone known as *śilā-kañchuka* or *śilā-āchchhadana*. The Stūpa of Bharhut was covered with bricks and plastered on the outside and that of Sanchi also encased with stone. Such enlargements of the original mounds of earth which were held to be specially sacred were a common feature of the bigger Stūpas of later times known as *Maheśākhya* brought about by the conversion of the smaller ones (*Alpe-śākhya*). The construction of the brick and stone Stūpas gave rise to complicated technical problems of architecture which were further elaborated by the building of railings and gateways. In no other Indian monument, excepting the temples, the architectural evolution is so regularly traceable from the simplest to the most complex form in each essential element as well as decorative features with successive belts of which the classical and medieval Stūpas were loaded. The antiquity of the Stūpa monument both on the religious and architectural side is a matter of great significance for the history of Indian art.

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EARLIER TRADITION AND SYMBOLISM : The Stūpa now associated primarily with Buddhism had a much earlier origin. It goes back to the Ṛigveda where the flaming pile of Agni's light is spoken of as a Stūpa (RV. 7. 2. 1)¹; the Stūpa is compared to the outspreading form of a tree standing erect (RV. 1. 24. 7)². We also find there the idea of a descendant of Aṅgiras (a name of Agni) called Hiraṇya-stūpa, the Golden Stūpa, who had invoked god Savitā as the supreme pile of splendour implying that both Agni on earth and Savitā in heaven are like the two golden Stūpa from which cosmic life emanates. In Vedic symbology Gold examplifies the Seed of Life (*Prāṇa*), and thus the Mound of Gold (*Hiraṇya-stūpa*) or the Pillar of Fire was regarded as the appropriate symbol of the life principle as it exists in the individual and the universal. In pre-Buddhist tradition the Stūpa had come to be accepted as the monument associated with the life of a *Mahāpurusha*, who was regarded as a "Mound of Gold" or "Pile of Light" (*Agni Skandha*). Verily, in nature Sūrya or Savitā is such a Pillar of Light or Mound of Gold, a vast conflagaration of Divine Resplendence. The Buddha who had obtained such perfection of knowledge and become the Enlightened One (*Bhagavān, Samyak-Sambuddha*), was truly the object of worship through the symbol of the Stūpa. As tradition says, his ashes were parcelled out into eight portions and each of them (*Śarīra-dhātu*) was deposited in a commemorative Stūpa. Of these eight, seven were

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१. जुषस्व नः समिधमग्ने अद्य शोचा बृहद्यजतं धूममृण्वन्। उप स्पृश दिव्यं सानु स्तूपैः सं रश्मिभिस्ततनः सूर्यस्य॥
२. अबुध्ने राजा वरुणो वनस्योर्ध्वं स्तूपं ददते पूतदक्ष। नीचीनाः स्थुरुपरि बुध्न एषामस्मे अन्तर्निहिताः केतवः स्युः॥
३. हिरण्यस्तूपः सवितर्यथा त्वाङ्गिरसो जुह्वे वाजे अस्मिन्। एवा त्वाचंज्ञवेस वन्दमानः सोमस्य वांशुं प्रति जागराहम्॥ raised by Kshatriyas, viz. temporal powers, and the eighth by a Brāhmaṇa representing the spiritual authority of the Buddha. It means that the original Stūpa symbolism associated with the Buddha represented completely the two essential elements of his nature, viz. the Buddha as Chakravartī and the Buddha as Yogī which later on played an important part in the formulating of the Buddha’s image, i. e. sovereign ruler with Chhatra and Chāmara and a Yogic teacher of universal Dharma seated on diamond seat of Padmāsana.

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The Stūpa exercised its fascination on the minds of the people. The learned regarded it as a metaphysical symbol and the common man worshipped it as the visible symbol of the Great Light that once was and whose relics were still enshrined within the heart of the Stūpa. The spherical or cylindrical drum, sited on the ground and crowned by a harmikā, or Divine Mansion (Deva-sadana) was in itself a complete symbol of the Mahāpurusha, the Great Being.

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The Buddha was but a manifestation of the powers that inhere in that universal Purusha whose symbol is Sūrya. As a scion of the solar dynasty, viz. the race of the Ikshvāku kings whose descent from Sūrya was well known, he represented an individual ray of that light which is the Divine Supernal Sun. It was, therefore, a problem for the early metaphysicians in Buddhism to fix upon an appropriate symbol to commemorate the Enlightened One. The Chakra and the Stūpa were selected as two arch symbols by the early Buddhist teachers. The Wheel or Chakra became the symbol of Dharma, i. e. the World Order of which the Buddha was an exalted exponent. The Dhamma is the foundation and support of the cosmos, and is the perfect symbol of Time which is threefold as the Chakra is called Tryadhvā, i. e. the revolving wheel of the three times (Skt. Adhvan) i. e. "present, past and future". (Edgerton, BHSD. p. 260). The Stūpa as the second symbol represents the solar light or the Sun which is the source of the power that manifests in the Dharma Chakra.

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In Vedic symbology the Stūpa of Agni as the type of the cosmic Fire or the universal principle of creativity, becomes individuated at one centre in the Yajña as Yūpa, the Tiller. This association is evident in the funeral mounds of Lauriā Nandangarh where the Stūpa and the Yūpa were found together, and also best illustrated in the great Stūpa of Sanchi where Aśoka erected his pillar in front of the original Stūpa.

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The symbolism or the representational basis of the Yūpa was completely transferred to the Stūpa as we find it in Buddhism. The Yūpa was comprised of the following four parts :—

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1 The portion that is dug in the ground (nikhāta). This is sacred to the world of the fathers (pitṛi), the departed ancestors in whose memory the Stūpa is also raised.

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2 The portion above the dug-in-part, up to the girdled rope (ūrdhvaṃ nikhātā-dāraśanāyai). This is the portion sacred to the world of men (manushyaloka).

