Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c15.s2.t2.5

c15.s2.t2.5

In the second type embellished with elaborate decorative frieze several rows of sculptured slabs (ūrdhvapaṭṭa) were added to the exterior face of the brick-work from the drum to the middle portion of the dome or the level of the āyaka platform above which the decoration was executed in stucco owing to the fact the curved surface of the dome did not fit in with the flat slabs. The front portion of the āyaka-platform was carved with the figure of Buddha or one of his life-scenes and the other slabs depicted the various Jātakas and popular life-scenes. The other friezes consisted of rows of Stūpa-paṭṭas, Puṇṇagaṭapaṅkti, Chakrapaṭṭas, dancing gods (naṭchaka devatā), divine figures playing on musical instruments (turiyavādaka devatā), gods paying adoration (añjalipaggahā devā), women in dramatic poses (naṭakaṭṭhi), many other kinds of lotus (padumaka) and floral (pupphapaṅkti) decorations and animal motifs (chatuppadapaṅkti). The body of the Dhātugarbha was beautified with many such decorative forms (sabbarūpaka) and was gilded (hemakuṭṭima).