Ancient Indian Colonization in South-East Asia c11.26

c11.26

Another North Indian example of the same type is illustrated by a relief sculpture on a bronze *stūpa* in Bengal of the 7th century A.D. It represents an image seated inside a temple the roof of which is "composed of two receding courses of sloping tiers with a recessed space in between and crowned by a peculiar finial."³ Another image found in East Bengal (now in Dacca) shows three receding courses of tiers.⁴ Several other examples show a large number of receding tiers, flat or sloped, sometimes as many as six in number. These are sometimes crowned by an *āmalaka* and the usual finials.⁵ In one case we find rampant lions at the corners of the topmost storey, just beneath the *āmalaka*. In some cases we find sculptured reliefs in front of each stage. We possess also a structural example of this type in the Nandi pavilion of a temple at Ekteswar. "It is a simple square shrine with a pyramidal roof, composed of three receding tiers, resting on four square pillars."⁶ The finial, if any, has disappeared.