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3 The portion above the girdle up to the top-ring (yadūrdhvaṃ raśanāyā āchashālam). This is sacred to the world of gods (devaloka).

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4 The space of two or three fingers' breadth above the top-ring (ūrdhvaṃ chashālāt dvayaṅgulaṃ vā trayaṅgulaṃ vā). This uppermost portion is sacred to the world of the archetypal gods (Sādhyadeva).¹

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¹ Tasya yannikhātam. Tena pitṛilokaṃ jayatyatha yadūrdhvaṃ nikhātādārśanāyai tena manushyalokaṃ jayatyatha yadūrdhvaṃ raśanāyā ā chashālāt tena devatokaṃ jayatyatha yadūrdhvaṃ chashālāt dvayaṅgulaṃ vā trayaṅgulaṃ vā sādhya iti devastena teshāṃ lokaṃ jayati sa loko vai sādhyair devairbhavati. Ya evametadveda || Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa, 3,7.1.25; see Eggeling, Sacred Books of the East, Vol. XXVI, pp. 173-4.

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In the Hindu temple also, of which the architecture followed similar metaphysical principle, we find this fourfold division in the form of the basement (jagatī), the cubical portion (garbhagriha or maṇḍovara), the tower (śikhara), and the kalaśa placed on the āmalaka-śilā as its base and surmounted on the top by the dhvaja or the emblem of the deity corresponding to the yaṣṭi and chhatra in the centre of the harmikā. It is evident that the ancient Stūpa and the Prāsāda were developed from an identical religious consciousness and both were symbolic representations of the manifest cosmos and unmanifest divine. In one case the deity is the Buddha, in the other the Deva, both enshrining the great light. The Stūpa from this point of view, although raised on the relics of a Mahāpurusha when he had passed away, actually was not a mournful sign but an emblem of greatest festivity. That the Great Man had entered parinirvāṇa was no cause for sorrow. The idea behind it was one of universal joy and felicitation—a thanksgiving that the Mahāpurusha had appeared on earth and lighted a flame which was going to be perpetual, a light which would never be put out, a ray emanating from his forehead that would encompass all regions of space. Thus the Stūpa was verily the mound of gold (Hiraṇya-stūpa), standing as the dominant symbol of Wisdom, Dharma and Sovereign Spiritual Authority. This is shown in the numerous scenes of dance and music as well as the varied life of gods and men amongst the carved scenes on the railings and gatways of the Stūpa, and later on as at Amaravati and Nagarjunikonda even on the casing slabs.

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Thus it is clear that the Stūpa raised its monumental head as a complete example of the indigenous religious spirit rooted deep in the soil and in the hearts of the people. It was not an exotic innovation and did not depart from the belief universally held. It is, therefore, that we find the entire community of the people dedicating themselves, as shown by the donative epigraphs, to the building and the worship of the Stūpa. This is also the reason why the Stūpa did not from the outset remain exclusive but incorporated within its fold the popular cults of the Nāgas, Yakshas, Suparṇas, Kumbhāṇḍas, and the numerous rich worlds of gods and men. Just as the various streams mingle their waters in the ocean similarly the various cults whole-heartedly contributed to the planning, decoration, imagery and the overall embellishment of the Stūpa. The building of a Mahāstūpa like that of Bharhut and Sanchi could not have been an ordinary event. It was as if the multifold life of the whole people found ample and lofty expression in these Mahā-Chaityas. That it was no haphazard event either is also demonstrated by the all-out sanction which the Great Buddha himself had given in its favour as his last will to Ānanda.

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"How should we honour the body (relic-bones) of the Tathāgata ?" asked Ānanda.

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"O Ānanda, you need not engage yourself in worshipping the body of the Tathāgata. But you dedicate yourself to the right meaning (sadattha) expounded by the Tathāgata as so many Kshatriyas, Brāhmaṇas, and householders are doing."

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But Ānanda out of his overpowering devotion was impervious to this suggestion of the Teacher, and he repeated the question—"How should we honour the body of the Tathāgata ?" The Buddha knowing the devout heart of Ānanda, melted and replied: "As they do for the remains of a Chakravartin King, so Ānanda they should do for the remains of the Tathāgata. At the four cross-roads, similar to the Stūpa they raise for the Chakravartin, should they raise a Stūpa for the Tathāgata.¹

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¹ Ānanda—"Kathaṃ mayaṃ Bhante Tathāgatassa sarīre paṭipajjāmāti ?" Buddha—"Ayāvaṭā tumhe Ānanda hotha Tathāgatassa sarīrapūjāya. Iṅgha tumhe Ānanda sadattha ghaṭatha...." Ānanda—"Kathaṃ pana Bhante Tathāgatassa sarīre paṭipajjabbanti ?" Buddha—"Yatha kho Ānanda rañño chakkavattissa sarīre paṭipajjanti, evaṃ Tathāgatassa sarīra paṭipajjabbanti." Ānanda—"Kathaṃ panaṃ Bhante rañño chakkavattissa sarīre paṭipajjanti ti ?" Buddha—"...chātummahāpathe rañño chakkavattissa thūpaṃ karonti. Evaṃ......chātummahāpathe Tathāgatassa thūpo kātabbo...."

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According to this injunction a Stūpa commemorates a Chakravartin King and a Buddha. Amongst those deserving by their greatness or piety the honour of a Stūpa the Buddha also included the Pratyeka Buddhas, which denoted the honoured saints of other faiths also. This tradition of giving burial to the holy saints has been handed down to this day. It may be imagined that the Buddha was here giving his sanction to an ancient practice well known to the people and of wide acceptance by them.

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It may also be noted that in referring to the ancient tradition of the funeral mounds the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa has noted two architectural, viz. square (catuḥsrakti) and round (parimaṇḍala) forms for a burial mound, and it is especially recorded that the monuments of the easterners (prācyāḥ) were circular.¹

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¹ Catuḥ srakti. Devāśchāsurāśchobhaye prājāpatyā dikṣvaspardhanta te devā asurāntsapatnān bhrātṛvyāndigbhyonudanta te dikkaḥ parābhavamtasmidya daivyaḥ prajāśchatuḥsraktīni tāḥ śmaśānāni kurvate tha yā āsuryaḥ prācyāstvadye tvat parimaṇḍalāni.

