Elements of Buddhist Iconography c8.8

c8.8

The nave is lotiform, the eight petals representing directions; there are sixty-four spokes; the triple felly is fringed with twelve *triśūla* symbols, representing solar "months." At this level also are dancing apsarases, supported by lotuses (of the "upper waters"). Above the wheel are "cherubim." For the solar significance of the addorsed animals cf. Roes, *Greek Geometric Art*, 1933, pp. 94–122. The wheel is supported by a column, the Axis of the Universe, corresponding to the trunk of the Tree of Life, and the "one leg" of the Sun, when alluded to as *eka-pād*. At the base level there are a throne and footstool, with wheel-marked feet (*pāduka*, *pada*, Buddha-pada), as in Figs. 1, 13, 14. These, his "traces" (*dhātu*) on earth, are adored by human worshippers.