Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c15.s2.t5.4

c15.s2.t5.4

The Nagarjunikonda Stūpas like that at Amaravati are remarkable for the wealth of their sculptures. The carved slabs are rich in beauty and contents. They were fixed in the drum, dome and the āyaka-platforms. The favourite scenes depicted on these slabs were generally representations of Stūpas (Stūpapaṭṭa), while those ornamenting the āyaka-platforms portrayed the Buddha or his life-scenes. Above the drum the slabs decorating the base of the dome were also about 2' in width and from 3 to 4 ft. in height and cut on the curve, that is with a slightly convex front and a concave back to fit the curved surface of the dome. The front of the slab was divided into two or three separate horizontal panels with an ornamental border at the top which formed the frieze around the dome and also denoted the cessation of the stone work, as above this line, all ornamentation was in plaster owing to the difficulty of fixing stone slabs to the curved surface of the dome. Sometimes, the frieze was built separately with smaller horizontal slabs specially cut for the purpose and the favourite design for such slabs was the festoon device in the form of figures carrying huge garland (mālādhārī devāḥ).