Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12.s3.10

c12.s3.10

On the ground level there is a second processional path which is paved with stone and encircles the Stūpa. Round this is the Great Railing, a circular structure of plain solid design marked by largeness of proportions and austerity of treatment. It is 11' high and in the grandeur of its construction bears resemblance with the Stone-Henge of England. The upright pillars (*stambha*), rail bars (*sūchī*) and coping stones (*uṣṇīṣa*) are all unrelieved by carving of any kind, and in this respect they are quite unlike the *vedikā* at Bharhut which is profusely sculptured. Each of the upright pillars is 9' high from the ground and placed at an interval of 2' between each. Connecting these upright posts are three cross-bars, each 2' wide and separated only by a narrow space of 3¼" ; on the top of the pillars was placed an immense coping stone round on the upper side (*maṇḍala-uṣṇīṣa*) which reproduces the method of construction employed in wooden originals, especially the joints of the railings and the tenons of the