Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c18.49

c18.49

Fig. 46 Monolithic animal capitals of Aśokan pillars. Polished Chunar sandstone. Mauryan (3rd cent. B.C.). See pp. 96-101. a. Lion-capital (*Siṃhaśīrshaka*). Bakhira, Muzaffarpur Dt., Bihar. b. Elephant-capital (*Gajendraśīrshaka*). Sankisa, Furrukhabad Dt., U.P. c. Bull-capital (*Vṛishabhaśīrshaka*). Rampurwa, Tirhut, Bihar. d. Lion-capital (*Siṃhaśīrshaka*). Lauriā-Nandangarh. e. Lion-capital (*Siṃhaśīrshaka*). Rampurwa, Tirhut, Bihar. f. Lion-capital (*Siṃhaśīrshaka*). Sarnath, Varanasi Dt., U.P. g.(i) Mahā Dharma Chakra (The Great Wheel-of-Law), reconstructed. (ii-iv) Original fragments of the Great Wheel. Polished Chunār sandstone. Sarnath Museum. h. Lion-capital (*Siṃhaśīrshaka*). In front of the Great Stūpa, Sanchi, Madhya Pradesh. i-l. Four Noble Animals (*Mahā Ājāneya Paśu*), on the round drum (*aṇḍa*) of the Sarnath Lion-capital. Elephant, Lion, Bull and Horse. Styled together as *Chatuppada paṅkti* ("The Team of Quadrupeds"). m. Lion-capital with four great animals on the abacus, winged lion (*sapaksha-siṃha* or *śarabha*), elephant, horse and double-humped Bactrian camel (*dvi-kakubha*, or Rajasthani *bekhūmbhiyā* बेखूँभिया). Udaigiri. After Cunningham, *Inscriptions of Aśoka*, pl. 30. (Probably Gupta).