[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Architecture and art](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art) › [A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911) › c9 # A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c9: Chapter III. Sculpture of the Early Period A History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day c9 - **Language:** English ## Contents - [c9.s1 Section I. The Age of Asoka](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1) — 42 parts - [c9.s2 Section II. Post-Asokan Sculpture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2) — 133 parts - [c9.s3 Bibliographical Note](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s3) — 1 part ### Chapter III. Sculpture of the Early Period ### Section I. The Age of Asoka ### [c9.s1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.1) A short time after the death of Alexander in 323 B. C., the throne of Magadha, or South Bihār, then the premier kingdom of Northern India, was seized by Chandragupta, surnamed the Maurya, known as Sandrokottos to Greek authors. In the course of a victorious reign of twenty-four years this able prince made himself master of all India, at least as far south as the river Narbadā, and acquired from Seleukos Nikator, first his enemy and then his ally, the valuable provinces lying between the Indus and the Hindu Kush mountains which now constitute the major part of the kingdom of Afghanistan. ### [c9.s1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.2) Chandragupta was succeeded by his son Bindusāra, who, in or about 273 B. C., transmitted the imperial sceptre to his son, Asoka, the third and most renowned sovereign of the Maurya dynasty. For forty-one years (273–232 B. C.) Asoka ruled his immense empire with great power and might, maintaining friendly relations with his neighbours, the Tamil states of the extreme south, and also with the island kingdom of Ceylon, and the more remote Greek monarchies of Macedonia, Epirus, Western Asia, Egypt, and Cyrene. ### [c9.s1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.3) Early in life the emperor became a convert to the Buddhist religion, and as the years rolled on his zeal increased, so that his energies and riches were devoted almost exclusively to the work of honouring and propagating the teaching of his Master, Gautama Buddha, the sage of the Sakyas. With one exception, he abstained from wars of conquest, and was thus free to concentrate his attention upon the task to which his life was consecrated.¹ ### [c9.s1.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.4) ¹ For full discussion of the history of Asoka see the author's works \*Early History of India\*, 2nd ed., 1908, and \*Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India\*, 2nd ed., 1909. The view that he became a Buddhist early in life, though not yet universally accepted, is supported by the authority of M. Senart and Mr. F. W. Thomas, and confirmed by the latest researches. ### [c9.s1.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.5) As explained in Chapter II, the earliest extant examples of architecture, as distinguished from mere engineering, and of the other fine arts, date from the days of Asoka. Nothing deserving the name of a work of art has yet been discovered which can be referred with confidence to an earlier time. His mighty father and grandfather must surely have built palaces, public offices, and temples suitable to the dignity of a powerful empire and proportionate to the wealth of rich provinces, but of such structures not a trace seems to survive. The best explanation of this fact is the hypothesis already discussed (\*ante\*, p. 23), that the early works of Indian architecture and art were mainly constructed of timber and other perishable materials ill fitted to withstand the ravenous tooth of time. Whatever be the true explanation, the fact remains that the history of Indian art begins with Asoka. 'But,' as Professor Percy Gardner observes, 'there can be no doubt that Indian art had an earlier history. The art of Asoka is a mature art : in some respects more mature than the Greek art of the time, though, of course, far inferior to it, at least in our eyes.'¹ With that mature art we must be content to begin our story, acknowledging the impossibility of tracing in detail the stages of its growth. ### [c9.s1.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.6) ¹ \*Trans. 3rd Intern. Congress for the Hist. of Religions\* (Oxford, 1908), vol. ii, p. 81. ### [c9.s1.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.7) We can, however, affirm with certainty that many forms of Asokan architecture and plastic decoration were descended from wooden prototypes, and may also discern traces of the influence of lost works in metal, ivory, terra-cotta, and painting.² We may, moreover, feel some confidence in assuming that the sudden general adoption of stone as the material for both architecture and sculpture was in large measure the result of foreign and especially of Persian example. The fuller consideration of the foreign influences affecting Indian art will be more conveniently deferred and made the subject of a separate chapter (Chap. XI). ### [c9.s1.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.8) ² The pictorial character of the ancient Indian reliefs, 'histoires sans paroles', is obvious, and the affinity of much of the decorative work with the jeweller's art is equally plain. The sculpture on a pier of the southern gate at Sāñchī was actually executed by the ivory carvers of the neighbouring town of Vedisa (Bhilsā) (\*Ep. Ind.\*, ii, pp. 92, 378, inscr. No. 200 of Tope I = C. 189). Cunningham was unable to read this significant record, the interpretation of which is due to Bühler. ### [c9.s1.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.9) But whether we concede much or little importance to the foreign elements of ancient Indian art, great weight must be allowed for the personal initiative of Asoka, a man of marked originality of mind, capable of forming large designs and executing them with imperial thoroughness. The direction taken by Indian art, like the diffusion of Buddhism, was determined in its main lines by the will of a resolute and intelligent autocrat. ### [c9.s1.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.10) I now proceed to a summary description of the principal works of art surviving in India and Ceylon from the times of Asoka and his successors down to about a. d. 100. The buildings having been already noticed, and the art of painting being reserved for another chapter, this chapter will be confined to sculpture. Most of the extant works were executed in honour of Buddhism, which became the State religion in the empire of Asoka and was introduced during his reign into independent Ceylon. Although we know that both Jainism and Brahmanical Hinduism continued to attract multitudes of adherents during the Maurya period, hardly any material remains of works then dedicated to the service of those religions have survived. ### [c9.s1.