Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c15.s2.t3.2

c15.s2.t3.2

These being the three parasols over the head of the Buddha, the lord of the three worlds (Trichhatradhārī Lokanātha Śāstā), it was considered essential to honour his relics with this emblem (dhātuchhatena pūjesi). The Stūpa-slabs show that the central chhatrāvali was flanked on the two sides by a series of seven parasols probably corresponding to the seven lokas and by figures holding garlands (mālādhārī), and other figures holding hands in adoration (anjalipaggahā) or flying devas holding full-vases (pūrṇaghaṭadhārī), or sometimes dwarfish Yaksha figures. The āyaka slabs showing these various details of the architecture of the big Stūpa from its bottom to the top are of the finest description and works of great merit.