Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12.s3.t3.10

c12.s3.t3.10

Outer Side : This depicts one of the most interesting motifs in the whole range of Sanchi art, showing a golden post (*suvarṇa yaṣṭhi*) with eight parts of pegs (*nāgadanta*) for hanging golden necklace (*hemamālā*). In the treasure-houses of royal palaces and rich men’s houses such golden pillars for the storage of costly necklaces were used as visible symbols of goddess Śrī-Lakshmī since their earliest reference occurs in the apocryphal Śrī-Sūkta of the Ṛigveda where the goddess Śrī is described as *yaṣṭiṃ suvarṇāṃ hemamālinīṃ Sūryaṃ hiraṇmayīṃ Lakshmīm* (hymn 14), i. e. golden Lakshmī resplendent as the Sun, takes the form of a golden pillar loaded with golden necklaces. It appears that in the second stage the idea was connected with the symbolism of the Uttarakuru country and such a post was taken to represent a cross-section of the wealth of the Uttarakuru land in which string of golden amulet especially formed part. In a previous illustration on the southern gateway we have seen that the female figures wear such amulet strings. Here two of these strings or necklaces are shown. The left one having eleven and the right one thirteen auspicious amulet beads as follows: