An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c28.108

v2.c28.108

Mother goddess figurines [12.6] in grey ware are a distinctive feature of the terracottas of Stratum VII. Allied to their Mathurā counterparts, they are crude and entirely handmade, with facial features of a bird or animal and represent a predetermined iconographic concept. A sole moulded head has its head-dress in a trefoil pattern and streamers falling on each side of the head. Śuṅga and Pañcāla moulded plaques from strata VIII and VII represent *mithuna* types and allied individual male and female figures. Dwarfs and grotesque figures are characteristic of Stratum IV. The votive tanks [12.11] of the age provide definite evidence of their association with the mother goddess. Gods and goddesses—Viṣṇu, Sūrya, Gaṇeśa and Mahiṣamardinī—occur among the figurines from strata III to I, some of them are excellent specimens of classical art. A peculiar type, both male and female from Stratum III, has goat-like features and long dangling ears with pierced holes or slit marks, a hooked nose and deep-cut slit mouth; the figures are believed to represent Naigameśa. A large number of figurines from Stratum III, conforming to a set art style, are cast from single moulds with moderate relief; they are remarkable for the great variety of hair styles. A small group of female heads shows the head covered by a veil. Also characteristic of the Stratum is the mother-and-child type. Horse- and elephant-riders produced out of double moulds are found in the middle levels of the Stratum, as also figures with foreign ethnic features in its early and middle levels. Hollow round plaques, one of them with reliefs of elephants in different poses, are another product of the Stratum. Large plaques with mythological scenes, such as Śiva-gaṇas destroying Dakṣa's sacrifice, Śiva as Bhairava and as a beggar and the fight between two warriors (Kirātārjunīya?), are from the debris of the temple in AC I and must have adorned the walls of the temple. Fighters or wrestlers (*mallas*), deities on thin plaques and plaques with roughly executed male and female figures—probably representing *satī* scenes (*sattī-* *sattā* plaques)—are typical of Stratum I.