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.11) The art of the times dealt with in this chapter is characterized by frank naturalism. It is thoroughly human, a mirror of the social and religious life of ancient India, apparently a much pleasanter and merrier life than that of the India of later ages when the Brahmans had reasserted their superiority and imposed their ideas upon art and upon every branch of Hindu civilization. The early sculptures, while full of the creatures of gay fancy, are free from the gloom and horror of the conceptions of the mediaeval artists. The Buddhism with which nearly all of them are concerned was, as already observed in the Introduction, the popular creed of men and women living a natural life in the world, seeking happiness, and able to enjoy themselves. The recent critics of the 'nationalist' school, in their anxiety to secure adequate recognition for the merits of the mediaeval Brahmanical art, sometimes appear to believe that it alone truly expresses Indian thought. It is well to remember that for several centuries Indian thought was content to find its artistic utterance in a fashion much more human and cheerful. ### [c9.s1.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.12) The known existing monuments of art dating from Asoka's reign are not very numerous, but it is not improbable that more may be discovered. His buildings having perished, our direct knowledge of the art strictly contemporary with him is derived from his inscriptions, the carvings and sculptures on his monolithic columns, and some independent statuary. The inscriptions are mentioned on account of their beautiful execution. The most faultless example is the brief record on the Rummindēī Pillar, which is as perfect as on the day it was incised;¹ but, almost without exception, all are models of careful and accurate stone-cutting. The craft of the skilled mason and stone-cutter, so closely akin to fine art, reached perfection in the days of Asoka, as appears from every detail of the work, and especially from examination of the beautifully polished surface of the monoliths and the interior of the cave dwellings dedicated by him and his grandson in the hills of Bihār. ### [c9.s1.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.13) ¹ \*Asoka, the Buddhist Emperor of India\*, Pl. II. ### [c9.s1.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.14) The best evidence of the state of the art of sculpture, both in relief and in the round, during the reign of the great emperor is afforded by the capitals of the numerous monolithic columns erected between 250 B. C. and the end of the reign in 232 B. C., as briefly described and illustrated in Chapter II (\*ante\*, p. 20, Plate II). The capital of each pillar, like the shaft, was monolithic, comprising three principal members, namely, a Persepolitan bell, abacus, and crowning sculpture in the round. The junction between the shaft and the abacus was marked by a necking, the edge of the abacus was decorated with bas-relief designs, and the crowning sculpture was occasionally a sacred symbol, such as a wheel, or more commonly a symbolical animal, or group of animals. Sometimes the inanimate and animal symbols were combined. ### [c9.s1.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.15) Within the limits thus determined the artists enjoyed considerable latitude, and in consequence the surviving capitals vary widely in detail. The abacus might be either rectangular or circular so as to suit the form of the sculpture above. The edge of the abacus of the beautiful Lauriyā-Nandangarh pillar is decorated by a row of flying sacred geese in quite low relief. The abaci of the pillars at Allahabad and Sankisa (Fig. 28) and the newly discovered bull pillar at Rāmpurwā exhibit elegant designs composed of the lotus and palmette or honeysuckle. Whatever the device selected, it is invariably well executed, and 'chiselled with that extraordinary precision and accuracy' which characterize the workmanship of the Maurya age, and have never been surpassed in Athens or elsewhere.² ### [c9.s1.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.16) ² E. J. Marshall, in \*Ann. Rep. A. S., India\*, 1906–7, p. 89. ### [c9.s1.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.17) The topmost sculpture in the round was most often one or other of the four animals symbolizing respectively the four quarters of the world—namely, the elephant, the guardian of the east; the horse, of the south; the bull, of the west; and the lion, of the north. All these animals, except the horse, are actually found on extant capitals, and it is recorded that a horse once crowned the pillar at Rummindeī, the Lumbinī garden. On the sides of the abacus of the Sārnāth capital all the four creatures are carved in relief, evidently signifying that the monument, although specially connected with the north by its position and the symbolical lions, was designed to commemorate the proclamation of the Good Law to the Church of the four quarters.¹ ### [c9.s1.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.18) ¹ This explanation of the symbolism was suggested by the discovery of rude symbolical bronze figures of the four animals in Ceylon (\*post\*, chap. vii, sec. 7). See the author's paper 'The Monolithic Pillars of Asoka' in \*Z. D. M. G.\*, 1911. The lion was also regarded as a symbol of Buddha himself. ### [c9.s1.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.19) FIG. 28. Capital of Sankisa pillar. (Photo. 680, I. M. \*List\*.) ### [c9.s1.20](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.20) The elephant of the Sankisa capital is well modelled, but unhappily badly mutilated. The two pillars at Rāmpurwā bear respectively the bull and lion, guardians of the west and north.² Monasteries occupied by western and northern communities may have existed in the neighbourhood. ### [c9.s1.21](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.21) ² \*J. R. A. S.\*, 1908, p. 1085, Pl. I. ### [c9.s1.22](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.22) The magnificent Sārnāth capital discovered in 1905, unquestionably the best extant specimen of Asokan sculpture, was executed late in the reign between 242 and 232 B. C. (Plate XIII). The column was erected to mark the spot where Gautama Buddha first 'turned the wheel of the law', or in plain English, publicly preached his doctrine. The symbolism of the figures, whether in the round or in relief, all refers to the commemoration of that event for the benefit of the Church Universal. The four lions standing back to back on the abacus once supported a stone wheel, two feet nine inches in diameter, of which only fragments remain.³ ### [c9.s1.23](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.23) ³ Discovered by Mr. F. O. Oertel and described by him in \*Ann. Rep. A. S., India\*, 1904–5, pp. 68–70, Pl. XX. His account of the excavations has been reprinted in a separate volume entitled \*Buddhist Ruins of Sārnāth near Benares\*, 1904–5. ### [c9.s1.24](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.24) It would be difficult to find in any country an example of ancient animal sculpture superior or even equal to this beautiful work of art, which successfully combines realistic modelling with ideal dignity, and is finished in every detail with perfect accuracy. The bas-reliefs on the abacus are as good in their way as the noble lions in the round. The design, while obviously reminiscent of Assyrian and Persian prototypes, is modified by Indian sentiment, the bas-reliefs being purely Indian. Mr. Marshall's conjecture that the composition may be the work of an Asiatic Greek is not supported by the style of the relief figures. The ability of an Asiatic Greek to represent Indian animals so well may be doubted. ### [c9.s1.25](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.25) PLATE XIII. Capital of inscribed Asoka pillar at Sārnāth. (A. S. photo.) ### [c9.s1.26](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.26) The only rival to the artistic supremacy of the Sārnāth capital is the replica which once crowned the detached pillar at Sānchī engraved with a copy of the Sārnāth edict denouncing schism. So far as can be judged from Maisey’s drawing, the Sānchī capital is little inferior to that at Sārnāth, and it is possible that both works may proceed from the hands of a single artist.