Indian Sculpture c8.79

c8.79

The relief is lower than in Figs. 33 and 34, the attempt at ordering the crowded composition is obvious, specially in the landscape to the right, with the horizontals of the rocks and the verticals of the trees, also in the row at the bottom to the left, where the retinue of the king, with their somewhat lifeless but lyrical configuration, underline the meaning of the converse between the great monkey and the king under the tree. The dilemma of fitting in the many figures into one rigorously maintained plane can be seen in the awkwardness of shoving in the figure between the archer and the river, and in the attitude of the archer itself. The linearisation of the composition, however, does not result in a more concentrated expressiveness. Contrast the elegant but otherwise insipid curves of the Mahākapi, when forming the bridge, with the figures of the monkeys in the same Jātaka carved in Bhārhut.191 36. Part view of liṅgam from Guḍimallam, North Arcot District. About 100 B.C. Figure of a Yakṣa on Nara-vāhana in front of liṅgam. The objects held by the figure are: Some object which is certainly not a battle-axe (paraśu), but looks like a fan or whisk, and a water vessel in the left, and a ram in the right.¹⁹² The upper part of the object in the left hand appears to suggest a soft material and not metal. This is indicated by its curved outline and by the manner in which it is modelled; it consists of, or is held together by, rows of beads and leaves, which are gathered into a point and fixed on the staff.