A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c9.s1.30

c9.s1.30

An uninscribed colossal statue of a female, 6 feet 7 inches in height, and found near Besnagar adjoining Bhīlsā in the Gwālior State, Central India, a locality associated by tradition with Asoka, is attributed to his reign on account of the style and costume. The image, now illustrated for the first time (Plate XIV), has suffered so severely from violence and exposure that it is difficult to estimate its aesthetic quality, but, so far as can be judged from what is left, the statue was a good naturalistic figure, probably intended for a Yakshī, or minor deity.¹