¹ A century or so later, when an inferior sculptor attempted to model similar lions on the pillars of the southern gateway at Sānchī, he failed utterly, and his failure supports the theory that the Sārnāth capital must have been wrought by a foreigner. Certainly no later sculpture in India attained such high excellence. ### [c9.s1.27](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.27) ¹ Maisey, \*Sānchī and its Remains\*, Pl. XIX, 2. I have not seen a photograph. ### [c9.s1.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.28) \[Figure: FIG. 29. Asoka pillar at Bakhirā, Muzaffarpur District. (A. S. photo. supplied by Prof. Macdonell.)\] ### [c9.s1.29](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.29) The perfection of the Sānchī and Sārnāth lions on the edict-pillars must have been the result of much progressive effort. The uninscribed pillar at Bakhirā (Fig. 29) seems to be one of the earlier experiments of Asoka’s artists. The clumsy proportions of the shaft contrast unfavourably with the graceful design of the Lauriyā-Nandangarh column (\*ante\*, Plate II), which bears a copy of the Pillar Edicts, and may be dated in 242 or 241 B. C., while the seated lion on the summit is by no means equal to the animals on the edict-pillars of Sārnāth and Sānchī erected between 242 and 232 B. C. I am disposed to think that the Bakhirā column was set up soon after 257 B. C., the date of the earliest Rock Edicts. ### [c9.s1.30](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.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 ### [c9.s1.31](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.31) ¹ It is now in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. It was found on the bank of the Betwā, to the north-east of the town site (Cunningham, \*A. S. Rep.\*, vol. x, p. 44). It is not included in Anderson's \*Catalogue\*. Several works of reference erroneously place Bhīlsā (Bhēlsā) in the Bhopāl State. ### [c9.s1.32](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.32) Plate XIV. Colossal female statue from Besnagar. (Photo. 1304, I. M. \*List\*.) ### [c9.s1.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.33) A second colossal female statue, 7 feet high, locally known as the Telin, or Oil-woman, exists within the walls of Besnagar. I do not quite understand Cunningham's description, and therefore abstain from quoting it or from attempting to fix the age of the work.² It is desirable that this image should be re-examined and photographed. Cunningham mentions the existence in his time at Besnagar of several other remarkable sculptures apparently of Maurya age, including a polished sandstone elephant with rider, which seem to merit careful illustration. No site appears to equal Besnagar in the number of sculptures dating from the Maurya period. ### [c9.s1.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.34) ² Cunningham, \*A. S. Rep.\*, vol. x, p. 40. ### [c9.s1.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.35) The Indian Section of the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, exhibits the torso of a male statue about 3 feet in height, lent by Major-General Kincaid, which is labelled as having 'formerly crowned one of the several detached columns erected by Asoka', and as having been found in front of the western gateway at Sāñchī. The material is highly polished reddish Udayagiri sandstone. The figure wears a sash across the breast, a rich collar, and an elaborate belt, all of which are finished with exquisite care and minuteness. This notable work appears to be correctly ascribed to the Asokan age.³ The figure looks like that of a Bodhisattva. ### [c9.s1.36](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.36) ³ Publ. as full-page Plate 142, vol. xiii, \*J. I. A. I.\*, in order to illustrate the rich jewellery. ### [c9.s1.37](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.37) A mutilated colossal standing statue of a male, perhaps representing the Yaksha demi-god Kuvera, god of wealth, found at Parkham in the Mathurā District, and now in the Mathurā Museum, is proved by its inscription to date from the Maurya age. The material is polished grey sandstone similar to that used for the Asoka pillars. The height, including pedestal, is 8 feet 8 inches, and the breadth across the shoulders is 2 feet 8 inches. The excessively bulky body is clothed in a waistcloth (\*dhōtī\*) held round the loins by means of a flat girdle tied in a knot in front. A second flat girdle is bound round the chest. The ornaments are a necklace and a torque from which four tassels hang down on the back. The clumsiness of the modelling suggests that the prototype must have been a figure carved from a log of wood. Some praise may be given to the treatment of the drapery.⁴ ### [c9.s1.38](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.38) ⁴ Cunningham, \*A. S. Rep.\*, vol. xx, p. 40, Pl. VI, back and front views; Sten Konow \*Ind. Ant.\*, xxxviii (1909), p. 148; Vogel, \*Catal. Archaeol. Museum, Mathurā\* (Allahabad, 1910), p. 83, Pl. XII. The inscription, which is imperfect, appears to state that the statue was made by Bhadapugarin and \[dedicated\] by Gomitra, pupil of Kunika. ### [c9.s1.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.39) A broken statue of a man which once crowned one of the detached columns at Sāñchī was regarded by Cunningham as a singularly successful effort of Indian art. The figure, which is nude save for a scanty waistcloth and has a small nimbus round the head, appears to be that of some Buddhist saint. Cunningham thought that it might be an effigy of Asoka himself, who was and is venerated as a saint. But Asoka, if represented as a religious person, would be clothed in a monastic robe, not in a waistcloth. Moreover, it is doubtful if the nimbus was used in India in his time. The statue, although of early date, probably is considerably later than Asoka's age. The published sketches are hardly sufficient to justify a judgement on the aesthetic merits of the work.¹ ### [c9.s1.40](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.40) ¹ Maisey, \*Sānchī\*, Pl. XXXII, 1; Cunningham, \*Bhilsa Topes\* (1854), p. 197, Pl. X. ### [c9.s1.41](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.41) FIG. 30. The Heliodoros pillar, Besnagar. (A. S. photo.) ### [c9.s1.42](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s1.42) FIG. 31. Fan-palm capital, Besnagar. (Cunningham, \*A. S. Rep.