Maurya and Shunga Art c7.2

c7.2

The almost life-size animal sculptures that crown the Mauryan columns along with the elephant at Dhauli in Orissa may conveniently be studied separately. Here too, as in the case of the columns, a rough chronological sequence of the stages of striving after the desired effect can well be traced. The Basarh-Bakhira lion evidently marks one of the earliest stages. The next definite stage is reached at Dhauli where the elephant but half emerges from live rock and which is dateable in the twelfth or thirteenth year of Aśoka's reign. To this stage must also be ascribed the elephant of Sāṅkāśya. The Rampurva bull marks the next stage in the ascending scale closely followed by the Lauriya-Nandangarh lion, while the Rampurva lion leads us to the final stage represented by the quadripartite semi-lions of Sarnath and Sanchi; in both instances there is an unmistakable evidence of clever accumulation that usually comes at a later stage of the evolution of form.