Building of a Stūpa

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The building of a Stūpa was a stirring event involving dimensional planning and effort. This is evident in the description given by the Mahāvaṃsa (chapters 28-31). The great Stūpa was known as Mahā Thūpa (20. 4) or Mahā Chetiya (20. 4). Its construction was known Thūpa Kamma or Mahāthūpārambha, and the superintendent of work as Kammādhiṭṭhāyaka (30. 98). A stone Stūpa was called Śilāthūpa. The Mahāvaṃsa specifically tells us that at the site of the Stūpa (thūpaṭṭhāna) a pillar was erected and in accordance with the ancient terminology, pointed out above, this pillar continued to be called a Yūpa (hāretvā hi tahi yūpaṃ thūpaṭṭhānaṃ akhānayi). On the appointed day the priest and the people assembled at the chosen spot. A Full Vase (pūrṇaghaṭa) was installed in the centre. The king walked up to it and holding out to his minister a rod (paribhamaṇa daṇḍaka) which was secured with a string to a fixed golden post, asked him to measure the site for the Stūpa. When this was about to be done a wise and experienced Mahāthera, seeing the danger in planning a Mahāstūpa of that dimension, advised the king that he should desist from a plan of such colossal size which was difficult to achieve and restrict himself to building only a Majjima Chetiya instead of a Mahā Chetiya. The central Stūpa was called Chetiya and round it the paraphernalia of railing and gateways was called Chetiyāvaṭṭa (Skt. Chaityāvarta), i. e. the peripheral portion of the Stūpa.

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The laying of the foundation was the first act in the building. Soldiers were employed for transporting pieces of broken stone (guḍapasāṇaka, 9. 30) which were reduced to grit form (chuṇṇita) with sledge-hammer (kūṭa). It was further pulverised by moving elephants having their feet covered with leather hoses (chammāvanadhdha pādehi mahāhatthīhi maddayi, 29. 4). The building expert thus accomplished consolidation of the ground (bhūmiyā thirabhāvattha, 29. 4). Then the foundation of this stony material (pāsāṇakoṭṭima) was laid over with a kind of specially prepared plaster called Navanīta Mattikā, which was given this name from its thin consistency like that of butter (*sushamā navanīta mattikā*). This ancient name was replaced later on in the Gupta period by the word *Mashaka* as found in the Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa (40. 3; 41. 14) in connection with the plaster used in preparing the surface for painting. This is called *Maskā* in the present day terminology which is literally the same as *Navanīta* (Skt. *Mrakṣaṇa*; Pahlvi: *Masakā*; Skt. back-formation: *Mashakam*—Hindi, Guj. *Maskā*). This plaster clay was prepared by mixing lime-plaster (*kharasudhā*), murum-sand (*marumba*), brick-powder (*iṭṭhakā chuṇṇa*), clay (*mattikā*), realgar (red arsenic, *manaḥśilā*) mixed with *til* oil (*tila taila*), molasses (*rasodaka*), pulp of the *Kapittha* fruit, *Kruvinda* powder and some insense (*sugandhaka*). This formula for preparing the *vajralepa* plaster also occurs in the Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa, which prescribes the *Bilva* (Aegle Marmelos) fruit for *Kapittha* and names the insence as *Guggula* (Viṣṇudharmottara, 40. 1-3). Such foundation floor of stone grit and plaster was actually found at Bharhut by Cunningham.

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Ten crores of bricks were ordered to be stacked at different points of the compass marked by a platform for offering flowers (*puṣpādhāna*, 30.56 i.e. *puṣpagrahaṇī vedikā*, BHSD. p. 218; cf. Smith Mathura Jain Stūpa, pl. XX). The *Chaitya* or *Dhātugarbha* was to be built by those bricks (*iṭṭhakā dasakoṭiyo*, 30.56). The actual form of the dome is compared to a water bubble (*mahābubbula*, 30.13). On the day when the construction was to begin the king ordered stores of clothes, garlands and food, barbers and toilet-men serving the whole people (*porājānapadā cheva*) who had come to participate in the great festival with music and dance. With large retinue, including forty thousand well-dressed persons, the king proceeded to the spot. Theras from many lands had gathered, what to say of the priests of the island itself (*nānādesā'pi āgañchehhu bahavo bhikkhavo idha*, 29.29). Monks from Rājagṛiha, Śrāvastī, Vaiśālī, Kauśāmbī, Ujjayinī, Pāṭaliputra, Kashmir, Vindhyāṭavī, Bodhagayā and the Greek city Alasanda, were invited and assembled in large numbers to witness the foundation ceremony. After completion the brick Stūpa was covered with slabs of marrow-colour stone (*medavaṇṇaka pāsāṇa*, 20.51). The decorative motif on the various parts of the Stūpa comprised the following *Aṣṭa-maṅgalika* symbols, *pupphalatā* (flower garland), *chatuppada pantī* (row of animals), *haṃsa pantī* (row of geese), *muktā kiṅkiṇikajālakā* (festoons of pearls and small tinglers), *suvarṇa ghaṇṭā pantī* (row of golden bells), *dāmāni* (garlands), *muktādāmalapāka* (clustered pearl pendents), *ravichanda-tāra-rūpa-padumaka* (full lotus medallions, crescent shaped rosettes, stellar rosettes), *puṇṇaghaṭa pantī* (row of Full Vases), *añjali paggahā devā* (gods holding their hands in adoration), *nachehakā devatā* (*sadāmattaka* of Divyāvadāna, groups of dancing gods), *turiyavādaka devatā* (gods playing on musical instruments), *ādāsa gāhakā devā* (gods holding mirrors), *puppha sakhādhārā devā* (divine figures with flowering sticks), *padumādika gāhakā devā* (figures holding lotuses), ratanagghiya pantī (row of jewels), Dhammachakka pantī (row of Dharmachakras), khaggadharā (row of figures holding daggers), pātidharā devapantī (row of figures holding bowls, karoṭapāṇi devāḥ of Divyāvadāna), and many other kinds of divine figures (aññe devā cha'nekadhā 30.65-68, 90-93). Jātaka scenes were carved in the meanders of golden creepers and numerous scenes from the life of the Buddha (a list of about thirtyfive scenes is being recounted) were carved on the body of the Stūpa. Figures of Mahābrahmā, Śakra, Pañchaśikha holding a Viṇā, Māra with a thousand arms along with his female retinue, the four Mahārājika gods, the thirty-three gods (tettiṃsa devaputtā), thirty-two divine princesses (dvāttiṃsā cha kumāriyo), twenty-eight Yaksha kings (yakkhasenāpati aṭṭhavīṃsati), were represented. All the life-scenes of the Buddha beginning from his decision in the Tushita heaven and up to his sitting on the Bodhimaṇḍa were depicted. The Vessantara Jātaka specially was rendered in great detail (Vessantara jātakaṃ tu vitthārena akārayi, 30.88). Other Jātaka scenes were also carved on the railings and slabs of the Stūpa (ye bhuyyena akāresi Jātakāni, 30. 87).

