Page:Report of a Tour in Bihar and Bengal in 1879-80, from Patna to Sunargaon.djvu/14

 The two figures in Calcutta are made of grey sandstone, which has been highly polished like all the edict pillars and statues of the time of Asoka. One of them has lost its head, and both are mutilated in the arms; but from a comparison of the two I think that every part of their dress, as well as their action, can be made out with certainty. Each figure is standing straight to the front, clad in long robes from neck to foot, the full height of the statue being 6 feet 2 inches. The robe is without sleeves, and the bare arm of one figure still retains its original glossy polish. The sculptor has here shown his close observation of the human form by his skilful delineation of all the dimpled depressions of the bent elbow. The one remaining face is weather-worn, three of the arms are gone, and both bodies are covered with drapery; but the easy attitude and the calm and dignified repose of the figures are still conspicuous, and claim for them a high place amongst the best specimens of early Indian art.

The robe appears to be only a loose sort of dressing- gown without sleeves, fastened round the waist by a broad belt or girdle tied in a bow, with a long loop and two tasseled ends hanging down in front. It was apparently tied round the neck by a cord, with its ends hanging down behind. At the back the robe reaches the ground, but it is slightly raised in front to show the bare feet. The right hand carried a chauri, and the left hand rests on the girdle. The arm is ornamented with an armlet of a fleur-de-lis pattern, such as is worn by the figures in the Bharhut sculptures. A broad scarf crosses the left shoulder to the right hip, hanging down in a loop in front of the breasts, and in a long train behind. The folds of the scarf are marked by deep parallel lines, between which, at the back of the shoulder of each figure, there is a short inscription. At first I thought that the statues might be of the age of Asoka; but the forms of the letters show that they must be of later date, somewhere about the beginning of the Christian era.

The chauris carried in the hands of these statues show that they were only attendant figures; but the inscriptions further tell us that they were both Yakshas. Their names