\*, vol. x, Pl. XIV, Fig. 1.) ### Section II. Post-Asokan Sculpture ### [c9.s2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.1) A detached pillar standing to the north-east of Besnagar has been invested with special interest by the recent discovery of a long-concealed inscription on the base,² which records the erection of the monument in honour of Vishnu by Heliodoros, son of Dion, envoy from the great King Antalkidas of Taxila to a local prince. Antalkidas is supposed to have reigned about 170 b.c. The inscription states that the column was crowned by an image of Garuda, the monstrous bird sacred to the god, but no such image is now visible. Cunningham found, lying close by, a square pinnacle, 2 feet 7 inches in height, formed in the shape of a fan-palm, which he supposed to belong to the column. If it does, the fan-palm capital must be of later, perhaps Gupta date, and substituted for the original Garuda capital. It is known that in the fourteenth century Sultan Fīrōz Tughlak replaced the sculptures crowning the Asoka columns which he moved by ornaments of his own design, and earlier Hindu kings may have done likewise. The fan-palm capital, whatever be its age, is unique. It is ### [c9.s2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.2) ² Concerning the inscription, see Marshall, Fleet, and Barnett in \*J. R. A. S.\*, 1909, pp. 1053-6, 1087, and 1093; also D. R. Bhandarkar in \*J. Bo. Br. R. A. S.\*, 1909, art. xiv. Dr. Fleet clearly is right in maintaining that the record ends with a date. ### [c9.s2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.3) Fig. 32. Part of coping and pillar, Bodh-Gayā. (\*Photo. 56, I. M. List.\*) ### [c9.s2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.4) Fig. 33. Part of coping and pillar, Bodh-Gayā sacred tree, &c. (\*Photo. 58, I. M. List.\*) ### [c9.s2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.5) reproduced from Cunningham's drawing in Fig. 31, and the pillar, as it stands, is shown in Fig. 30, from a photograph. The shaft is 17 feet 11 inches in height. ### [c9.s2.6](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.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 ### [c9.s2.7](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.7) ¹ Cunningham, \*A. S. Rep.\*, vol. x, p. 38, Pl. XIII. ### [c9.s2.8](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.8) A better-known example is the often described railing at Bodh-Gayā, which used to be called 'the Asoka railing', but has been proved to date from Sunga times. Thirty pieces have been found, evidently belonging to two distinct structures, some pieces being of granite (? gneiss), and others of sandstone. All are similar in style, irrespective of material, and may be dated about a century after Asoka's death, more or less. ### [c9.s2.9](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.9) Most of the subjects are treated in low relief. Those on the coping are purely fanciful; those on the panels and medallions include weird centaurs, winged beasts, domestic animals, sacred trees, and sundry scenes of human life, all no doubt significant and readily intelligible to ancient Buddhists versed in the legends of their scriptures and traditions, but now difficult of interpretation. Most of the more interesting sculptures have been published more than once; a few are here reproduced from photographs. They are simply pictures in stone, and should be criticized as drawings slightly in relief rather than from the point of view of a sculptor. They exhibit a lively fancy, ### [c9.s2.10](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.10) FIG. 34. Winged lion. (Photo. 56, I. M. \*List\*.) ### [c9.s2.11](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.11) FIG. 35. Winged ox. (Photo. 56, I. M. \*List\*.) ### [c9.s2.12](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.12) considerable skill in drawing, and much neatness of execution; but whenever the subjects agree with those of the Gandhāra reliefs, the technique of the latter is superior. ### [c9.s2.13](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.13) In Fig. 32 is shown a part of an animal frieze on the coping, very similar to what we shall meet later at Amarāvatī. The pillar panel gives an interesting picture of an early Buddhist chapel enshrining the symbol of the preaching of the Law. Images of Buddha do not occur at this period. The façade, with its curved roof, originally derived from a bamboo form, illustrates the architecture of the western cave-temples, and the origin of curved roofs. ### [c9.s2.14](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.14) The next illustration (Fig. 33) is equally instructive concerning the practice of early Buddhist cult. The railing round the sacred tree is perfectly plain. The fact that the railing is drawn in sufficiently correct linear perspective deserves notice. ### [c9.s2.15](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.15) The figures following (Figs. 34, 35) give specimens of the winged animals, borrowed from Western Asiatic, or perhaps Hellenistic art. Similar figures occur in the earliest of the western cave-temples, but are not to be found, I think, after the Christian era. They are used freely for decorative purposes, and if they had any definite symbolical meaning I do not know what it was. ### [c9.s2.16](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.16) Another medallion (Fig. 36) gives the Indian form of centaur, a conception familiar in variant shapes to Asiatic art from very remote times. A frieze on the coping pictures queer fish-tailed monsters, which recall many forms in Hellenistic art, and like them came from Western Asia (Fig. 37). ### [c9.s2.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.17) Another piece of coping exhibits more strange beasts, and one of the Sunga inscriptions which fix the approximate date of the monument. The medallion below gives a picture of a more specially Indian fantasy, the \*kinnara\*, or horse-headed female (Fig. 38). A similar sculpture has been found near Patna. ### [c9.s2.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.18) The series of illustrations may be closed by two purely naturalistic pictures—an excellent buffalo (Fig. 39), and a husband and wife seated together (Fig. 40). ### [c9.s2.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.19) \[Figure: FIG. 36. Centaur. (Photo. 58, \*I. M. List.\*)\] ### [c9.s2.20](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.20) \[Figure: FIG. 37. Coping: fish-tailed monsters. (Photo. 57, \*I. M. List.\*)\] ### [c9.s2.21](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.21) Every form, however outlandish, is Indianized by its close association with the lotus, the most characteristic and universal of all Indian art motives. Infinite variety in the treatment of the conventionalized flower is exhibited in the minute details both at Bodh-Gayā and elsewhere.¹ ### [c9.s2.22](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.22) ¹ For numerous drawings of the sculptures on the Bodh-Gayā railing, see Cunningham, \*A. S. Rep.\*, vol. i, Plates VIII to XI; vol. iii, Plates XXVI–XXX: and \*Mahābodhi\*; also Rājendralāla Mitra, \*Buddha Gaya\*. ### [c9.s2.23](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.23) In 1873 Cunningham discovered at Bharhut (more accurately 'Barhut', 24° 37′ N., 80° 53′ E.), about midway between Allahabad and Jabalpur, the remains of a Buddhist \*stūpa\*, surrounded by a stone railing adorned with sculptures of surprising richness and interest. The \*stūpa\* had then been almost wholly carried off by greedy villagers in search of bricks, who treated the sculptures with equal ruthlessness, and were prevented from destroying them all only by the great weight of the stones. During the following years to 1876, Cunningham and his assistant uncovered the ruins and saved a large number of the sculptured stones by sending them to Calcutta, where they now form one of the chief treasures of the Indian Museum.