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The above description of a Mahāstūpa shows the extraordinary importance of these monuments in the Buddhist world. It holds good in a large measure in the case of such Mahāstūpas as those of Bharhut and Sanchi both from the point of view of architecture and decoration although it is of particular application to the Stūpas of the Andra country, viz. those of Amaravati and Nagarajunikonda. Those latter had decorative casing slabs which in the case of Bharhut and Sanchi were plain (rūpakāne'tya sablāni dhātugabbhe manorame, 30.97). The second architectural feature in the case of the Stūpas in the Andra region consisted in the box-like projections on the four sides joined to the main Garbha and each supporting five Āyaka Kambhas (chatupassamhi chaturo mañjūsaṃ viya yojiya, 30.60). Lastly the white colour of the stone (medavaṇṇa pāsāṇa) mentioned several times (30.57, 59, 96) gives a true pointer in the direction of the Andhra Stūpas and not those of Central India which are built of red stone.

The Stūpa Architecture

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The Stūpa was built on the foundation of stone blocks called pāṣāṇa-kuṭṭima. On this foundation a hemispherical dome called aṇḍa was raised. In the earlier period the ratio between the diameter and the height of the Stūpa was less than in the case of the Stūpas of the later period. The drum of the earlier Stūpas resembled a bell (ghaṇṭākāra). In the later Stūpas the drum became more elevated and elongated becoming cylindrical in form described as Mahā-bubbula shape, i. e. a giant water bubble. The top of the hemisphere was truncated and on its flat surface a modest plat-form enclosed by a railing was added known as *harmikā*, literally, mansion of the gods which exactly corresponded to Vedic *deva-sadana*, of which the position was on the third ridge above the earth. In the centre of the *harmikā* was fixed a post, *Yaṣṭi*, surmounted by a series of three parasols (*trichhatra* or *Chhatrāvalī*) of which the number was later on raised to seven. [Fig. 54].

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In course of time a natural development in the architecture of Stūpa was the desire to enclose it on all sides and this enclosure was called *vedikā* a term taken from the architecture of the Vedic *Yajña*. It was derived from the sacrificial altars called *Vedi* and seems to have originally signified the structure erected round the fire altar. The same form was later extended to an enclosure round any sacred object of worship; e. g. the word is used in the Rāmāyaṇa for a railing round a *chaitya-vriksha*. In the Rummindei Inscription of Aśoka a stone enclosure was erected round the stone-pillar by Aśoka under the name of *silā-vigaḍa-bhicha*. In the Ghosuṇḍī Inscription of Nārāyaṇa Vāṭaka the enclosure is called *prākāra*, i. e. a wall-like railing round the tablet of worship (*pūjā-śilā*). The same architectural feature was adopted for the Stūpas. In the case of the Bharhut and other Stūpas the *Vedikā* consisted of a series of upright pillars (*stambha, thambha*); each pillar was fixed to the ground by inserting its lower part in the socket of a stone basement (*ālambanapiṇḍikā*), buried under the earth to serve as the foundation. Between each pair of upright posts were fixed three transverse bars (*sūchī*) of which the ends were inserted in the sockets cut into the narrower sides of the pillars. The sokets were lenticular in shape and the cross-bars were of the form of flat pillows on account of which they were later on known as *takia*. The top of the pillars was bonded together by a series of coping stones (*uṣṇīśa*) which had on the bottom sidesocket holes (*chullī*) to receive the tenons (*chūḍā*) of the upright poles. The copings were round on the top and provided enough space on the two vertical sides for carving of decorative motifs and narrative scenes which became a very pleasing feature of Stūpa sculpture. Thus the four constituent parts, viz. the basement, upright pillar, cross-bar and the coping were bonded together into stable structure. [Fig. 55]. The great railing, *mahāvedikā* at Bharhut was profusely carved but the one at Sanchi was plain without any decoration. The railing was provided on four sides with four gateways called *toraṇa* facing the four cardinal points. [Fig. 56]. This was an important architectural feature of which the roots lay in the traditional philosophical conception of the fourfold pattern of creation symbolised in the four regions of space round a central fixed point or mount of gold called *Meru*. This became a religious cult of wide-spread popular belief known as *Diśamaha*. The Stūpa with its gateways and railings was a complete symbol of the tetradic pattern of the cosmos as evolved in Buddhist religious tradition.

