Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c12.s3.t5.26

c12.s3.t5.26

Marshall noticed the diversity of style and inequality in technique amongst the sculptors at Sanchi. The second panel on the front face of the right pillar of western gateway, the *Adhyeṣaṇa* scene shows a strong archaising tendency whereas the *Chūḷāmaha* scene on the lowest panel of the front face of the left pillar of the south gateway shows as advanced a style as anything produced by the early school. The war of the relics on the southern and western gateways exhibits a fine sense of composition and modelling. This school of Vidiśā situated on the highway between Mathura and Pratiṣṭhāna exerted a strong influence on the subsequent Mathura School of Sculpture which derived many of its ideas of composition of the various life-scenes of the Buddha in their symbolical form and also its technique and style. The southern gateway was carved by a guild of ivory workers of Vidiśā, *Vediśakehi dantakārehi rūpakammaṃ kataṃ*. The carvers have succeeded in the clear treatment of the bas-reliefs and figures either alone or in groups and based themselves on the simplicity and naturalness of their rendering. It is a great quality by which this early school was marked and which their patron, namely the wealthy merchants of Vidiśā and Ujjayinī specially liked. The sculptors were definitely advancing towards giving an increasing religious tone to the subjects handled by them as shown by the abundance of the religious symbols depicted in these bas-reliefs. Marshall criticised some of these scenes as mundane and sensuous but that was due to misunderstanding, for, as pointed out above, these were Elysian scenes of ideal happiness from the Uttarakuru land which were now put into great relief, and probably synchronised with the descriptions in the epics and Jātakas with which the scenes faithfully agree. It may also be noted that these Stūpas serve as commentaries on the many religious cults that were prevalent during the centuries prior to the Christian era and which were seeking marked embrace with Buddhism.