Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12.s3.t5.25

c12.s3.t5.25

A new feature at Sanchi is the especial emphasis on depicting scenes of the Uttarakuru country where happy mithunas enjoy dance, music and drink under the Kalpavṛiksha trees. It appears that the Uttarakuru had been accepted as the land of Buddhist paradise, although still retaining its Maha character. The toranas at Bharhut are finished in crocodile-shaped volutes and those at Sanchi in the ‘spiral’ motifs (*Chakravyūha*) which was a marked difference between the two Stūpas. The *Saṅghāṭa* of the addorsed animals like the horses, elephants, deer, bulls and lions is much more emphasised at Sanchi. The Śrī-Lakṣmī depiction on the false capitals and also that of *Pūrṇakumbha* is a conspicuous feature on the Sanchi *toraṇas*. It appears that the spirit behind the Śrī-Lakṣmī cult was still alive, but more evolved at Sanchi and became assimilative of the religious beliefs about Uttarakuru on the one hand and about the nativity of the Buddha on the other; but still we should recognise its popular character as part of a folk cult. [Fig. 65].