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The path of circumambulation (*pradakshiṇā-patha*) ran round the Stūpa on its ground level inside the railing. Besides the ground railing another *pradakshiṇā-patha* was provided about the middle of the dome by erecting a raised platform round the Stūpa which was known as *medhi*, a terrace. This high terrace for the second *pradakshiṇā-patha* was also provided with a railing of smaller pillars. The third railing of which the pillars were even smaller was built at the top round the *harmikā*.

Stūpa of Bharhut

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The village of Bharhut is situated six miles to the north-east of Uchahara, and nine miles nearly due south of the Satna station on the Jabulpore railway. It is exactly 120 miles to the south west of Allahabad and rather more than half way towards Jabulpore. The village belonged to the erstwhile Nagod State. It was on the ancient route which connected the north Kosala country with Chedi and Dakshiṇa-Kosala and was one of the most frequented highways which picked up the Magadha sector through the Son Valley. As indicated by the inscriptions the rich merchants and householders dedicated their wealth in raising one of the most impressive monuments of Indian art in the centre of this highway of trade. The other parallel route lay towards the west connecting Mathura with Vidiśā on the Vetravatī in Central India and with Pratishṭhāna on the Godāvarī in the south. Here the Stūpa of Sanchi occupied a position similar to that of Bharhut and the two together furnish proof of some intercontinental planning ordained by the exigencies of commercial and religious life. The two Stūpas are closely interrelated not only by their massive architecture but by the exhaustive documentation of religious ideas and art forms and especially the traditional folk cults and motifs depicted on an epic scale. Both of them adequately illustrate the art movement which submerged the country during the Śuṅga period as the natural outcome of the art consciousness generated during the Mauryan age.

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The Stūpa of Bharhut was sixtyseven ft. eight and a half inches in diameter at the base but only a very small portion was left when Cunningham visited it in 1873, viz. 10 ft. in length and 6 ft. in height. This portion was on the southeast side and contained rows of small recesses (13½ in. broad at top, 4½ in. at bottom and 8½ to 9 in. apart) for lights (*dīpamālā*) of which the number for whole of the Stūpa seemed to have been about 120 for 600 lights in each row. The whole Stūpa was built of plain bricks of 12" × 12" × 3½" size, some large ones being 5" to 6" thick. The height of the Stūpa could not be ascertained but its form with the dome and the *harmikā* can be made out from the several replicas engraved in relief on railings. The original Stūpa was made of plain bricks and stood on a strong foundation of solid stone blocks. Round the Stūpa on the ground floor stood the magnificent inner railing consisting of four quadrants and four gateways facing the four cardinal points. The *pradakṣiṇāpatha* between the Stūpa and railing had a terrace 10' 4" wide. In all there were 80 upright pillars each 7' 1" in height with a coping on the top (7' in length, 1' 10" in height, 1' 8" in width, total length of the copings 330 ft.) raising the height of the railing to about 9 ft. Between each pair of the uprights (*sthambha*) were fixed three cross-bars (*sūchī*) (1' 11¼" in length, 1' 10½" in breadth, with a thickness of 6"; in all 228 cross-bars). There were sixteen pillars in each quarter portion of the railing with four additional pillars in the return-screen in front of each gateway. Each *toraṇa* gateway comprised of two tall pillars which supported an imposing superstructure of three parallel architraves with spiral projecting ends on the two sides and separated from each other by square stone blocks and the horizontal space between each pair of such curved beams was filled by smaller pillars. The detailed architectural scheme has been described by Cunningham and discussed by Barua. Cunningham found 47 pillars of the original railing, 35 on the spot and 12 from the neighbouring villages of Baṭanmārā and Pathorā and 16 out of 40 coping stones. Pt. Brijmohan Vyās has added to the collection of the Allahabad Municipal Museum 53 pieces from the Bharhut Toraṇa-Vedikā. They included 32 pillars, one corner pillar with a front and side face, three cross bars, 14 coping stones, one fragment of a capital, 2 other blocks and a stairway. The stony frame-work of the gateways although seemingly slender has justified the principle of construction and joinery underlying it by its preservation until wilful spoliation by the hand of man brought it down for quarrying stone and bricks. The shape of the dome although only a fragment few feet in length now remains, could be known from three or four bas-reliefs on the sculptures. It shows that the original big Stūpa was hemispherical resembling a bell (*ghaṇṭākāra*) in which the ratio of the diameter to the height is less than in the case of subsequent Stūpas. The same is true of the Sanchi Stūpa. But later on there was a tendency towards cylindrical shape, which was rightly compared to a giant bubble (*mahābubbula*, Mahāvaṃsa 30. 13), as also shown by the illustration of the monuments preserved on their railing or carved slabs. A bas-relief on one of the longer rails gives a good representation of the cylindrical base, with the addition of a regular railing in the usual position surrounding the Stūpa at an about distance. On the top of the hemisphere there was a square platform, also decorated with the Buddhist railing which supported the crowning umbrella, with streamers and garlands suspended from its rim. Large flowers also spring from the top as well as from the base of the square summit, and a cylindrical ornament is hung in undulating folds completely round the hemisphere.

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chhatrāvalī, harmikā, aṇḍa, mahāvedikā, Fig. 54

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Fig. 56

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Fig. 58

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ushṇīśa, thamba, sūchī, ālambanapiṇḍikā, Fig. 55

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Fig. 57

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Fig. 59

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Fig. 61

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Fig. 60

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a] [Figure: b] [Figure: c] [Figure: d] [Figure: e

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Fig. 62

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Fig. 63 a

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Fig. 63 b

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Fig. 64 a

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Fig. 64 b

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Fig. 65

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i

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ii

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Fig. 67 a

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Fig. 66

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Fig. 67 b

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The round railing consisting of 80 upright pillars in all was divided into four quadrants and having four high gateways, *Mahā-toraṇa*, each facing a cardinal point. This was planned in accordance with a religious principle in which cosmic manifestation was conceived as a gigantic *svastika* formed by the four directions of space and known as *Diśāvrata*. This doctrine had come into existence in the Vedic period and persisted as a popular cult in which the worship of the four Mahārājika Devas was a cardinal theme as found in the planning of the Bharhut railings. At no stage in the history of the Stūpa the latter could divest itself of this basic religious belief of its fourfold division.

