The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.256.2

v1.c10.256.2

As regards wood, the mango, the *jāman*, the *kadamba*, and all very light woods, were, as a matter of course, held unfit, as also all very heavy, knotty wood with irregular veins. The most appropriate woods were the sandal, *gambhāra, sāla, śiśu*, ebony, teak, *bakula*, etc. Seats of these various descriptions are frequently met with in sculpture. A very good specimen of the first kind of sofa occurs in the second compartment of the Amarāvatī stone now in the Museum of the Asiatic Society, where it is provided with corner posts and a tester frame, and is being carried about on the shoulders of men in a procession. Images of gods and Hindu bridegrooms are to this day carried about in sedans of this description, and they are known under the old name of *Sukhāsana*. Their short height makes them peculiarly fitted for this purpose. The other kinds were intended to be kept as fixtures, i.e., not much moved about. In sculpture the ends of their legs are frequently carved into the form of lion's paws, or eagle's claws, and the shafts of the legs are sometimes, but not often, shaped like the legs of those animals. Cane *moḍās* are also frequently met with, shaped very much in the same way as now (Illustration No. 164). A variety of it with a raised back is shown in Woodcut No. 31, taken, like the named Illustration, from one of Mr. Fergusson’s plates of Amarāvatī sculptures.