A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c11.s2.54

c11.s2.54

A ‘tablet of homage’ (Plate XXXII), with a relief sculpture of a Jain *stūpa* (2 feet 4 inches high, 1 foot 9¾ in. wide), now in the Mathurā Museum, was found embedded in a wall near the Holī gate, but is said to have come from a field near the village of Maholī. It was dedicated by a certain courtesan named Lonasobhikā to the Arahat Vardhamāna or Mahāvīra, and gives a good picture of an ancient Jain *stūpa*, which was constructed and decorated on exactly the same lines as the Buddhist edifices of a similar kind. In this case the building depicted stood on a high plinth, and was approached by nine steps, leading to a *toraṇa* gateway of the Sānchī type, with a garland hanging from it. The *stūpa* was surrounded by a plain railing, and two similar railings were carried round the drum. The posturing females are unmistakably nude. The side columns are modified Persepolitan of poor design. The script of the inscription is of about the first century B.C.²