Page:Asoka - the Buddhist Emperor of India.djvu/118

116 In India statues in the round are rare, relief being preferred, but a few notable examples of ﬁgures in the round apparently assignable to the Maurya period are known. The most remarkable is the inscribed colossal statue of a man found at Parkham, a village between Agra and Mathurâ. The ﬁgure, executed in grey sandstone highly polished, stands about 7 feet high, and is massive, if not clumsy, in its proportions, The face, unfortunately, is mutilated and the arms have been broken off. The dress, a loose robe conﬁned by two broad bands, one below the breast and the other round the loins, is peculiar. The inscription, which has not been edited properly, seems to be in characters substantially identical with those used in the edicts.

A colossal female statue, 6 feet 7 inches in height, uninscribed, but supposed on account of the costume to belong to the same period, was found at Besnagar, and is specially noteworthy as being the only known early female ﬁgure in the round. The arms are missing and the face is damaged, but so far as I can judge from a photograph, the work is of considerable merit. The Patna and Didarganj statues (J. B.O. Res. Soc., vol. v (1919), Plates i—-iv) seem to be closely related to the Parkhain image.

Asoka took special delight in erecting monolithic