¹ Everything left on the site was taken away by the country people and converted to their base uses. ### [c9.s2.24](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.24) ¹ Anderson, \*Catalogue\*, Part I, pp. xiii–xx, 1–120. ### [c9.s2.25](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.25) PLATE XV. Bharhut, inner view of eastern gateway. (Photo. 1070, I. O. \*List\* = Cunningham, Pl. XII.) ### [c9.s2.26](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.26) The railing, constructed after the usual pattern, in a highly developed form, was extremely massive, the pillars being 7 feet 1 inch in height, and each of the coping stones about the same in length. The sculptures of the coping were devoted mainly to the representation of incidents in the \*Jātakas\*, or tales of the previous births of the ### [c9.s2.27](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.27) \[Figure: FIG. 38. Horse-headed female. (Photo. 57, I. M. \*List\*.)\] ### [c9.s2.28](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.28) Buddha. The carvings on the rails, pillars, and gateways, all treating of Buddhist legends, were exceedingly varied in subject and treatment. The general appearance of the structure will be understood from Plate XV. The composite pillar of the gateway, made up of four clustered columns crowned by a modified Persepolitan capital, is worthy of special notice. An inscription records that the eastern gateway with the adjoining masonry was erected during the rule of the Sunga dynasty (185–173 B.C.), but it is not possible to determine the date of the monument with greater precision. The execution of work so costly and elaborate must have extended over many years. Certain masons' marks in the Kharoshthī character of the north-western frontier prove that foreign artists were called in to teach and assist local talent. The railing exhibits a great mass of sculptures of a high order of excellence. The subjects and style are described by Cunningham as follows :— ### [c9.s2.29](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.29) @H Subjects and style of the sculptures. ‘The subjects represented in the Bharhut sculptures are both numerous and varied, and many of them are of the highest interest and importance for the study of Indian history. Thus we have more than a score of illustrations of the legendary \*Jātakas\*, and some half-dozen illustrations of historical scenes connected with the life of Buddha, which are quite invaluable for the history of Buddhism. Their value is chiefly due to the inscribed labels that are attached to many of them, and which make their identification absolutely certain. Amongst the historical scenes the most interesting are the processions of the Rājās Ajātasatru and Prasēnajita on their visits to Buddha ; the former on his elephant, the latter in his chariot, exactly as they are described in the Buddhist chronicles. Another invaluable sculpture is the representation of the famous Jetavana monastery at Srāvasti—with its mango tree and temples, and the rich banker ### [c9.s2.30](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.30) FIG. 39. Buffalo. (Photo. 59, I. M. \*List\*.) ### [c9.s2.31](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.31) FIG. 40. Man and woman. (Photo. 59, I. M. \*List\*.) ### [c9.s2.32](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.32) Anāthapinda in the foreground emptying a cartful of gold pieces to pave the surface of the garden. But besides these scenes, which are so intimately connected with the history of Buddhism, there are several bas-reliefs, which seem to represent portions of the history of Rāma during his exile. There are also a few scenes of broad humour in which monkeys are the chief actors. Of large figures there are upwards of thirty alto-rilievo statues of Yakshas and Yakshinīs \[Yakshīs\], Devatās, and Nāga Rājas, one half of which are inscribed with their names. We thus see that the guardianship of the north gate was entrusted to Kuvera, King of the Yakshas, agreeably to the teaching of the Buddhist and Brahmanical cosmogonies. And similarly we find that the other gates were confided to the Devas and the Nāgas. The representations of animals and trees are also very numerous, and some of them are particularly spirited and characteristic. Of other objects there are boats, horse-chariots, and bullock-carts, besides several kinds of musical instruments, and a great variety of flags, standards, and other symbols of royalty. About one half of the full medallions of the rail-bars and the whole of the half-medallions of the pillars are filled with flowered ornaments of singular beauty and delicacy of execution.’¹ ### [c9.s2.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.33) ¹ \*The Stūpa of Bharhut\* (1879), p. 18. ### [c9.s2.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.34) The medallions on the rail-bars and the half-medallions on the pillars are filled with a wonderful variety of bas-relief subjects. The comic monkey scenes collected in Cunningham’s Plate XXXIII display a lively sense of humour, freedom of fancy, and clever drawing. They must, of course, like all the early bas-reliefs, be judged as pictures drawn on stone, rather than as sculpture. The rollicking humour and liberty of fancy unchecked by rigid canons, while alien to the transcendental philosophy and ascetic ideals of the Brahmans, are thoroughly in accordance with the spirit of Buddhism, which, as a practical religion, makes human and animal happiness its avowed object. Everything seems to indicate that India was a much happier land in ### [c9.s2.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.35) \[Figure: FIG. 41. Bharhut; comic scene. (Photo. 1034, I. O. \*List\* = Cunningham, Pl. XXXIII, 3.\] ### [c9.s2.36](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.36) \[Figure: FIG. 42. Bharhut; elephant and monkeys. (Photo. 1034, I. O. \*List\*.)\] ### [c9.s2.37](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.37) the days when Buddhism flourished than it has ever been since. The first medallion selected for illustration is a very funny picture of a tooth being extracted from a man’s jaws by an elephant pulling a gigantic forceps; and the second (Fig. 42) is nearly equally humorous. The stories alluded to are presumably traceable somewhere in a \*Jātaka\*. ### [c9.s2.38](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.38) Figure 43 gives a characteristic and well-preserved specimen of the bas-reliefs on the coping. The large fruit is that of the jack (\*Artocarpus integrifolia\*), and the deer are the spotted hog-deer kind (\*Axis porcinus\*). The artists who could design and execute such pictures in hard sandstone had no small skill. In general appearance they are not altogether unlike the much later reliefs from Boro-Būdūr in Java. ### [c9.s2.39](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.39) The large alto-rilievo images of minor deities on the pillars vary much in quality. Some, as for instance the image of Sirimā (Cunningham, Pl. XXIII, 1), are ill designed, with the attenuated waist and exaggerated hips which disfigure so many Indian sculptures. Others are thoroughly natural, life-like representations of women, admirably modelled, skilfully executed, and pleasing but for the ugly snub-nosed faces, apparently representing people like Tibetans. The statue of Chukalokā (Cunningham, Pl. XXIII, 3), not reproduced, is specially interesting as the earliest extant example of the 'Woman and Tree' motive, common in Alexandrian art and a great favourite in India, which will be discussed in Chapter XI. One of the best statues is that of the Yakshī Sudarsanā (Fig. 44), which exhibits a good knowledge of the human form and marked skill in the modelling of the hips in a difficult position. Mr. Havell observes that the technique is that of a wood-carver.