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The two tall pillars of each gateway (*toraṇa-dvāra*) rose to a height of 9' 7½"; those on the east to west were comprised of four octagonal shafts (*aṭṭhaṃsika stambha*) joined together, with those on the north and south gateways square (*caturasrika*) in form. These curiously shaped pillars, are thus formed of a group of four octagons or tetragons joined together, and crowned by four distinct bell-capitals. These four capitals are covered by a single abacus on which rests a large massive capital formed of two winged lions (*sapakṣa-siṃha-saṅghāṭa*) and two winged bulls (*sapakṣa-vṛiṣa-saṅghāṭa*). [Fig. 58]. On them rested the first horizontal architrave superimposed by two more beams of similar shape and size separated from each other by carved cubical blocks. A particular feature of the *toraṇa* beams at Bharhut consists in the open-mouthed crocodile figures with curved tails occupying the projecting ends. It was on this account that the *toraṇa* itself was given the name of *śiṃśumāraśiraḥ* (Ādi Parva, 176. 15, see my articles, ‘*Śiṃśumāraśiraḥ*’, JISOA 1939; ‘Mahābhārata Notes’, *ABOI*, Vol. XXVI, pts. III-IV, 283-86). The spaces between these architraves were filled by smaller balusters which gave the whole framework the appearance of a delicate *jālī* work (*śalākā-vātāyana*). [Fig. 59]. The topmost architrave was surmounted by a conspicuous Dharmachakra supported on a base of honeysuckle design and this was on the two sides at the uppermost height of the vertical pillars flanked by two smaller triratna symbols. Cunningham was able to restore these pinnacle symbols from existing fragments.

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The upright pillars, cross-bars and copings of the Bharhut railings were elaborately carved with numerous scenes in bas-relief, some of them of Buddhist inspiration but others mostly from folk beliefs and well known decorative repertoire of early Indian art. Each series of two pillars held between it three cross-bars, and bonded at the top by coping stones (*Uṣṇīṣa*; Pāli : *Unhīsa*). The coping, or continuous architrave, which crowned the circle of pillars, is formed of massive blocks of stone each spanning two intercolumnniations. The blocks are upwards of 7 ft in length, with a height of 1 ft 10½ in. and a thickness of 1 ft 8 in. They are secured firmly to each other by long tenons fitting into corresponding mortices, and to the tops of the pillars by a stout tenon on each, which fits a socket on the underside of the coping stone. Each block is, of course, slightly curved to suit the circumference of the circle, and this curvature must have added considerably to the stability of the railing; for as each set of three tenons formed a triangle, each coping stone became an efficient tie to keep the three pillars on which it was set in their places. The entire length of the coping was 330 ft. including the returns, the whole of which was minutely and elaborately sculptured, both inside and outside. The inner face of the copings was carved over with the scenes of various Jātakas and of the flowers, fruits, necklaces, ear-rings and other personal ornaments and costly textiles, as well as many other things. On the outer face all the spaces marked off by the undulations are filled with repetitions of full-blown lotus flowers on account of which the railing received the name of padmvara-vedikā. This broad line of bas-reliefs is on both faces finished by two rich borders, the lower one consisting of a continuous row of bells (kinkiṇī-jāla) and the upper one of battlement motifs (kapiśīrshaka or prākāra-kaṇṭhaka). The carvings are bold and deep and still as sharp and perfect as when first set up. [Fig. 60].

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The pillars of the Bharhut railing are monoliths, called thabho (Skt. sthambha), being 7'1" in height, with a section of 1'10½" on the face and 1'2½" on the side. The corners have been slightly bevelled so as to make them octagonal or aṭṭhamsika as described in ancient literature. They are ornamented by a full medallion in the middle, and by a half-medallion at top and bottom, all of which were described as padma, nīlotpala, puṇḍarīka and other synonyms of the lotus flower or its compositions of petals, buds, sepals and leaves. There are also several animals and a considerable number of scenes taken from Buddhist legends and history. A few are adorned with single figures of Yakshas, Nāgas and Devatās and in one case a boldly carved soldier. There are several Jātakas also on the pillars with their labels inscribed on them. One scene illustrates the conception of Māyā Devī with the approach of the white elephant (Utkrānti). [Fig. 61]. There are also representations of the six Bodhi trees on the pillars of the six different Buddhas with their respective names inscribed on them.

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The scalloped or bevelled edges on the pillars, which seem to have been copied from the wooden originals add greatly to the decorative enrichment of the whole railing, are occupied with figures of fruits and flowers and human figures both male and female, standing on flower bosses with their hands either placed in adoration or reaching upwards for fruits. On some pillars the flowers bear elephants, winged horses, monkeys or peacocks, while parrots and squirrels hang from the branches and nibble the fruits.

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The ornamentation of the corner pillars of the entrance is quite different from that of the others. The pillars of the inner corners generally bear figures of Yakshas and Yakshiṇīs, Devatās and Nāgarājas, to whom was entrusted the guardianship of the four entrances; e. g. on the north gate Kubera Yaksha and Candrā Yakshī and on the south gate Nāgarāja Cakravāka and Chulakokā Devatā. [Fig. 62]. On the two outer corner pillars the faces are divided into three registers, separated by Buddhist railings and occupied with scenes or legends in the life of the Buddha, e.g. the historical scenes showing the visit of Ajātaśatru to Buddha, Nāgarāja Elāpatra kneeling at the foot of the Bodhi tree, visit of King Prasenajit of Kosala to the shrine of the Dharmachakra, worship of the Aśvattha and the Banyan trees of Gautama and Kāśyapa Buddhas respectively by wild elephants, etc. [Fig. 63].

