Copper in Ancient India c8.s2.3

c8.s2.3

Dr. Rajendra Lal Mitra, who first described this Buddha statue and other articles obtained in the ruins by Mr. Harris, a Resident Engineer, East India Railway,² says that it was 7 feet 6 inches high and its weight is estimated to be nearly 1 ton. There is one very remarkable fact about it *viz.*, that the outer garment is markedly transparent so that the body proper is visible through the outer garment. Dr. Mitra in describing the process of its construction says "the material is a very pure copper cast in two layers, the inner one in segments on an earthen mould and held together by iron bands which were originally ¾ of an inch thick, but are now very much worn down by rust. The casting of the face down to the breast was effected in one piece, the lower parts down to the knee in another and then the legs, feet, hands and back in several pieces”. The outer layer of copper seems to have been cast over the inner one presumably by the *cire perdue* process. Some iconoclast had bored a hole through the breast with the object of discovering treasure inside, but this process led to the discovery of nothing beyond the mould on which the figure had been cast. The substance of this mould looks like a friable cinder. Originally it consisted of a mixture of sand, clay, charcoal and paddy husks.