¹ ### [c9.s2.40](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.40) ¹ The forms \*Yakshī\* and \*Yakshinī\* both occur. ### [c9.s2.41](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.41) FIG. 43. Bharhut; \*jātaka\* scene on coping. (Photo. 1072, I. O. \*List\*.) ### [c9.s2.42](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.42) Equally good is the image of the nameless Yakshī on a pillar removed from the \*stūpa\*, and found by Cunningham at Batanmārā, a village near Bharhut. I am not sure that this is not the best of the series. The modelling would do credit to any sculptor, and the execution of all details is perfect. At Sānchī the reliefs are more refined than those of Bharhut, but I doubt if any of the larger sculptures are as good as the best Bharhut Yakshīs. ### [c9.s2.43](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.43) The Bharhut sculptures, having escaped the destructive zeal of Muhammadan iconoclasts by reason of their situation in an out-of-the-way region, lay safely hidden under a thick veil of jungle until a century ago, when the establishment of general peace and the spread of cultivation stimulated the local rustics to construct substantial houses from the spoils of the old monuments for which they cared nothing. The extensive group of early Buddhist buildings at and near Sānchī in the Bhopāl State similarly evaded demolition because it lay out of the path of the armies of Islam. Although the monuments of Sānchī have not suffered as much as those of Bharhut from the ravages of the village builder, they have not wholly escaped injury. During the first half of the nineteenth century much damage was done by the ill-advised curiosity of amateur archaeologists. Now, however, the authorities concerned are fully alive to their responsibility, and everything possible is being done to conserve the local memorials of India's ancient greatness. ### [c9.s2.44](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.44) The importance of Sānchī in the history of Indian art rests chiefly upon the four wonderful gateways forming the entrances to the procession path between the \*stūpa\* ### [c9.s2.45](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.45) \[Figure: FIG. 44. Sudarsanā Yakshī, Bharhut. (Photo. 1067, I. O. \*List\* = Cunningham, Pl. XXIII, 2.) FIG. 45. A Yakshī, Batanmārā, near Bharhut. (Photo. 1090, I. O. \*List\* = Cunningham, Pl. XXI, 2.)\] ### [c9.s2.46](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.46) (Plate I and Fig. 1) and the surrounding railing. The stone railing itself is a perfectly plain copy of a wooden post and rail fence, dating probably from the time of Asoka. The four gateways, a century later, more or less, are covered with masses of sculpture so intricate as almost to defy description in detail. The most ancient portal, the southern, was already prostrate when visited by Captain Fell in 1819; the western one came down between 1850 and 1860; while the northern and eastern gateways have never fallen. All have undergone thorough repairs during recent years, and are now erect. The work on the sculpture, which must have continued for many years, may be assigned approximately to the period between 150 and 100 B. C. ### [c9.s2.48](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.48) Plate XVI. Eastern gateway of great \*stūpa\*, Sānchī, back view. (I. O. Photo.) ### [c9.s2.49](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.49) Gateways of this kind, derived from temporary structures erected on the occasions of festivities, are the prototypes of the Chinese \*pailus\*, to which they have a general resemblance. ### [c9.s2.50](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.50) The Sānchī gateways, or \*toraṇas\*, stand 34 feet high, and are all substantially alike, while differing much in detail. ### [c9.s2.51](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.51) ‘Two massive square pillars, one on either side, 14 feet high, forming as it were the gate-posts, support an ornamental superstructure of three slightly arched stone beams or architraves placed horizontally, one above the other, with spaces between them. The topmost beam of each gate was surmounted by the sacred wheel flanked by attendants and the \*triśūla\* emblem. The faces, back and front, of the beams and pillars are crowded with panels of sculpture in bas-relief representing scenes in the life of Buddha, domestic and silvan scenes, processions, sieges, adoration of trees and \*topes\*, and groups of ordinary and extraordinary animals, among which are winged bulls and lions of a Persepolitan type and horned animals with human faces.’¹ ### [c9.s2.52](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.52) ¹ Cousens, \*Progr. Rep. A. S., Western India, for year ending June 30, 1900\*, para. 9. ### [c9.s2.53](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.53) Plate XVI, representing the eastern gateway, will enable the reader to appreciate the wealth of ornament lavished on the four monuments. The same gateway may be further studied by the aid of full-sized casts supplied to the Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, and other institutions, some of which, however, do not exhibit the casts. Numerous illustrations, more or less accurate and satisfactory, will be found in the works of Fergusson, Maisey, Cunningham, and other writers on Indian archaeology, but nothing approaching a complete description of the sculptures exists. In January and February, 1901, Mr. H. Cousens succeeded in photographing the whole mass of sculptures on 225 negatives to a uniform scale of one-eighth, but so far little use has been made of the huge supply of material thus accumulated.² The preparation of a descriptive and critical monograph would be an arduous undertaking, and the work would probably fill several large quartos. It is not likely to be written just yet. In this chapter a few illustrations must suffice. ### [c9.s2.54](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.54) ² A brilliant lecture by M. A. Foucher, entitled \*La Porte orientale du Stûpa de Sânchi\* (Moulage du Musée Guimet), Paris, Leroux, 1910, throws much light on the meaning of the sculptures, and is illustrated from the new photographs. The right or northern pier of the southern gate depicts six of the Buddhist heavens, and other sections represent the leading incidents of Buddha’s life, told by ingenious symbolical contrivances, the effigy of the Master being rigorously excluded. The most surprising discovery made by M. Foucher is that incidents in the history or legend of Asoka are shown on both the southern and eastern gates (\*op. cit.