Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c13.s6: Yaksha and Nāga Statues

Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c13.s6

Language: English

Yaksha and Nāga Statues

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A special section of Mathura sculptures is devoted to Yaksha and Nāga worship which were folkcults inherited from older times, but elaborated with new iconographic types at Mathura.

Under Yaksha worship we have already seen that Mathura was the most ancient centre for the making of colossal Yaksha images like those famous under the name of Parakham Yaksha and Baroda Yaksha. The Yaksha tradition took a special turn in the form of the images of Kubera and still further in the conspicuous Bacchanalian groups of which half a dozen examples have been found.

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The Mathura artists took as their prototype of Kubera the atlante pot-bellied dwarfs with uplifted hands serving as guhyakas or kīchakas at Bharhut and Sanchi and in the Western Indian caves. With a little change this form was developed into a typical figure of Kubera as a corpulent pot-bellied and squatting figure having a plump face with long moustaches and happy smile, holding a purse and a wine-cup. That may be described as a śreṣṭhin or a Mahājana type, and truly worthy of being worshipped as the god of wealth (dhanapati or vitteśa) living on mount Kailāsa.

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Side by side with this purely Indian type of Dhanapati Kubera a new type of image was developed at Mathura which has been styled as ‘bacchanalian groups’, showing the following features :—

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1. Large blocks of stone carved on the two sides with groups of figures in scenes of drinking and intoxication; 2. The principal figure is Kubera seated on rocky Kailāsa wearing dhoti or in the words of Princep ‘highly orthodox and Brāhmanical’ drapery. This pot-bellied figure answers to the Indian ideal of Kubera without the least influence of Bacchus or Silenus; 3. but the artists were conscious of the Hellenistic influences coming from the north-west as shown by the dress of the female attendants, for example, one on the Pali Khera group is ‘clad in a long-sleeved jacket and a skirt falling down on the feet which are shod with plump shoes’. 4. The shape of the handled drinking goblet held in right hand of Kubera also shows distinct Hellenistic influence. 5. There is a figure in the Pali Khera group holding a bunch of vine-grapes. 6. In all examples we find a cup on the top, the one in the Stacy’s group being 16″ in diameter and 8″ deep.

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The first Bacchanalian group was found in 1836 by Colonel Stacy and is now preserved in the Indian Museum. It shows Kubera as the principal figure whose ‘portly carcass, drunken lassitude, and vine-wreathed forehead, stamp the individual, while the drapery of his attendants pronounces them at least foreign to India, whatever may be thought of deity’s own costume, which is certainly highly orthodox and Brahmanical’. [Fig. 153].

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The group from Pali Khera (C 2, Mathura Museum) shows on its obverse all the elements analysed above; and on the reverse the same fat man ‘in a state of helpless intoxication’. But the culmination was reached in the Bacchanalian group from Maholi exposed in 1938 showing a complete Indianisation of the entire subject carved on the two sides and also an aesthetic perfection in the true Mathura style. The sculpture measures 3′ 4″ x 2′ 6″ x 1′ 2″. It supported a bowl, now partially damaged, resting on the top of the trunk of a tree carved in the background. On obverse there are four figures, the middle one showing a graceful female in half kneeling posture, in a drunken mood resting her left hand on the shoulders of a kubjikā girl who has a goblet in her hand. The lady in her drooping posture is being supported by a male figure, obviously her husband, who holds her right hand. In the background is a female attendant, a hermaphrodite (varshadhara), expressing surprise. On the reverse side there is a scene involving four figures in a joyous dance. [Fig. 154].

