Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c15.s1.t2.4

c15.s1.t2.4

The coping as in the case of other Stūpas was made in pieces of different length, the largest being of 11' feet. It was carved on both faces, the outer one with the beautiful motif of garland-bearing figures, a rendering of the mālādhārī devas. The undulating meanders of the garland were filled with figures of different religious objects like the sacred tree, Stūpa, Dharmachakra, etc. It may be noted that the enriching garland at Amaravati is very conspicuous in form and the transporting figures are perfectly human with no resemblance to the dwarfish Erotes or Yakshas. [Fig. 206]. This garland is present not only on the surviving fragments of copings but also may be seen on several of the Stūpapaṭas which illustrate the railing. There are also some fragments in which the thick garland is borne on the shoulders of dwarfs, or elephant-headed Yakshas, or issuing out at one end from the gaping mouth of a makara with a Yakshī seated in front of it. [Fig. 207]. Thus the ancient repertoire of decorative motifs was still retained to beautify the long garland. On the inner side of the coping were carved like ivory life-scenes of the Buddha and Jātakas; whole making up a series of pictures of Buddhism, unsurpassed by anything known to exist in Indian art. The pillars of the railing were most lavishedly decorated in an excellent style of which the artists were capable. Such display of perfect workmanship was seldom conceived in Stūpa art. The decoration consisted of a central medallion of full-blown lotus (padmaka) with two half medallions above and below (ardhachandraka). The interspaces are horizontally divided into three flutes, the upper ones filled with figures of dampatis and folks flanking in adoration a central object of worship, e.g. Stūpa, Wheel, Tree, Footprints, etc., and the spaces below the central medallions are adorned with figures of dancing dwarfs, which appear to be a rendering of the Sadāmattaka Devas. The inner face of the pillars is similarly decorated with one full and two half medallions but the flutes of the interspaces and sometimes the half medallions also were carved with the Jātakas and life-scenes of Buddha in harmony with the carving of the coping. A different type of pillars smaller in size, and also copings and cross-bars matching with them, were found in the north-west quadrant. They are unsculptured on the outer face and probably were put up during some stage of restoration.