Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12.s2.t1.22

c12.s2.t1.22

The association of a pillar with a religious shrine was an ancient feature. The pillar was identified with Brahman itself against a cosmic background. It was installed in every Yajña as Yūpa or sacrificial pillar. The idea of the Yajña-Yūpa was transferred to the religious shrine as Prāsāda-stambha or Deva-stambha erected in front of temples. It was also associated with the funeral ground and became known as Śmaśāna-Yūpa or Chaitya-Yūpa, as seen in the Lauriā Nandangarh Mound. Thus a universal cult of *Stambha* worship (*Stambha-maha*) glorified the Pillar as a deity. This was a broadbased pantheon in which the pillar was topped by a wheel (*Chakra-stambha*) or by a lion (*Siṃha-stambha*) or by a Garuḍa (*Garuḍa-stambha*) or by the foliage and fruits of a palm tree (*Tāla-stambha*) or by a bull (*Vṛisha-stambha*). The Chakra-topped Pillar of Aśoka was a *Dharma-Stambha*. The popular cult of *Stambha*, *Skambha*, *Yaṣṭi*, *Lakuṭa*, *Dhvaja* and *Sthūṇā* received open admittance in the religious contents of a monumental Stūpa as seen at Bharhut, Sanchi, Mathura and Amaravati.