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The interest of this find is enhanced by the fact that a somewhat mutilated specimen carved on both sides and similar to this group was found from Naroli village, about half a mile southeast of Maholi, in 1922-23, and is now in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. An exact copy of the reverse side of the Maholi Bacchanalian group is found reproduced in the upper panel of a jamb fragment (No. 371, Mathura M) which was rescued from the well of the famous Kankali Tila in 1914, which place also lies within a radius of two miles from Maholi. It is evident that the residents of the three villages, Palikhera, Naroli and Maholi, situated within less than a mile of each other, entered into a healthy rivalry each creating a bacchanalian group for itself and the artisans of Maholi excelled in their originality and workmanship. Another fact to be noted is that at Maholi the Bacchanalian group was found in association with a colossal Bodhisattva which shows that such groups were welcomed in Buddhist environment since they represented the cult of Kubera reconciled to the religion of the Buddha. A still greater degree of rapprochement is visible in the form of images and statuettes showing Kubera with his consort Hārītī holding a purse and a wine-cup or with drinking bowls placed in front of both when it appears that the worship of Kubera had become a regular cult as a benevolent deity offering wealth and of Hārītī as the presiding deity of children. The popularity of this cult is further shown by the discovery of independent statuettes of both Kubera and Hārītī. It appears that the developing iconography of Kubera drew to itself several strands, viz. the bacchanalian ideal of āpāna-goṣṭhī as popular amongst the Indian and the Indo-Greeks (Madraka-Yavana of the Mbh.) of the Panjab, who were following the cult of the Greek revelries. To this was added the cult of the Buddhist goddess Hārītī and that of the Brāhmanical goddess Bhadrā, both treated as consorts of Kubera or Pañchika.

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Another significant group of Mathura images is that of the Nāgas in an ancient tradition handed down from Bharhut and Sanchi but much elaborated at Mathura in association with the cult of Balarāma holding a club, a ploughshare, and a drinking cup. [Figs. 155-6]. These Balarāma statues marked by a vanamālā are somewhat tame in comparison to the pure Nāgarāja statues, e.g. Chargaon Nāga which is colossal and voluminous with vigorous coils on the two sides and a powerfully rolled girdle.

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The tremendous artistic creativity of the Mathura school coincides with the reign of Śaka-Kushāṇas. The influence which these rulers exercised on the political and cultural history of Mathura is shown by the discovery of their inscriptions and of a Devakula or a Hall of royal statues at Māṭ, a village about nine miles north of Mathura which yielded the life-sife partraits of Vema Takshma, Kanishka and Chashṭana.

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There are two phases of Śaka-Kushāṇa rule in India, viz. an earlier one of Kshaharāta Śakas, Liyaka and Patika at Taxila and Ranjuvala and Shoḍāsa at Mathura, of Nahpāna and Ushavadāta at Ujjayinī, all of them ruling in the first century B. C. (c. 80 B. C.-57 B. C.) The latter phase coincides with the reigns of the two Kadphises rulers, Kujula and Vema (c. 1 A. D.-7 8 A. D.) and of Kanishka and his successors (c. 78 A. D.-176 A. D.)

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The institution of Devakula, i. e. a gallery of royal effigies is described by Bhāsa in his Pratimā Nāṭaka in a manner which leaves no doubt about its real existence. The Kushāṇas obviously adopted it in a full-fledged form, probably due to some tradition which they had seen in their homeland as also indicated by the wall of royal statues in the palace of Toprak Kalē in Kirgiztan in Central Asia. The emperors at Mathura attached more than ordinary significance is shown by their inscriptions, which as one on the statue of Vema refers to the construction of the Devakula with ancillary monuments, viz. a garden (ārāma), pond (puṣkariṇī) and well (udapāna), and when after the lapse of time the buildings fell in ruins another inscription of a high officer of Huvishka refers to the steps taken for the repair of the Devakula.

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Fig. 151 b

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Fig. 150

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Fig. 151 a

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Fig. 151 d

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Fig. 151 e

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Fig. 151 c

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Fig. 152

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Fig. 154 a

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Fig. 153

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Fig. 154 b

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Fig. 155

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Fig. 156

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Fig. 160

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Fig. 158

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The stone statues of Vema and Kanishka confirm the portraits on their coins. The headless statue (ht. 6' 10", square base 3' 3") of Vema shows the emperor seated on a lion-throne holding in right hand a sword in front of the breast and the left hand placed on a scabbard laid across the knees. The enthroned monarch is dressed in a long sleeved tunic with a richly embroidered border nearly three inches broad shown running down the breast in a double band and continued over the knees and the heads of lions on the throne. The right sleeve shows similar ornamentation. The tunic is bespangled with little rosettes. Under it was another short coat indicated near the neck. The legs were covered by heavily folded trousers and the feet by thickly padded boots decorated with a vine pattern three inches wide rising from the toes upwards. This was the characteristic northern dress (udīchya veśa) worn by the Scythians which is repeated on many other sculptures at Mathura and also seen in a couple of guardian figures at Bharhut and Sanchi. An inscription on the top of the foot-stool (pāda-pīṭha) refers to Mahārāja rājātirāja devaputra Kushāṇaputra Shāhi Vema takshama in which Vema is the name of the monarch and takshama his title, an Old-Iranian word meaning strong or brave. From the viewpoint of art this statue is a superb creation representing the best qualities of portraiture combining a rare dignity and matter-of-fact style. [Fig. 157].

