BHARHUT SCULPTURE

early Indian sculpture of the Sunga period (mid-2nd century BC) that decorated the great stupa, or relic mound, of Bharhut, in Madhya Pradesh state, now largely destroyed. Most of the existing remainsrailings and entrance gatewaysare now in the Indian Museum, Calcutta. The Bharhut style, though at times archaic and primitive in its conception, marks the beginnings of a tradition of Buddhist narrative relief and decoration of sacred buildings that continued for several centuries. Sculptures closely similar to the Bharhut remains are located throughout northern India, suggesting that the Bharhut site is the only survival of a once widespread style. The flat planes, rather stiffly posed figures, and precise, elegant detailing of the ornamentation suggest continuance in stone of an earlier tradition in wood. Some of the uprights bear in relief standing figures of yaksas and yaksis (male and female nature deities) that have been pressed into the service of the Buddhist religion; a frequent motif is the woman embracing a tree. The stone railing, which imitates wooden post-and-rail construction, is decorated with medallions and lunates, most of them filled with the lotus ornament, some of them centred by the head of a man or woman. Other railing medallions and the coping also depict Jataka stories (legends of the Buddha's previous births) and events of the Buddha's life. Since these are labeled, Bharhut sculpture is indispensable for an understanding of Buddhist iconography. As in all early Indian sculpture before the 1st century AD, the Buddha is represented by a symbol such as a wheel, empty throne, or umbrella, never in human form. The composition is simple, even nave, with overlapping figures used in an attempt to distinguish planes. Animals appearing in the sculptures are treated with the sympathetic understanding characteristic of Indian art at all periods.