Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c16.4

c16.4

Literary references to terracotta art are known in the epics and subsequent literature. According to the *Mahābhārata*, Ekalavya, pupil of Droṇa, made a likeness of his teacher in clay for worship¹. Aśvapati, king of Madra, as a child made small clay figurines of horses as toys². In the *Bhaddasāla Jātaka* reference is found to princes receiving presents of elephants, horses and other toys from their mother's father³. The drama *Mṛcchakaṭika* derives its name from a clay toy-cart with which Rohasena, the infant son of Cārudatta amused himself. A wheeled toy-horse being pulled with a string by a small Yaksha figure is represented in Nāgārjunikoṇḍa sculpture⁴. In the *Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa*, a clay image of Durgā (*mahīmayī-mūrti*) is installed for worship⁵. Kālidāsa refers to a painted clay peacock in the hands of child Bharata⁶.