Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c13.s2.5

c13.s2.5

In the present state of our knowledge we may draw attention only to discreet members forming part of the railings and gateways. The most appropriate architectural element in the hands of Mathura sculptors were the railing pillars on the decoration of which they spent their highest skill and a perfection of plastic art not attained at any time before and after. Of the toraṇa specimens of Śunga times are two pillars with animal capital with a lintel carved on the two faces with scenes of Stūpa worship (mentioned above) by Suparṇas and Kinnaras offering garlands and householders riding in procession. (J 535 Lucknow Museum). There are also two toraṇa-śālabhañjikā figures carved on the two sides which were fixed as brackets bonding together the upright posts and the lowermost horizontal beam. Their drapery and ornaments as also the frontal carving mark them out as typical Śuṅga specimens. Several of the *toraṇa* examples show the spiral *makara* ornament as seen at Bharhut. The general style of sculptures, fondness for depicting Jātaka scenes, the zest for portraying standing female figures on the upright posts and the several details of ornamentation like the battlement motif, indicate that the artisans at Mathura were inspired by the Bharhut prototypes. It is gratifying to see that the repertoire on which they worked at Mathura was a comprehensive one welcoming as many motifs as they could from many sources.