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An important element in the architecture of the great railing is the cross-bars (sūchī) three of which were fitted between each pair of pillars. The total number of cross-bars in the railing was 228 of which about 80 were found. The cross-bar measures 1' 11¾" in length by 1' 10½" in breadth with a thickness of 6". The rails are beautified by circular bosses or medallions on each side, sculptured with various subjects, similar to those of the medallions of the pillars. There are few Jātakas amongst them but they present a variety of humorous scenes and flowered ornaments of sheer richness and beauty. [Fig. 64]. The rail-bars of the four entrances owing to the wider intercolumniation of the pillars, were considerably longer than those of the main railings, and their faces were occupied by oblong panels showing religious scenes such as worship of the Stūpa, the Bodhi tree and the Dharmachakra.

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PRADAKSHIṆAPATHA :—The Stūpa was surrounded by a path of circumambulation (Pradakshiṇapatha) 10' 4" wide which lay between the great railing and the Stūpa. The whole of this space was covered with a thick flooring of lime plaster, which has lasted well even to the present day. The outer edge of the floor was finished by a line of curved curb stones, cut exactly to the circumference of the inner circle of the railing; and the pillars were set against the curb stones which just touched the diameter of the lower half medallions. The foot of each pillar, which was quite rough, rested on a square block laid directly on the earth. The terraced floor (pratikaṇṭhukā) was continued alround the outside of the railing for a width of several feet.

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OUTER RAILING :—The excavations also brought to light the remains of a second stone railing of much smaller dimensions of which each pillar was 2' 1" in height with a breadth of 7" and a coping 7" in height, the total height of the outer railing being 3' 3". Only two pillars and no less than ten specimens of coping were found but there must have been about 240 of these smaller pillars and about 750 of cross-bars most of which have disappeared. This outer railing of which the pillars were also carved, was added at a much later date most probably during the Kuṣhāṇa period

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DETAILS OF SCULPTURE :—The subjects represented in the Bharhut sculpture include about twenty Jātaka scenes, half a dozen historical scenes, more than thirty statues in high relief of Yaksha and Yakshiṇīs, Devatās and Nāgarājas,—one half of which are inscribed with their names, and representations of animals and trees. On about half of the full medallions with other objects, there are boats, horse chariots and bullock carts besides several kinds of musical instruments, and a great variety of flags, standards and other symbols of royalty. About one half of the full medallions of the cross-bars and all of the half medallions of the pillars are filled with flowered ornaments of singular beauty and delicacy of design. The sculptures may be classified as follows :

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A. Superhuman Beings :
1. Yakshas
2. Devatās
3. Nāgas
4. Apsarasas

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B. Human Beings :
1. Royal persons
2. Religious persons.

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C. Animals.

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D. Trees and Fruits.

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E. Sculptured Scenes in bas-relief :
1. Jātaka stories (more than 20 in number)
2. Historical scenes (nearly six)
3. Miscellaneous scenes—Inscribed
4. Miscellaneous scenes—Uninscribed
5. Humorous scenes.

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F. Objects of Worship :
1. Stūpas
2. Wheels (Dharmachakra)
3. Bodhi-trees
4. Foot-prints (pādukā ; Buddha pāduka)
5. Triratna symbol.

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G. Decorative ornaments.

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H. Buildings.
1. Palaces. 2. Puṇyaśālā or religious houses. 3. Vajrāsana or Bodhi-maṇḍa 4. Pillars. 5. Hermitage for ascetics. 6. Dwelling houses. Besides these there are vehicles, furnitures, utensils and musical instruments.

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SUPERHUMAN BEINGS:—Yakshas—The religious significance and antiquity of the worship of the Yakshas have already been discussed under folk arts (pp. 114. 118). There is clear and overwhelming evidence that the cult of the four regions of space formed an important item in the religious beliefs of the people, the four regions being placed under the guardianship of one deity as Savitā on the west, east, north and south (*Savitā paśchātāt, Savitā purastāt, Savitottarātāt, Savitādharātāt*, RV. 10.36.14), or under different deities as Agni on the east, Indra on the south, Varuṇa on the west, Soma on the north, Viṣṇu in the centre and Bṛhaspati above (AV. 3.27.1-6; 12 3. 55-60). The followers of this cult were known as Diśāvratika or Diśāpokkhiya. According to the Bhagavatī Sūtra a devotee of this cult in Hastināpura worshipped Soma in the east, Yama in the south, Varuṇa in the west and Vaiśravaṇa in the north. Another adherent did the same at Vārāṇasī. This drew within its fold the cult of the four Mahārājika gods with which was associated the whole conception of the fourfold cosmos or *Dik-Svastika* in popular belief, which was given a concrete form in the architectural planning of the Stūpa and its railing. We find frequent reference to the Chātummahārājika gods in Buddhist literature presiding over the four directions of space and it is thus quite natural that the builders of the earliest Buddhist Stūpas have given the most conspicuous place to these four deities on the four gateways as follows:

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According to the Buddhist cosmogony the place of Dhṛtarāṣṭra and the Gandharvas occupies the east side of the Yugandhara rock, that of Virūḍhaka and the Kumbhāṇḍas the south, that of Virūpākṣa and the Nāgas the west, and that of Vaiśravaṇa and his Yakshas the north. These four guardians of the four quarters form as it were a *Rakṣā-Pañjara*, apotropaic hegemony entrusted to the care of all the popular deities classified as Yakshas, Gandharvas, Kumbhāṇḍas (ithyphallic dwarf) and Nāgas. This arrangement is perfectly preserved in the Sanchi Stūpa. Two of these were found by Cunningham in the Bharhut Stūpa also, viz. Kubera on the north (*Kupiro-yakho*) and Virūḍhaka on the south. On the north gateway the figures of Ajakālaka Yaksha (some bucolic deity) and Candrā Yakshī were found on the pillars associated with that of Kubera. On the eastern gateway was found the figure of Sudarśanā Yakshī and in the south gateway were found carved on the pillars in addition to Virūḍhaka Yaksha the figures of Gaṅgita Yaksha and Cakravāka Nāgarāja. On the western gateway were figures of Suchiloma Yaksha and Sirimā Devatā on one pillar and on a second the figure of Supāvasa Yaksha. Dhṛtarāṣṭra was the deity of the east side but pillar bearing his sculpture has disappeared. There is however a corner pillar bearing the figure of Sudarśanā Yakshī which should have belonged to the east way. We thus see that the Bharhut Stūpa on the basis of its labels presents a more extended scheme of the tutelary deities which were once common in folk belief and admitted in the conception of the Stūpa.