\*, pp. 76, 77). ### [c9.s2.55](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.55) All critics are agreed that the southern gateway is the earliest of the four. One of its pillars is shown in Plate XVII, Fig. B. The capitals of its gate-posts are formed by four lions seated back to back, ‘indifferently carved,’ and evidently intended as imitations of those on Asoka's inscribed pillar already noticed (\*ante\*, p. 60). The marked decline in skill demonstrated by the contrast between the lions on the gate-post and those on the inscribed pillar is surprising considering the shortness of the interval of time, about a century, between the two compositions. The decadence is most easily verified by comparing the treatment of the lions' paws on the gate-post capital (Maisey, PLATE XVII. Sāñchī sculptures. (Photos. supplied by Prof. Macdonell.) ### [c9.s2.56](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.56) A. West gate, back. ### [c9.s2.57](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.57) B. South gate, pillar. ### [c9.s2.58](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.58) Plate XIX) and of the same members on the capital of the inscribed pillar, or the similar Sārnāth pillar (\*ante\*, Plate XIII). The paws of the early Asokan sculptures are correctly modelled with four large front claws and one small hind claw, the muscles also being realistically reproduced. In the later work five large claws, all in front, are given to the paws, and the muscles are carelessly indicated by some straight channels running up and down. ### [c9.s2.59](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.59) The change does not correspond with a deliberate resolve to substitute a generalized ideal for a realistic form. It simply indicates a decline of skill in animal sculpture in the round. The case does not support the theory of Dr. Coomaraswamy that the animals represented in Oriental decorative art need not resemble any beast on the face of the earth, and are the better for their lack of likeness. According to his view, 'the sculptured lions of Egypt, Assyria, or India are true works of art; for in them we see, not any lion that could to-day be shot or photographed in a desert, but the lion as he existed in the minds of a people, a lion that tells us something of the people who represents him.'¹ The theory thus enunciated certainly does not apply to elephants and monkeys, which notoriously are represented in Indian art, both plastic and pictorial, with the utmost fidelity to nature and the fullest understanding of the character of both animals, as may be seen from many examples in this book. It is not easy to perceive why a bad lion should be extolled in preference to a good elephant. Probably the critic cited was anxious to justify the fearsome beasts so common in Ceylonese art, which certainly could not be found in any desert. But the theory does not fit the case even of lions, because nobody can deny that the best lions in Indian sculpture are those of Asoka's time, which are by far the most naturalistic. ### [c9.s2.60](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.60) ¹ \*The Aims of Indian Art\* (Essex House Press, 1908), p. 14. ### [c9.s2.61](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.61) The capitals of the gate-posts of the northern gateway, the next in date, exhibit four elephants standing back to back, and carrying riders. Those of the eastern gateway (Plate XVI) are similar. On the capitals of the latest gateway, the western, four hideous dwarfs, clumsily sculptured, take the place of the elephants or lions (Plate XVII, Fig. A).² ### [c9.s2.62](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.62) ² Compare the frequent occurrence of similar dwarfs in the sculpture of Ceylon. I do not understand the symbolism. ### [c9.s2.63](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.63) All the Sānchī sculptures, like the Ajaṇṭā paintings, deal with Buddhist subjects. If a composition seems in our eyes to be purely secular, that is only because we do not understand its meaning. Genre pictures, whether in paint or bas-relief, do not exist in the ancient art of India. The main object of the artist was to illustrate his Bible, and if, perchance, the illustration could be made into a pretty picture, so much the better; but anyhow, the sacred story must be told. ### [c9.s2.64](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.64) In addition to his desire to tell edifying stories in a manner readily intelligible to the eyes of the faithful, the old artist clearly was dominated by the feeling that he was bound to impress on all beholders the lesson that the dead Teacher, the last and greatest of the long line of Buddhas, had won and continually received the willing homage of the whole creation—of men, women, and children, of the host of heaven, the water-sprites, and the demons—nay, even of the monsters of romance and the dumb animals. And so, in all the ancient Buddhist art, whether at Sānchī or elsewhere, weird winged figures hovering in the air, snake-headed or fish-tailed monsters emerging from their caverns or haunting the deep, offer their silent homage to the Lord of all, and the monkeys bow down in adoration before the Master who had turned the wheel of the Law and set it rolling through the world. The early artists did not dare to portray his bodily form, which had for ever vanished, being content to attest his spiritual presence by silent symbols—the footprints, the empty chair, and so forth.¹ But, whether the Master was imaged or symbolized, the notion of his adoration by all creation was continually present in the minds of the artists and influenced their selection of decorative motives. Although concerned in the main with thoughts of religion and worship they were not unmindful of beauty, which they often succeeded in attaining in no small degree. ### [c9.s2.65](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.65) ¹ 'The outward form, Brethren, of him who has won the truth (\*Tathāgata\*) stands before you, but that which binds it to rebirth is cut in twain. So long as his body shall last, so long do gods and men behold him. On the dissolution of the body, beyond the end of his life, neither gods nor men shall see him' ('Brahmajāla Sutta,' transl. Rhys Davids, \*Dialogues of the Buddha\*, p. 54). The absence of images of Buddha from early Indian art does not imply that images of the Hindu gods were then unknown. They were certainly in use as early as the fourth century B.C. (\*Ind. Ant.