Indian Sculpture c5.s1.t5.3

c5.s1.t5.3

The reliefs on railings and gateways of stūpas⁴⁰ mostly narrate stories of the life and previous incarnations of the Buddha; others contain mainly vegetative devices. They are arranged in oblong, square, round and half-round panels, according to the exigencies of architectonic decoration. Yakṣas and Yakṣīs, Nāgarājas and Devatās occupy prominent positions. In large size, and frequently accompanied by their tree and vāhana—the vehicle in the shape of an animal—or by both (cf. the human figure, tree and animal on Indus valley seals), and in bolder relief than that of the other compositions, they cling to, or project from, the entire surfaces of railing posts without frames (Bhārhut, Figs. 26, 27); or else, fully carved ‘in the round,’ they act as brackets (Sāñcī).⁴¹ The bold and frameless relief of some of these large figures is a compromise between full and three dimensional extension (Mauryan Yakṣas, Figs. 2, 24) and the flat post. On the Sāñcī gates another type of large-sized figures in the round, namely horsemen⁴² or riders on elephants, are placed between the small upright of the toraṇas. Both of these types, or else the notions underlying them, are pre-Buddhistic.⁴³