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What has been said above for Vema applies more graphically to the portrait of Kanishka. A startling discovery made in the Devakula at Māṭ by RB Pt Radhakrishna in 1911 was the standing statue of Kanishka (ht. 5' 7½" including base but exclusive of the tenon 14"), bearing the epigraph Mahārāja Rājātirāja Devaputro Kānishko. The king is clad in a tunic reaching down to the knees and held round the loin by means of a gridle, of which only two square plaques are visible in front, indicating a belt consisting of a series of such plaques similar to the belt we find on the torso of Shastana. The remainder of the belt is concealed by another long upper-garment an over-coat, chogā, which falls below the knees and is consequently somewhat longer than the under-garment. Both garments are plain, only the seam being shown. The fold of the robes are indicated by slightly engraved lines. Most conspicuous are the heavy boots with straps round the ankles, similar to those worn nowadays in Turkestan. The plain dress contrasts with the elaborate weapons. The sword has a long hilt decorated on the top with a hamsa's head. The sheath is decorated with three plaques (Skt. padaka) similar to those of the belt. The point of the sheath is broken. It is curious that the sheath is not attached to the belt, but is fastened by means of two straps to the upper garment. The other weapon is a mace, 3' 5" long including its handle. It is strengthened with fine metal bands which are clearly shown in the sculpture; the fifth and the lowermost band is decorated with a fish-tailed makara head which like the bands must have originally been of metal. [Fig. 158].

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The sculptor of this image has shown considerable skill in portraying faithfully the great king. The maker of this image whatever his nationality may have been, was certainly not inspired with the ideals of Grecian art. The characteristic features of the statue are smart rigidity and strict symmetry. The pose is realistic without attempt at idealisation. It is free-standing and frontal in the most rigorous sense of the word.

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The third statue from the Māṭ Devakula is a headless torso labelled as Shastana which is understood to be but another form of Chashtana (Tiastenes of Ptolemy), the Śaka-Satrap of Ujjayinī. He appears in the form of a young prince wearing trousers and a long coat secured by a beautiful belt made of square and round plaques, adorned with Scythian horsemen and tritons with forked tails (mahoraga). The presence of this statue in the gallery of Kushāṇa portraits is significant, indicating that he was a junior contemporary of Kanishka and probably related to him. This statue has all the strong points of the art of portraiture (pratikriti) in which the main stress was given to the resemblance (sādriśya) to the original form. [Fig. 159].

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These sculptures furnish rich material for the study of the art of making royal portraits developed for the first time in Indian art in the Mathura school. There were some other sculptures of royal persons and high officials in the portrait gallery at Māṭ but found only in a fragmentary state.

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A group of half a dozen heads wearing either the conical hat which distinguished the Tigra-khauda branch of Śakas or a flat-topped conical cap with woollen exterior, may be classified under portraits. Two of them bear monograms, viz. nāyasa and lavaṇa and are marked by royal dignity. One of these heads now in the Budapest Museum wears a cylindrical tapering cap with ornamental parallel patterns and is adorned in front with a rosette enclosing an unopened bud in the centre which is typical of the head-gear decoration during the Kushāṇa period. [Fig. 160].

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Fig. 159

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Fig. 157

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Fig. 163

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Fig. 161

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Fig. 162

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Fig. 164

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Fig. 165 a

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Fig. 165 b

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Fig. 166

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Fig. 168

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Fig. 167

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Fig. 169

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Three other Kushāṇa heads are noteworthy for their peculiar headdress, viz. a helmet with two ram's recurved horns (e.g. No. 2564). This emblem signifies the ‘Iranian Majesty’ (Herzfeld, *Kushano-Sassanian Coins*, p. 22), and has been traced on the so-called Macedonian soldier type of coins of Kujula Kadphises I (Whitehead, PMC, Vol I, p. 173), and also at Mathura on the well known Indo-Persian capital found from the Chaubara mound, which has four winged animals with human heads adorned with ram's horns. [Figs. 161-64].

Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c13.s6: Yaksha and Nāga Statues

Yaksha and Nāga Statues

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