Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/116

114 while one of the gateways is known to have been erected in the days of the Sunga kings, who succeeded the Mauryas. The railing, which may have been considerably earlier than the gateways, was composed of pillars, three cross-bars or rails, and a heavy coping. Each of the pillars is a monolith bearing a central medallion on each face, with a half medallion at the top and another at the bottom. Every member of the structure is covered with rich and spirited sculpture in low relief, which is of exceptional interest for the history of Buddhism, because it is interpreted to a large extent by contemporary explanatory inscriptions.

The more or less similar railing, fragments of wl1ich exist at Bodh Gayâ, has been generally designated as the 'Asoka railing,' but really belongs, like the Bharhut gateway, to Sunga times. Babﬁ P. C. Mukharjî found at Patna parts of at least three stone railings, some of which must date from Asokafs reign. The inscribed and sculptured railing at Besnagar, near Bhîlsâ or Bhalsâ, and not far from Sânchî, cannot be very far removed from the time of Asoka. The sculptures are similar to those at Bharhut and Sânchî.