History of Indian and Indonesian Art c8.s2.35

c8.s2.35

In the city of Sirkap, the plan of the great palace has been made out; partly of Scytho-Parthian (Kṣatrapa), partly of Kuṣāna date, it shows a remarkable resemblance to the planning of Assyrian palaces in Mesopotamia, a feature already remarked at Pāṭaliputra. The Jaina *stūpa* base in block F, probably of the Kṣatrapa period, has a façade with niches of three types, Greek pediment, Indian *caitya*-arch, and *toraṇa* : birds are represented as perched on the arches¹, amongst others the double-headed eagle, the oldest known example of this type in India. Temple D is a large structural *caitya*-hall. An elegant female statue in the round, dateable by the evidence of coins about 50 A. D. is of interest in view of the rarity of early dateable examples of Gandhāra sculpture, and of types in the round generally². Amongst the small copper ornaments found are some comma-shaped forms exactly like the well-known prehistoric Japanese *makatama*³.