The Ancient and Medieval Architecture of India: A Study of Indo-Aryan Civilisation c11.18

c11.18

We will now see how this religious symbolism also determined the decorative treatment of another essential structural feature in Indian building—the column, pier, or pillar. In Asokan and later Indian sculpture there are two kinds represented: one is the *dhwaja-stambha* (flag-pole), or the *lât*, used to mark sacred places, to carry inscriptions and symbols, and as lamp-standards; the other is the structural form applied to the support of buildings, and subsequently, as in the classical "orders" of Europe, to their embellishment. The first kind is represented by the single pillars upon which Asoka inscribed his edicts, and by the pairs which, like the Boaz and Jachin of the Temple of Jerusalem, stood in front of the entrance to Buddhist and Jain stûpas and temples. They were originally the tribal ensigns or the standards of royalty, which were planted outside the entrance to the sacrificial area at the great horse-sacrifices in Vedic times.