Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c17.25

c17.25

We may also note the sacred sign of Śrīvṛiksha, ‘Tree of Goddess Śrī’ which is the Indian tree-of-life and like the same motif in Iran and Assyria was formed by a series of superimposed repeat designs. This is referred to by Varāhamihira as a decoration on one of the bands of a doorway, and actually represented on both Brāhmanical and Buddhist shrine-doors of the Gupta period and also on the door-jambs of the Kushāṇa relief. It appears that the artists were in search of new contexts for these symbols in order to attain fresh meanings and forms of beauty.