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2. DEVATĀS: The Devatā figures sculptured on the pillars are all female divinities, viz. Sirimā Devatā, Chulakokā Devatā and Mahākokā Devatā. Sirimā (Sans: Śrī-Mā) was the same as Śrī-Lakshmī, the ancient goddess of fertility and wealth for whom we have the famous Śrī-Sūkta (an apocryphal of the Ṛigveda). An important feature of her representation is the stiff pose of the splayed feet as found on the gold leaf figures of mother goddesses and on a number of other small figurines on the ring stones which belong to the worship of the Śrī-Chakra. It has also been suggested that Sirimā was the same goddess as Māyā or Maiā (Sans: Mātṛikā). She was once known as Māyā Devatā (Sundarakāṇḍa, 2.49) or simply as Devatā (Sundarakāṇḍa, 20.2; Sabha Parva also). At least three representations of the Goddess Śrī-Lakshmī standing and seated on a full blown lotus springing from a Pūrṇaghaṭa and bathed by elephants are dipicted at Bharhut. [Fig. 65].

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The word Chula was derived from Sanskrit Kshudra, meaning small in contrast to Mahā big and the two Kokā Devatās were elder and younger sister divinities. The word Kokā means a lizard, a ruddy goose, a wolf, and a frog. It appears that in association with the Mother Goddess the house lizard was more commonly depicted on the ring stones and the same meaning is implied here. The figure of Mahākokā was not available to Cunningham but was recently traced by Pt. B. M. Vyās as preserved in the palace of the ruler of Nagod.

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3. NĀGAS:—Similar to the Yaksha and Śrī Lakshmī Devatā cults the Nāgas also were accepted as an element in the religious form of the Stūpa. They are mentioned as the guardian deities (Rakshitā). Amongst the five Rakshā-Maṇḍalas of the Sudarśana City in Uttarakuru visited by Māndhātā there is one presided over by the Nāga chief emerging out of waters (Udaka-niśrita). At Bharhut the figure of Erāpata Nāgarāja is shown worshipping the Bodhi Tree with his family and is half submerged in water. Iconographically he is represented as a human being with a canopy of hoods similar to the Nāga figures of Kushāṇa and later arts. On a pillar, now in the Allahabad Museum in the central medallion is a Banyan Tree below which is the five hooded Muchulinda Nāgarāja, as shown by the epigraph, sheltering an altar and the footprints of the Buddha. Muchulinda is said to have protected the Buddha during a storm. The story is depicted at Sanchi, Amaravati and Nagarjunikonda Stūpas also. The Nāga King Chakravāka is carved on the corner pillar of the south gate.

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4. APSARASAS:—A fourth class of semi-divine beings shown in the sculpture is that of Apsarasas engaged in dance and music. Urvaśī and Śachī are mentioned in the Rigveda and several others in the Yajurveda accompanying the solar car in a festive dance. At Bharhut four of them are depicted, viz. Alambusā, Miśrakeśī, Sudarśanā and Subhadrā. The scene itself is labelled as Sādika sammadam turam devānām, where Sādika is the same as Saṭṭaka (a spring festival), sammada, performance of joy, turam as tūrya, play of instrumental music in the assembly of gods (devānām).

B. Human Beings

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1. ROYAL PERSONS :—King Prasenajit of Kosala is depicted as paying a visit to the Buddha. He is seated in his chariot and arrives at the head of a procession. In the sculpture we find the representation of the famous Puṇyaśālā which Prasenajit had erected in the city of Śrāvastī for the use of the Buddha. It is a two-storied building the lower part of which is an open-pillared hall for the establishment of the Buddhist Dharmachakra; the upper storey being the Puṇyaśālā itself furnished with two gateways and a railing.

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Ajātaśatru is represented as visiting the Buddha and coming seated on an elephant at the head of a long procession. The king dismounts from the elephant and pays homage with folded hands to the throne of the Buddha. The scene is labelled as Ajātasattu Bhagavato Vamdate.

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2. RELIGIOUS PERSONS :—The sculptures include figures of ascetics (parivrājaka) wearing matted locks and bark garments; fire altars point out that the ascetics were fire worshippers. One of them labelled dīrghatapasī shows a great Vedic teacher with his pupils receiving instruction in Vedic recitation. These figures show that the sculptors were quite competent to depict religious mendicants in their traditional garb and atmosphere of an Āśrama and if the artists had been asked to portray the Buddha in a human form they could have easily done so.

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C. ANIMALS :—Two kinds of animals, natural and fabulous, are shown. The motif of the fabulous animals like the winged lion, winged horse, griffin, was quite ancient in Indian literature. In Bharhut we find a fish-tailed elephant (jalebha or jala-hasti) and crocodile with a fish tail as well as a winged horse (balāhaka-aśva). We find fourteen quadrupeds, six kinds of birds, snake, crocodile, tortoise, lizard and frog. The quadrupeds include the lion, elephant, horse, rhinoseros, wild goat, bull, deer, buck, wolf, monkey, cat, dog, sheep, hare and a squirrel. The birds comprise the cock, parrot, peacock, goose, wild duck and quail. The representation of all these animals is correct and spirited. The artists have been most successful in the treatment of monkeys and elephants whose poses and attitudes are delineated with a perfect natural charm.

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