Page:The Buddhist Antiquities Of Nagarjunakonda MASI 54 Longhurst A. H..djvu/28

Rh the brick-work in the form of carved limestone slabs fixed in mortar and extended from the plinth to the frieze encircling the middle portion of the dome, a point which marks the springing of the dome. Above this frieze all ornamentation had to be in stucco owing to the difficulty of fixing flat slabs of stone to the curved surface of the dome. Open joints and other faults in this stone facing were rectified in plaster. Whenever the masons ran short of stone slabs, the panels were completed in stucco and when the decorative work was finished, the structure. was given a coating of whitewash from top to bottom to hide any faults in the work. The white limestone employed was particularly suitable for this kind of patch-work decoration, as the stone is of the right colour and being somewhat absorbent takes plaster or whitewash readily, It was no doubt these considerations and the fact that the stone is soft and easy to work which led to its adoption in preference to any other kind of stone. This method of decorating a stupa partly with stone slabs and partly with plaster ornamentation, was also employed by the Gandhara Buddhists, and in all probability, it was the latter who introduced this practice into the Krishna valley about the second century A.D, Gandhara influence is readily discernible in many of the Andhra sculptures, and the inscriptions inform us that there was considerable intercourse between the Andhra Buddhists and those of Gandhara. Roman influence is also manifest in a few of the sculptural antiquities recovered from Nagarjunakonda. This is not surprising, as we know that at that period there was an extensive sea-borne trade between Rome and this part of India.

The carved wooden railing and open gateway in front of the dyaka-platform are cleverly portrayed [Plate XI -(b)]. The short rails are decorated with lotus bosses and the broad coping of the railing with a festoon device which first appears in the Buddhist sculptures recovered from Gandhara (now the- North-Western Provinces). The stone railing which once enclosed the Great Stupa at Amaravati was decorated in a similar manner to the one shown here. In portraying the gateway, the artist has tried to show the sides of the entrance in perspective but not however very successfully. Four sitting lions, two on each side, guard the entrance.

Two more exquisitely carved panels representing stupas are shown in Plate XI (c) and (d). These panels originally adorned ayaka-platforms. In both bas-reliefs the gateways are cleverly portrayed and in Figure (¢) we have a representation of the lofty pillars bearing Buddhist symbols which often stood in front of the gateways of the more important stupas. The Buddha’s Descent from Heaven shown in Figure (d) is a well-executed work of art and more deeply cut than those recovered from Amaravati.

The number of panels required to cover the front of an ayaka-platform depended on the size of the latter. The best panel was reserved for the centre and occasionally these were square in shape instead of oblong as was usually the case, Unfortunately, only three of these square panels were recovered and all are broken and the missing portions could not be traced. They all belonged to Stupa 3, a highly decorated structure the base of which was faced with carved stone slabs and the upper portion with stucco ornamentation. The slabs were