A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c9.s2.6

c9.s2.6

Most of the examples of early post-Asokan sculpture are found on the decorated stone railings which became fashionable in the time of the Sunga dynasty within the century after Asoka's death, or on the gateways which were inserted into the openings of the plain railing at Sānchī. Besnagar offers an excellent example of a sculptured railing certainly not later than 100 b. c., and perhaps as early as 200 b. c., which once surrounded a small *stūpa*. The coping-stone is adorned with a frieze representing a religious procession, with elephants, horses, &c., divided into compartments by the graceful sinuosities of a lotus stem. The pillars exhibited scenes of Buddhist legend in panels, and on the cross-rails elegant lotuses are carved.¹