\*, xxxviii (1909), pp. 145–9). ### [c9.s2.66](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.66) Fig. 46. Bracket figure, &c.; eastern gateway, Sānchī. (I. O. photo.) ### [c9.s2.67](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.67) In the early works, like those of Sānchī and Bharhut, the absence of images of Buddha has the advantage of saving the stone pictures from the formal symmetrical arrangements grouped round the central figure which often weary by their monotonous iteration in Gandhāra and at Amarāvatī. ### [c9.s2.68](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.68) In a general way, the style of the Sānchī reliefs resembles that of those at Bharhut, but is rather more refined and delicate. If we have no Yakshī statues as at Bharhut, compensation may be found in the elegant bracket figures, practically statues in the round, which are a specially pleasing feature of Sānchī art. A good example of such a figure is shown in Fig. 46. It is a form of the Woman and Tree motive. The beautiful decorative details of the pillar are worthy of careful study. No nation has surpassed the Indians in the variety and delicacy of the floral designs enriching their sculpture and pictures. ### [c9.s2.69](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.69) Two more photographs must conclude the illustration of the Sānchī sculptures. ### [c9.s2.70](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.70) In the upper panel of Fig. 47 we see the worship of a Nāga spirit represented by an image of the hooded cobra housed in a shrine with a domical roof.¹ Such Plate XVIII. Processional scenes, Mathurā; in a \*toraṇa\* arch. (Photo. by Dr. Führer = \*Jain Stūpa\*, Pl. XIX.) ### [c9.s2.71](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.71) ¹ It is possible that the object of worship may be Buddha himself sheltered by the hoods of Muchalinda, the Snake King. The Real Presence of Buddha in these sculptures is always indicated symbolically. ### [c9.s2.72](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.72) FIG. 47. Nāga shrine, &c.; eastern gateway, Sānchī. (I. O. photo.) ### [c9.s2.73](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.73) FIG. 48. Three men in a boat, &c.; the inundation miracle; eastern gateway, Sānchī. (I. O. photo.) ### [c9.s2.75](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.75) a temple roof, I think (\*ante\*, p. 17), was the origin of the domed \*stūpa\* as seen in the central panel. The figure of the guardian deity in the lowest panel is a good sample of Sānchī sculpture on the larger scale, and may be compared with the doorkeepers on stelae at Anurādhapura in Ceylon (\*post\*, Pl. XXI). ### [c9.s2.76](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.76) The scenes represented in Fig. 48 are not less interesting for their subjects and dainty ivory-like carving, and each might supply material for lengthy comment. The most curious panel is the central one with three men in a boat, the record of a miracle on the occasion of an inundation of the Niranjana river. The lowest panel, M. Foucher informs me, appears to represent the visit of Bimbisāra to Buddha. The men and trees on land will assume their proper relative places if we imagine the figures to be on hinges and set up standing. This substitute for perspective continued to be used in Hindu pictures many centuries later in date, as we shall see in due course. ### [c9.s2.77](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.77) FIG. 49. Part of frieze on \*toraṇa\* beam, Mathurā; worship of a \*stūpa\*. (Photo. by Dr. Führer = \*Jain Stūpa\*, Pl. XV, 2.) ### [c9.s2.78](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.78) Certain early bas-reliefs, dating probably from the first century B. C., discovered in the Kankālī mound near Mathurā, and apparently associated with the very ancient Jain \*stūpa\* which once existed there, are extremely curious for various reasons, and present remarkable forms not found elsewhere. As art they are far inferior in delicacy and definition to the work at Sānchī, the trees especially being sketched quite roughly. Fig. 49 represents the adoration paid to a \*stūpa\*, presumably Jain, by fabulous creatures, \*suparṇas\*, or harpies, and \*kinnaras\*, or centaurs. ### [c9.s2.79](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.79) The form of the \*stūpa\*, with two procession-paths and railings round the dome, in addition to the path and railing on the ground level, is unusual. No other example is known of a leaf being used to mask the junction between the human and equine bodies in the centaurs. ### [c9.s2.80](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.80) The larger fragment (Plate XVIII), apparently from the same building, offers many points of interest. The abnormal elongation of the principal worshipper in the spandrel is due seemingly to the necessity for filling the space. The garland bearers of the middle concentric band are depicted in an unusual manner. The oxen are fairly well drawn, but the horse is atrocious, and the floral patterns are feeble. ### [c9.s2.81](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.81) Two fragments (Fig. 50) in the Mathurā Museum, of uncertain origin, are very like the Bharhut sculptures. The modelling and execution are good (Mathurā Museum, Nos. I, 15, 18; \*Catalogue\* (1910), Pl. XXI). The fragments are 1 foot 3 inches, and 1 foot 4 inches in height respectively. ### [c9.s2.82](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.82) \[Figure: FIG. 50. Fragments in Bharhut style, Mathurā Museum. (Photo., A. S., No. 45 of 1908–9.)\] ### [c9.s2.83](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.83) \[Figure: FIG. 51. Visit of Indra to Buddha, Mathurā Museum. (Photo. No. 40 of 1907–8.)\] ### [c9.s2.84](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.84) A relief of unknown origin in the local Mathurā Museum (Fig. 51) depicts in a strangely stiff and archaic wooden style the famous visit of Indra to Buddha seated in a cave. It should be contrasted with the very different treatment of the same subject by the Gandhāra school (\*post\*, Fig. 60). I hesitate to assign a date to the Mathurā version. The relief seems to be a direct copy of work in wood, and may be compared with the frieze from Chambā (Chap. X, Sec. 7, \*post\*). Dr. Vogel regards this work as a 'clumsy imitation' of Gandhāran art. The height is 1 foot 6 inches (Mathurā Museum, No. 11, \*Catalogue\*, pp. 31, 130). ### [c9.s2.85](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.85) The sandstone hills known as Khandagiri, Udayagiri, and Nīlagiri, situated in the Purī District, Orissa, a few miles from the Bhuvanesvara temples (\*ante\*, p. 25), are honeycombed with Jain caves of various dates, the oldest of which date from the second century B. C. The local worship appears to have been devoted chiefly to the early Tīrthankara, Pārsvanāth, who lived some centuries before Mahāvīra, usually regarded as the founder of Jainism. The elaborate, but ugly, and semi-barbaric sculptures in the Rānī Gumphā, or Queen's Cave, are interpreted as representing a procession in honour of Pārsvanāth. Plate XIX is a good illustration of the style, which shows no trace of foreign influence, so far as I can see.¹ ### [c9.s2.86](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.art.smith-1911.c9.s2.86) ¹ 66 caves, viz. 44 on Udayagiri, 19 on Khandagiri, and 3 on Nīlagiri. The inscription of King Khāravela in the Hāthī Gumphā, or Elephant Cave, is of the second century B. C., but not precisely dated, as formerly supposed (Fleet, \*J. R. A. S.\*, 1910, p. 242). See \*Imp. Gaz.\* (1908), \*s. v.\* Khandagiri; \*Ann. Rep. A. S., India\*, 1902–3, pp. 40–2. The best account of the caves is that by Bābū Monmohan Chakravarti in \*Gaz. Purī District\* (1908). See also Fergusson, \*Hist. of Indian and Eastern Architecture\*, 2nd ed. (1910), vol. ii, pp. 9–18. _First 126 of 180 passages. 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