Indian Sculpture c9.59

c9.59

The lotus creeper without human scenes or figures is equally frequent in Sāñcī, on railing posts of stūpa II, and in Sārnāth (A.S.I.A.R., 1914-15, Pl. LXVIII, Figs. 18-19, 22-23); in Amarāvatī (Fergusson, Tree and Serpent Worship, Pl. LXXXIX, etc.); and in Orissā (Bachhofer, op. cit., Pl. 136, etc.); and is equally rich in its landscape suggestiveness in the paintings of Ajaṇṭā, on the Dhāmek stūpa (Fig. 107), and on many other monuments. Its undulating rhythm is transferred in a more or less free manner to friezes of animals (Bachhofer, op. cit., Pl. 133, etc.). The importance of this motif has been verified from the iconographical point of view by Coomaraswamy, Yakṣas, Pt. II. Its artistic importance has been suggested by Kramrisch, op. cit., p. 38, and is dealt with in its further consequences on p. 54.