Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c7.s6.4

c7.s6.4

The important question arises about its identification The shaft surmounted by a bowl or cauldron (*Chamasa* or *Charu*) and supporting on its top a railed structure, both open to the sky and also having a domed roof, appears to be deliberately designed as an outstanding symbol or banner of a deity. The shaft is the common element between this column and the early historic pillars. The middle portion of this ensign corresponds to the abacus or drum portion of the capital of the later pillars. The uppermost portion of the historic pillars shows a *Dharma-Chakra* or animal figures like elephant, bull, lion, horse, which were the four sacred animals (*Mahā-Ājāneya Paśu*) with a long unbroken tradition in Buddhism, Jainism and Brahmanism. In the case of the *Stūpa* the top-most portion is the *Harmikā* comprising a *Chhatra* standing in the centre of the *Vdeikā*. This was considered the Abode of Gods. It appears that in the Indus Valley also the upper-most portion represents the Divine Seat (*Deva-Sadana*). In the *Ṛgveda* it is stated that on the summit of the Tree of dense foliage God Yama sits in the company of Devas and drinks with them the immortal sap of life (*Yasmin Vṛikshe supalāśe devaiḥ sampibate yamaḥ*, RV. X. 135.1). This idea is made more specific in the case of the sacrificial *Yūpas* in which the top-most portion above the ring (*Chashāla*) is said to be sacred to the Gods. The *Yūpa* and *Stūpa* and the present banner sign on the unicorn seals appear to repeat the same elements of symbolism removed in time from one another. With this analysis in view the Indus Valley banner seems to be the earliest form of a pillar, *Skambha* dedicated to a deity. We are aware that the cult of the pillar as a banner was associated with Prajāpati, Indra and many other gods including the *Trayastriṃśa Devas* (cf. Skambha Sūkta, Atharva, 10. 7. 1 44).